Sandford Meisner was an actor and one of three founders of the Group Theater that became popular in the 1930's. Based in New York City, the Group Theater was a collaborative endeavor launched by Meisner, Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg. The company's goal was to explore and create theater based on the systematic, deliberate acting technique developed by Constantin Stanislavski. A Russian actor/director, Stanislavski is thought to be the first artist to approach acting as a discipline. He developed a series of principles and exercises to help actors explore and master the craft.
Stanislavski's primary exercises involved concentration, physical movements, observation of human behavior, voice and analysis of the dramatic arts. These exercises also included a technique that became referred to as emotional memory. This approach was considered to be the universal approach to acting. Sanford Meisner however, began to consider that certain aspects of this method were too European for American actors to adopt. He later founded the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City to provide the opportunity for American actors to exist onstage, truthfully in the imaginative situations they discovered onstage.
The well respected Meisner technique has been in practice for over six decades. Meisner recognized that internal human emotions trigger impulses, which in turn trigger external behaviors and responses. He believed that a full range of emotional impulses and the resulting spoken responses, physical reactions, voice quality and etc. could be learned, mastered and used to create spontaneous and therefore more provocative performances onstage.
Getting actors to follow these human impulses freely without the hindrance of thoughts to "edit" them was the best way to get truthful, humanly authentic performances. To do this, actors need to be trained to eliminate the awareness of being in a performance, and instead react immediately and honestly as the character--a character which has its own set of emotional triggers and responses.
The Meisner technique is most widely know for the word repetition exercises during which actors repeat a phrase that mentions something that they have between them. The actors repeat this phrase back and forth to each other, many times. As they repeat the phrase back and forth to each other, over time the phrase starts to take on different meanings as things happen between the actors during the exchange. The words and the phrase do not change, the meaning is the same, but it range of emotions that it expresses deepens. The initial explanation of the exercise may seem simplistic, but the actors' ability to observe, hear and react as real, unique human beings is a difficult skill to master. It requires skill that is more than simply processing and reacting. It requires both discipline and an awareness and skill of a full range of human emotions and reactions that are not the actor's.
Through the use of Meisner's systematic training of exercises that build on each other, the actor explores the craft of acting at greater levels. As actor's are presented with relationships and situations that are more complex, their ability to add context and meaning the dialogue increases and enables them to create more truthful responses without restraint. The real challenge, obviously, is a lead character that has a full range of complex emotions, experiences and relationships within the dramatic context of a performance. The accomplished actor is able to enter into the play as the character with no awareness of themselves to impede their character driven performance.
Another interesting aspect of this technique is the memorization of lines, which is accomplished without inflection or physical movements. Known as "dry" memorization, it is thought that this practice insures the actor will never speak lines in a pre-conceived way or out of habit. Once interaction begins between actors in a performance or exercise, the focus is on the other players and making immediate committed actions and responses to them moment by moment. When done well, the technique propels the scene forward with an energy and immediacy that removes all sense of "self" awareness" by the actors, leaving only 'living", reacting characters. The actors are trained to focus on objectives rather than the script.
Stanislavski's primary exercises involved concentration, physical movements, observation of human behavior, voice and analysis of the dramatic arts. These exercises also included a technique that became referred to as emotional memory. This approach was considered to be the universal approach to acting. Sanford Meisner however, began to consider that certain aspects of this method were too European for American actors to adopt. He later founded the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City to provide the opportunity for American actors to exist onstage, truthfully in the imaginative situations they discovered onstage.
The well respected Meisner technique has been in practice for over six decades. Meisner recognized that internal human emotions trigger impulses, which in turn trigger external behaviors and responses. He believed that a full range of emotional impulses and the resulting spoken responses, physical reactions, voice quality and etc. could be learned, mastered and used to create spontaneous and therefore more provocative performances onstage.
Getting actors to follow these human impulses freely without the hindrance of thoughts to "edit" them was the best way to get truthful, humanly authentic performances. To do this, actors need to be trained to eliminate the awareness of being in a performance, and instead react immediately and honestly as the character--a character which has its own set of emotional triggers and responses.
The Meisner technique is most widely know for the word repetition exercises during which actors repeat a phrase that mentions something that they have between them. The actors repeat this phrase back and forth to each other, many times. As they repeat the phrase back and forth to each other, over time the phrase starts to take on different meanings as things happen between the actors during the exchange. The words and the phrase do not change, the meaning is the same, but it range of emotions that it expresses deepens. The initial explanation of the exercise may seem simplistic, but the actors' ability to observe, hear and react as real, unique human beings is a difficult skill to master. It requires skill that is more than simply processing and reacting. It requires both discipline and an awareness and skill of a full range of human emotions and reactions that are not the actor's.
Through the use of Meisner's systematic training of exercises that build on each other, the actor explores the craft of acting at greater levels. As actor's are presented with relationships and situations that are more complex, their ability to add context and meaning the dialogue increases and enables them to create more truthful responses without restraint. The real challenge, obviously, is a lead character that has a full range of complex emotions, experiences and relationships within the dramatic context of a performance. The accomplished actor is able to enter into the play as the character with no awareness of themselves to impede their character driven performance.
Another interesting aspect of this technique is the memorization of lines, which is accomplished without inflection or physical movements. Known as "dry" memorization, it is thought that this practice insures the actor will never speak lines in a pre-conceived way or out of habit. Once interaction begins between actors in a performance or exercise, the focus is on the other players and making immediate committed actions and responses to them moment by moment. When done well, the technique propels the scene forward with an energy and immediacy that removes all sense of "self" awareness" by the actors, leaving only 'living", reacting characters. The actors are trained to focus on objectives rather than the script.
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