"How do you plan to use what you've learned on your midterm performance?"

          I feel that I have learned so much in such a short period of time from this book. Not only is it an interesting read that compels me and keeps me wanting more, but I truly think that reading about Meisner's techniques is helping me become a better actor. Relying on instincts and impulses is not something I've always felt completely comfortable with, but after learning about this technique from Meisner I feel that it is one of the best methods in giving an honest, emotional performance. I plan to use this reliance on impulses for my midterm in order to make my performance more realistic and relatable to the audience. Additionally, Meisner constantly reminds his students that preparation is key to acting. After having this drilled in my head throughout the book, I now see that Meisner was absolutely right - coming in with nothing is simply like reading the words off the page, and I want to ensure that my midterm performance is satisfying and full of energy and life. I know that Meisner's techniques will not only be useful in my midterm performance, but they will help me grow as an actor for the rest of my life; I'm so glad I decided to read this book!

"It's very easy to give advice, so now I'm going to tell you something that's impossible. Keep working all the time; do all kinds of plays, whether they're right for you or not, because eventually time and you will catch up with each other. One other thing: hold on to the foundation of your technique. It's solid."

Free Write.

          In the book, the actors in the class have been working on pieces from "Spoon River Anthology". These pieces are very interesting, because they are written more like poetry than monologues. Therefore, it is easy to see why the students would struggle with some of the pieces; it takes a different sort of mindset to approach the speeches and perform them realistically and with emotion, rather than just reading them off the page. Despite initial difficulties, Meisner's advice and comments seem to assist the actors in giving a satisfying performance. He emphasizes the importance of preparation as well as "letting it all out"; when one student begins to tear up hesitantly during her piece, he excitedly encourages her to cry. One technique that he suggested which I found interesting was to perform the piece in your own words after reading it a few times, then go back to the script as written, and then continue with the improvisation of the text. I plan on trying this method the next time I am preparing a monologue.

"The first thing you have to do when you read a text is to find yourself - really find yourself. First you find yourself, then you find a way of doing the part which strikes you as being in character. Then, based on that reality, you have the nucleus of the role. Otherwise every shmuck from Erasmus Hall High School is an actor because everyone there knows how to read."

"Free Write."

          To be honest, I haven't had much time lately to truly make a lot of progress in this book. I have so much going on, with school, rehearsal, and other commitments, so Sandy has been put on the back burner for a while. However, whenever I do get a few moments to sit down and read a little, I am reminded of what a genius Meisner really is. His comments are not only hilarious and witty, but one hundred percent spot on in relation to what he has just seen and what he is trying to teach to his students. As I read, I imagine what the men and women in this class must have been thinking, and I wonder if they realized how truly lucky they were to have such an incredible mentor. It would be really interesting to see where these people are now - if they are still acting, if they still use the techniques that Meisner taught them, and if they look back fondly on their time in his class. Perhaps if I read on I will find out the answers to these pressing questions.

"It's the theater that interests me, not acting. I don't like actors very much, though I do like to act. It's enjoyable - sometimes. But I don't like what it brings to the surface in my personality: the self-centeredness, the childish vanity, the infantilism. That's what an actor has to have."

"Is this book fueling your passion for theatre?"

          Theatre has been my greatest passion in life ever since I first set foot on stage in the fifth grade. My love for this craft is constantly growing and developing, and I believe that this book has contributed to that process immensely. Before reading about Meisner and his technique, I felt sort of constrained - stuck in a rut of the one type of acting that I'd been taught and had used since elementary school. But once I delved into Meisner's book, it was like a breath of fresh air; something new and exciting that set my mind awhirl with all the potential possibilities and choices that I hadn't been exposed to. As I read this book, I constantly think to myself, "Wow, I'd love to try that," and I hope that some day I will be able to. Even if the Meisner technique ends up not being the right fit for me, I'm just glad that I got the chance to become familiar with it. I feel that by being introduced to it, I will become a more cultured and well-rounded actor, and that is something that I've been striving for ever since I began acting.

"Free Write."

