BIOGRAPHY:
Sanford Meisner was a member of the Group Theatre in New York
during the 1930s and 40s. He eventually left to form the Neighborhood Playhouse which would become the central launching
place of what became known as the Meisner
Technique.
Based upon the later acting techniques of Konstantin Stanislavski, Meisner's training for actors was characterized by:
Based upon the later acting techniques of Konstantin Stanislavski, Meisner's training for actors was characterized by:
I.
A strong foundation in “behavioral exploration”
a. behavioral
"activities"
b. behavioral
“communication” (between actors)
II.
Actors who use the Meisner
Technique spend a great deal of time learning how to find activities that
fit well into a scene.
a. Activities
could be of any kind; building, cleaning, trying to figure out a mental puzzle.
(whatever activities you choose, how you
do these activities and how you interact with the requisite props reveals a
great deal, both consciously and subconsciously, about your character.)
III.
Meisner's major unique contribution to the craft of
acting is:
"Repetition
Exercise," - a training exercise for building skill in
behavioral communication.
The general rules:
You describe the behavior of another person in the scene
Or
You repeat the last words said to you by the other person.
The result:
1.) Actors
become very proficient in being able to understand & respond to the body
language of other people. (This allows
them to tailor their performances to the moment-to-moment nuances of their
fellow actors.)
2.) Actors learn to put less emphasis on the words
of the scene, but instead draw out the underlying meanings of the words.
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