Dic: act something out, act out

• When I was onstage, I was really acting an old fantasy out.
• I acted out an old fantasy onstage.

| (1) to perform in real life a role that one has imagined in a fantasy.

• Don't act your aggressions out on me!
• She acted out her aggression.

| (2) to convert one's bad feelings into action rather than words.

• Act your request out, if you can't say it.
• She had a sore throat and had to act out her request.

| (3) to demonstrate or communicate something through gestures or action rather than words.

Cf. act out: to behave badly. (Usually used to describe young people.)

• Your son has been acting out in the classroom, and his teacher feels that professional intervention is desirable.

.... http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/act+out

Cf. act out:

• 1(a). To perform in or as if in a play; represent dramatically: act out a story.
• 1(b). To realize in action: wanted to act out his theory.
• 2. To express (unconscious impulses, for example) in an overt manner without conscious understanding or regard for social appropriateness.

.... The American Heritage