SanfordMeisneronActing

THEFOUNDATIONOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING. Areyoulisteningtome? AreyouREALLYlisteningtome? YourenotpretendingthatyourelisteningyoureREALLYlistening?Would yousayso? Thatstherealityofdoing. Howmanyofyouarelisteningtomenow? Now,justforyourself,listentothecarsyouhearoutside.Dothat.(1min) Ok,howmanydidyouhear? Didyoulistenasyourself,orwereyouplayingacharacter? Asastudentpartlegitimate,partacting? Wereyoureallypuzzledorwereyoupuzzledincharacter? Now,singtoyourselfnotoutloud.(1min) Howmanyofyoudidit? Foryourselfortheatrically? AsHamlet,asyourself,halfandhalf? Now,countthelightbulbs. DidyoucountincharactertheatricallyordidYOUcount? Computeinyourhead931x18(=16758) Didyoutry?Youmayberightorwronglikelifeyoumayhavecometo differentconclusions,butitsimportantthatyouTRIED. Itsoktobewrongbutitsnotokifyoudonottry. Observeapartner.(1min) WeretheobservationsdonebyYOUorbyacharacterfromaplay? Canyouholdontothat? Canyouhearwell? Canyourepeatwhatyouhear?Exactly?(Ofcourseyoucan!) Lookatyourpartner.Whatdoyouobserve?NOTHINKINGORREADINGS, justrepeatwhatyouobserve.(ex.Youhaveblondehair) NowIbelievethatyoucanbothhearandrepeatwhatyouhear. Thismayseemsillybutitisthebeginningorthebasisofsomething.A connectionisestablishedwhichisthebasisofwhateventuallybecomes emotionaldialogue. RepetitionFromtheOthersPointofView: Youhaveblackhair.Isthattrue?No. SothatswhatyouanswerNoIdonothaveblackhair. Youhaveblondehair. Yes,Ihaveblondehair. Yes,youdo. Yes,Ido Thisiscontactbetweentwohumans. Youcurlyourhair.

Yes,Icurlmyhair. Yes,youdo. Yes,Ido. Yes,Icanseethatyoudo. Yes,youcanseethatIdo. Commentontheircomment.

THEBASISOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING. Howdoesthisdefinitioncomparetowhatweredoing? Ifyousimplydoit,youdontfocusonyourself. Ifyousimplydoit,youhavenotimetowatchyourselfdoingit. Itbecomessomethingthatreally,reallyexistsspecifically. Whenyoudosomething,youreallyDOitratherthanpretendingthatyoure doingit.Andyoudontdoitlikeacharacter. Dontplayatbeingacharacteritisrightthereinyourdoingit. Itwillreveal itself gradually. Inwordrepetition,dontgotoofar. Dontdolinereadings. Silencecreatesanewmoment. Theverbalcontactbetween changesisbasedoninstinct. Apointwhereonehastopickupwhattherepetitionisdoingtoyoumustbe spontaneous. Youcancommentontheirbehavior. Lettheinstinctiveremarkscomeout. Dontthinktoomuchortrytocontrolwhatyouresayingjustlisten. Twomoments:cancomefrominstinct.Donotrepeatthesamelineagainifyour partnergivesyousilence.Usethenewmoment. Actingisnotanimitationoflifedontbepolite.Ifyourehit,retaliate,evenif youwouldnotinreallife. Truthfulnesscomeswhen: Youdontdoanythingunlesssomethinghappenstomakeyoudoit. Whatyoudodoesntdependonyouitdependsontheother. Itcomesfromspontaneity. Eliminatealltheheadworksoyoucanbeimpulsive. Inrepetition:listen,nothinking,nointellectuality. Yourrefusalsetsupanimpulseinmewhichcomesdirectlyoutof therepetition andmakesyourespond.(ex.Lendme$10.Lendyou $10.Ineed$10. Youneed $10.Imusthave$10.Youmusthave$10.Youmustgiveme$10.Goask someoneelse!) Graduallyasyoutrain,theresponsescomenotfromyourhead,buttruthfully fromyourimpulses. Apractitionerissomebodywhoislearningtofindhis/herinstincts,nottogivea performance.Likeamusicianwhoworksonrepetitionofscales. Iamanonintellectualteacherofacting.Myapproachisbasedonbringingthe actorbacktohis/heremotionalimpulsesandtoactingthatisfirmlyrootedin the instinctive.Itisbasedon thefactthatallgoodactingcomesfromtheheart,asit were,andthattheresnomentalityinit. PullingtheRepetitionExerciseTogetherWithanIndependentActivity:

