{"id":7035,"date":"2019-06-27T18:02:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T18:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=7035"},"modified":"2019-07-23T21:43:56","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T21:43:56","slug":"great-acting-teachers-who-issanford-meisner-1905-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/great-acting-teachers-who-issanford-meisner-1905-1997\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Acting Teachers! Who is?\u2026Sanford Meisner (1905 \u2013 1997)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great Acting Teachers! Who is?\u2026Sanford Meisner (1905 \u2013 1997)<\/strong><\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by\u00a0Elizabeth Horn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Updated\u00a0June\u00a027, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/font>

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Acting is reacting, or as Sanford Meisner would say, \u201cthe pinch and the ouch.\u201d Meisner worked at the Group Theatre along with\u00a0Stella Adler<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>and\u00a0Lee Strasberg<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span> Like Adler and Constantin Stanislavski, Meisner disagreed with the use of affective memory (originally developed but then dismissed by Stanislavski, this technique was renamed emotional memory and further honed by Strasberg). Meisner believed that rather than using one\u2019s own memories to connect emotionally to a character, an actor could simply \u201cbehave truthfully under imaginary circumstances.\u201d Meisner was one of the first teachers at the Actors Studio and continues to be widely influential in modern acting. The Meisner Technique can be seen in performances by actors Alec Baldwin, Robert Duvall, Tina Fey, and Grace Kelly, to name a few.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Repetition<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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The Repetition Exercise is Meisner\u2019s most well known and involves two actors repeating a phrase back and forth to one another. Phrases may start as more objective statements, such as \u201cYou have a red shirt,\u201d and then transition to more subjective or emotional, such as \u201cYou\u2019re angry.\u201d As actors repeat these phrases, three things occur: an actor must listen to and accept the offer made by repeating back what his partner says (\u201cI have a red shirt\u201d or \u201cI am angry\u201d); the words are repeated so many times that they start to lose their meaning (Meisner taught that the text is secondary to honest reactions); and throughout the exercise actors experience a range of authentic emotional responses. By focusing on one\u2019s scene partner in this exercise an actor can learn to, as Meisner would say, \u201clisten with your gut, not with your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2. Doing Instead of Acting<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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The Repetition Exercise leads the way to more advanced improvisations and ultimately improvising with text. For example, in Independent Activity, an actor tries to complete a nearly impossible task, such as putting together the pieces of a shredded letter and creates the imaginary circumstances surrounding why this task must be accomplished. By committing to these imaginary circumstances, the actor is not merely pretending to put this letter together \u2013 she is truly trying to accomplish this task, and when a fellow actor joins this scene and begins the Repetition Exercise with her, the emotions that surface during the exercise will be truthful.<\/p>\n

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3. High School Training<\/h4>\n
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There are multiple Meisner training sites around the country, many of which offer summer intensives for adults (including the William Esper Studio in New York<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and The Taylor School of Acting in Los Angeles<\/a><\/strong><\/span>). High school students may apply for the Tisch Summer High School Drama Program at New York University<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, a 4-week program that offers Meisner Technique as one of its many areas of focus. Additionally, The Sanford Meisner Center has a digital master class that can be purchased on DVD or streamed online. Interested students should also check out the books\u00a0Sanford Meisner of Acting\u00a0<\/em>by Meisner<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span> and Dennis Longwell and\u00a0Meisner for Teens: A Life of True Acting\u00a0<\/a>by Larry Silverberg.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
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Need some advice? We\u2019ve got you covered.<\/h3>\n