07:46
Faizan
Sanford Meisner was one of the original members of "The Group Theatre", founded in 1931 by Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford. The goal of "The Group " as they came to be known was to bring truth to the theater, while focusing on relevant social issues of the day.
Four renowned teachers came out of "The Group": Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Robert Lewis, and Lee Strasberg. It is a matter of opinion as to which of their approaches works best. For me Sanford Meisner's technique is the most effective way of working. My reasons are as follows:
Meisner was not interested in playing the "result". Happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, all fall under the heading of results. Meisner's focus was on what he referred to as "the reality of doing". Behavior was the key to "living truthfully in the given set of imaginary circumstances." Result oriented acting was not only false it was unacceptable. Achieving "truthful" results was not unique to Meisner. All of the great teachers, dating back to Stanislavsky, were in search of a system that would enable actors to achieve emotional truth on a consistent basis. The question was and still is, what is the best way to achieve it?
Rumor has it (since their have been no biographies written about Meisner) that while laying in his hospital bed recuperating from surgery he pondered the question of how best to get actors to work instinctively. To do that he had to come up with a technique that would remove the thought process from the actor's work. What he came up with has been serving actors for decades. Robert Duvall, Joanne Woodward, Gregory Peck, Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, to name a few, all studied with Meisner and all, with the exception of Gregory Peck, who passed in 2003, are still working today.
Meisner discovered through a series of "repetition exercises", that were of his own invention, a means of removing the intellectual thought process from the actor's work. Coupled with the "independent physical activity", which sharpened the actor's concentration and focus, he was able to put in place a system/technique that enabled actors to work from their "gut" (instinct). In his classes he continually stressed the importance of "listening", while "working off" the other person, to get his students to express impulsively their "truthful point of view". DOING, not THINKING was the key. If you "pinch" me, I will say "ouch", was the basis for his "point of view" repetition. It was the only way to establish the actor's instinct, and it worked.
As a teacher of the Meisner Technique for the past 25 years, (former actor), and director, I have encountered many actors whose primary complaint and frustration is their inability to get out of their heads. Naturally I encourage them to sign up for classes to determine if this technique best suits their needs. In many more cases than not-nothing is 100%-it does.
Four renowned teachers came out of "The Group": Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Robert Lewis, and Lee Strasberg. It is a matter of opinion as to which of their approaches works best. For me Sanford Meisner's technique is the most effective way of working. My reasons are as follows:
Meisner was not interested in playing the "result". Happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, all fall under the heading of results. Meisner's focus was on what he referred to as "the reality of doing". Behavior was the key to "living truthfully in the given set of imaginary circumstances." Result oriented acting was not only false it was unacceptable. Achieving "truthful" results was not unique to Meisner. All of the great teachers, dating back to Stanislavsky, were in search of a system that would enable actors to achieve emotional truth on a consistent basis. The question was and still is, what is the best way to achieve it?
Rumor has it (since their have been no biographies written about Meisner) that while laying in his hospital bed recuperating from surgery he pondered the question of how best to get actors to work instinctively. To do that he had to come up with a technique that would remove the thought process from the actor's work. What he came up with has been serving actors for decades. Robert Duvall, Joanne Woodward, Gregory Peck, Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum, to name a few, all studied with Meisner and all, with the exception of Gregory Peck, who passed in 2003, are still working today.
Meisner discovered through a series of "repetition exercises", that were of his own invention, a means of removing the intellectual thought process from the actor's work. Coupled with the "independent physical activity", which sharpened the actor's concentration and focus, he was able to put in place a system/technique that enabled actors to work from their "gut" (instinct). In his classes he continually stressed the importance of "listening", while "working off" the other person, to get his students to express impulsively their "truthful point of view". DOING, not THINKING was the key. If you "pinch" me, I will say "ouch", was the basis for his "point of view" repetition. It was the only way to establish the actor's instinct, and it worked.
As a teacher of the Meisner Technique for the past 25 years, (former actor), and director, I have encountered many actors whose primary complaint and frustration is their inability to get out of their heads. Naturally I encourage them to sign up for classes to determine if this technique best suits their needs. In many more cases than not-nothing is 100%-it does.
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