          Yesterday, our Thespian troupe participated in the second part of our district's Individual Events Festival. Not only was it a blast, but we also performed extremely well! I had such a great time watching my friends and troupemates perform, accompanying some of the musical events, and performing in four different pieces! Although yesterday was stressful and hectic to say the least, all the hard work paid off because we received an Excellent for our ensemble pantomime, a Superior for our large group musical, and I received a Superior on my solo!! Words cannot describe how shocked and elated I was when I heard the news; it's the first time I've ever received a Superior, and the feeling is incredible. I know I could not have done it without the support and assistance of my amazing troupe; I love them so much, and my life would not be complete without them. Now, can't wait to do this all over again at States!

"Free Write."

          Yesterday, we participated in the first weekend of our district Individual Events competition. Although I did not perform (I will be performing all of my events next weekend), I had so much fun watching my friends and other schools compete. I thought all of the events that we took did extremely well, and two of our events even received a "Critics' Choice" (the highest possible rating; only one event per room is chosen). Not only am I inexplicably proud of my troupemates, but I also had a great time watching other scenes and pondering what types of techniques they might have used to prepare. As I've said before, my friends and I did use some of Meisner's techniques while preparing our mime for competition, so I wonder if any other students in our district did the same. I hope that all the hard work we did will pay off next weekend; I can already tell it did yesterday!

"Free Write."

          Because this book is so chock-full of quotes that I absolutely love, I've decided to dedicate this week to my favorite Meisner quotes (that I haven't already used as "Quotes of the Week"). Here are the best in my opinion:

Meisner: "Are you looking at me now?"

Student: "Yes."

M: "As Othello?"

S: "No."

M: "As who?"

S: "As myself, I guess."

M: "That's right. Can you hold on to that?"

"Silence has a myriad of meanings. In the theater silence is an absence of words, but never an absence of meaning."

"You try to be logical, as in life. You try to be polite, as in life. May I say, as the world's oldest living teacher, 'F*** polite!'"

"I tell you this: you cannot be a gentleman and be an actor."

"To become an accomplished musician you have to realize that it takes twenty years to be a master at it! A master! And the same is true of acting."

"In other words, if you don't give up acting out your cliches, I can't help you to learn how to act. I'm trying to get you to do an exercise, not to play a part."

"Don't behave as if acting were something that any amateur can turn on! It's not true!"

"Some years ago I owned a car. In winter when I got into my car, what's the first thing I did when I started the car? I pulled out the choke to give the cold motor some extra gas. It's a warming-up process, right? Well, for an actor, preparation is a warming-up process."

"Restraint is a virtue, but reticence in an actor isn't."

"Now I'm saying we have moved beyond the fundamental. Now it's possible to respond reasonably. So if your partner asks you what time it is, for God's sake look at your watch and tell him! And if he has the temerity to ask you how old you are, you have my permission to lie to him through your teeth!"

"Acting is a scary, paradoxical business. One of its center paradoxes is that in order to succeed as an actor you have to lose consciousness of your own self in order to transform yourself into the character in the play. It's not easy, but it can be done."

"If my partner in a scene said to me, 'How do you feel today?' I'd say quietly, 'Lousy.' That's perfectly acceptable. I don't have to take a pistol out and shoot myself or writhe on the floor."

"You cannot hide emotion, but you don't need three tons of it in order to color your behavior properly. It's just that you must not be empty."

"Don't be an actor. Be a human being who works off what exists under imaginary circumstances. Don't give a performance. Let the performance give you."

"I'm going to tell you all something. The text is your greatest enemy."

"There are some parts we don't have the temperament for even if we understand them, and there are some parts we are so right for that we don't even know that we understand them."

"Shaw said, 'Self-betrayal, magnified to suit the optics of the theater, is the whole art of acting.'"

"The American actor is very lucky. Why? Because so little is asked of him."

          I'm not even finished with the book yet, and it is easy to see that Meisner definitely has plenty of interesting things to say. I look forward to finishing the book and getting an overall view of his technique.