 Lookupaphonenumberinthephonebook,ofagirlwhoyoumetapartylast weekwhohasinvitedyoutospendthenight.Youlostherphone#butyouknow hernameisSueSmith.Haveyourpartnerknockon thedoorinthemidstofyour searchingandask,Areyoulookingforsomething?anddotherepetition exercise. Chooseanactivitythatisdifficult,butnotimpossible. Youmusthaveareasontowanttodoit.Itisthesourceoftheconcentration, whicheventuallyleadstoyouremotionwhichcomesbyitself. Actingisnottalkingitislivingofftheotherperson. On stagewewantpublicsolitude (Stan) Pickanactivitythatistruthfulforyou. THREEKNOCKS Aknockhasameaning.Knocktruthfully,3times,10secondsbetweeneach,with 3differentmeanings.Askanotherstudent,whatdideachmean? Knocksothatithassomeresemblancetolife.Dontknocktheatrically. Firstmomentoftheexerciseistheknockthesecondmomentistheopeningof thedooryourthirdmomentistheinterpretationoftheknock. Thethirdmomentisthemeaningtheknockhasforyou,verbalizedbyyouasyou openthedoor.Thenyougobacktowhatyouredoing.Dowhateverthethird momentpermitsyoutodoandthengobacktoyourindependentactivityandlet theexercisecontinue. Afterthefirsttwoknocks,tellmewhattheymeantoyou(nottheknocker,butthe personintheroom).Afterthethirdone,openthedoor.Anduseverbally what thethirdknockmeanttoyou.Thengobacktoyourindependentactivityandthe exercise. Youdonthavetoanswerthedoor. Takeawaythelogicbecauserepetitionwillinducerealemotion. Youmustrepeatwhatissaidtoyouevenifyouredoingacancerexperimentand someonecomesinandsaysIlovespaghetti. Anindependentactivitymustbeurgent,truthfulandDIFFICULTtodopublic solitudeactivitynottooexaggeratedorfarfetchedknowthereasonwhy. Difficultyismostimportantstrengthensyourconcentration.Mustpracticelikea musician.20yearstomasterit.Youmustlearntouseyourinstinctsbasedon whatsomebodyelsedoestoyou.Giveyourselftimetomasterit. Inrepetition,thecontinuityisimportant. Dontact,dontfake,dontpretendwork! BEYONDREPETITION: Nexttime,thepersonwhocomesinhastohaveareasonforcorningin.Andthe reasonhastobesimpleandspecificandnotdeathdefyinginitsurgency.The knockshouldstillhavemeaning.Evenifitsjustfororegano.Ifyoucreatea studyforyourself,justletitROOTyoudontplayacharacter.3knocksthen continuewiththerepetition. AboutStrasbergheintrovertsthealreadyintroverted.Putallyourattentionon theotherandrepeatwhatyouhear. Anactorsfaiththeybelievethatthecircumstancesaretrue. Youdonthavetoworryaboutbeinglogicalbecausethescriptdoesitforyou. Actingisallagiveandtakeofthoseimpulsesaffectingeachperson. Maketheactivitymoreimportantthantherepetition.

 Trytotightentherepetition.Trytoletitmoveinitsorganicrhythm.Avoid playingascene. Saylinesfromascriptwithnomeaningorreading.Themechanicalapproach avoidscalculatedresultsRAW. Reduceyoutoaneutral,meaningless,inhumanobjectrobotsoonyouwillfill thosewordswithtruthofyouremotionallife. Remainneutralandrelaxedifpushedyouwouldberesponsive.Iffirmandtense, youcantbebudged. Soontheemotionwillcomeoutofwhatyourpartnerisgivingyou. Theexercisestripsyouofyourbadhabits. SCENEShandledimprovisationally,impulsetoimpulse: Takecurrentrepetitionexerciseandaddanemotionalcircumstancetothe characterwhoisenteringtheroom.Thismakesitintoascene. Pickuptheimpulseinsteadofthecue.Whenyouhearthewordscotchinthe sentence,begintoimpulsivelyrespond. LearnthelinesTHENpickuptheimpulses. Soonaddpreparationwhichistheselfstimulationofyouremotion. Anddonttrytoseethesnowfalloutside.Youwillseeflats!Makethe audiencebelieveitsforthemnotforyou. BEGINNINGOFPREPARATION Askwhattheywoulddowith $100,000. Iftoopracticalandnotimaginative:respondthatwishfulthinkingisbasedon stimulatedimagination,andisapreludeinpreparation.