Most amateur and untrained actors do not listen. They wait for their cues, ready to “act their lines” at whoever happens to be on stage or camera with them. The core fundamental of good acting, the bedrock upon which technique is built, is the ability to truly listen. The beginning third of Meisner training addresses this immediately. You will learn how to be truly present, out of your head, curious and open, beginning the process of chiseling away the defenses that keep you from true vulnerability. This will lead you towards something essential for any serious actor: discovering the organic, spontaneous impulse. The early repetition removes the anxiety of thinking of something to say, freeing the student to function from their spontaneity, rooting them in the present moment. In life we miss moments all the time, we can easily get lost in thought or distracted. If that happens on stage or on camera, it can derail an entire scene. A professional six-week Meisner intensive will help you better understand and function from these fundamental principles.

Another essential aspect of any true artist is their ability to create from their personal point of view. It’s what separates one artist from the next, in any medium. For the actor, this means possessing the ability to respond personally, sacrificing politeness for truth. That is incredibly difficult, because we are rarely truthful in life, except for our very intimate relationships where trust has been established. The actor however must respond personally in every moment. The beginning of the Meisner technique teaches the actor to find the courage to be truthful. It is the goal of any real artist.

Constantin Stanislavski, who founded the Moscow Art Theater in the 1920’s, is credited as the father of organic acting. Prior to his work, acting was very presentational and stylized. His work was rooted in the belief that good acting was truly living and breathing the part. Meisner’s definition of acting is rooted in this principle: acting is the ability to do truthfully under an imaginary circumstance. Most untrained actors indicate or pretend. The first two months of the Meisner Technique teach the student a very important thing called actors faith. It’s the ability to accept as real what you have crafted. In this first two months of the work, you will learn how to begin crafting. How to use your imagination to pin down a previous circumstance that compels you to do something, is a fundamental skill. The simplicity, specificity, and personal meaning with which you craft are what will allow you to create vivid behavior.

When Meisner taught his acting classes in NYC, he knew that his exercise work would only have true value if his students could take what they were learning and apply it to scenes. Any true six-week Meisner intensive should end with scene work. In First Year, students do three rounds of scenes, each round challenging students to apply everything they are learning to text. After four weeks of getting out of your head, onto your spontaneous impulses, responding personally in every moment, and crafting simply and personally, the last two weeks of the intensive culminates in first round scenes. Actors have misconceptions about acting based on the film, TV, and theater they have consumed. Bad habits form: line readings, adjusting to the text, waiting for your cues, not going from unanticipated moment to unanticipated moment, or subverting your inner life to fit a line. These are marks of a hack actor. You will discover how to use your instincts and your spontaneous organic impulses to truly improvise with freedom and authenticity. It is the beginning of becoming an actor who works in a truly original and vivid way; an artist dedicated to craft.