"What has been your favorite passage? Why?"

          I am really enjoying this book, so it is difficult for me to choose one specific passage that is my favorite. However, one of the best portions of the book in my opinion is Chapter 8, in which Meisner delves deeper into the art of preparation. He tells the class that "The text is like a canoe, and the river on which it sits is the emotion. The text floats on the river. If the water of the river is turbulent, the words will come out like a canoe on a rough river. It all depends on the flow of the river which is your emotion. The text takes on the character of your emotion." I found this analogy to be a very suitable and specific image, and I find that it helps me, at least in my mind, to connect the text with the emotion behind it. I plan on using this image from now on when trying to prepare a monologue or scene; I feel that it will allow me to become more organic as an actor and to truly convey the necessary emotion without worrying about how the words themselves will come out.


Quote of the week:

"I say, pick from your heart! Don't pick from your head! Why not be simple? What's the crime in being simple?"

"Free Write."

          Today, my friends and I made good use of the Meisner technique. For competition, we are preparing a group mime and we thought it would be great to develop the storyline and characters using some of Meisner's techniques. For instance, we utilized a lot of gridwork; this involves all the actors moving in straight lines in an imaginary grid and creating silent "moments" with each other. It is influenced either by someone calling out words as a theme or through music; today, we tried both. I believe this gridwork really helped us come together as an ensemble and we got a lot of incredible moments out of it that will work beautifully in our mime.
          Additionally, we did a few rounds of word association; this is when the actors sit in a circle, one actor starts by saying a certain word, and the rest take turns saying the first word that comes to mind (based off the previous word) until they return to the first word. After the word association is finished, the actors then go back and write down all the words they just said; although this may sound difficult, it actually wasn't very hard to remember everything we'd said. We started off by using themed words that related to our mime, and after writing them all down we chose our favorites. We then went back and used these in our gridwork, and the result was some amazing moments.
          We've basically created the skeleton for our mime, and I can't wait to continue using Meisner techniques to develop it and help us grow together as an ensemble. Critic's choice, here we come! :)


Quote of the week:

"You should do what I do when I practice diving in the Caribbean. I just go! I know it's not easy. It's formidable. Just go! And don't give yourself a reason why you shouldn't! If you want to throw yourself on the floor and chew a leg of that table, it's fine with me. It's undignified, it's unmanly, it's ungentlemanly -- but it's very good for your acting!"

 

 

 

"What do you not agree with?"

          I happen to find the Meisner technique absolutely fascinating; it is unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of before, and I am truly intrigued by several of the methods he describes in his book. However, there are a few aspects that I am having a difficult time agreeing with fully.
          For instance, Meisner seems to, at least from what I've read so far, avoid or even look down upon in-depth text or script analysis. His technique is all about being "in the head", and while I do see the benefits of this approach, I think that analyzing the piece of material you are working on is equally as, if not more, important. Additionally, many of the key points Meisner makes are very vague and hard to decipher. He constantly points out that a good actor "really listens" and "really does", but often times does not explain it any further than that. If his students are unable to understand the true meaning of his words, I don't see how his technique could be effective in training actors.
          Don't get me wrong, I find Meisner's technique interesting and worthwhile to learn. However, like every other method, it does have its limitations and downfalls, and I don't think an actor should necessarily throw himself/herself into it fully and blindly without exploring other options.


Quote of the week:

"I'll tell you this: you cannot escape the impact of emotion, whether it's in a big theater or a tiny one. If you have it, it infects you and the audience. If you don't have it, don't bother; just say the lines as truthfully as you are capable of doing. You can't fake emotion. It immediately exposes the fact that you ain't got it."

"Go out and do something your book recommends."

          The chapter I am reading now focuses on the importance of the process of preparation. In Meisner's world, preparation is a device which permits you to start a scene or play in a condition of emotional aliveness. The purpose of preparation is to ensure that neither actor enters the scene emotionally empty. However, the actor must resist the temptation to "show off" or project their emotional state of being. One of the most critical points he makes is that preparation only lasts for the first moment of the scene; once that moment has passed, neither actor truly knows how it is going to play out.
          So, after being inspired by Meisner's theory of preparation, I decided to try and utilize it on an actual scene. I am currently taking an advanced scene study class, and each week we are paired up with a different person in order to prepare a scene for the next class. So, after going over to my scene partner's house and choosing a scene to work with, I told her about preparation. Our scene is from Neil Simon's "The Gingerbread Lady"; I play a 47-year-old alcoholic ex-singing star divorcee, and my partner plays my 17-year-old daughter who now wants to live with me. Although this character is going to be challenging for me to play (seeing as I'm 30 years shy of 47 and can't really be described as an alcoholic), I believe that by using preparation I will be able to portray the character of Evy with more emotional fullness, or at least start the scene out with a bang.


Quote of the week:

"That's called 'emotion memory.' I don't use it, and neither did Stanislavsky after thirty years of experimentation. The reason? If you are twenty and work in a delicatessen, the chances are very slim that you can remember that glorious night you had with Sophia Loren."

"Free Write."

          As I move forward in this book, Meisner's "Word Repetition Game" continues to develop and acquire added layers and nuances that make the exercise all the more interesting and yet surprisingly difficult. What began as a simple, straightforward repetition of the same sentence over and over again has now been throw into the mix with each actor's point of view, an urgent independent activity, and most recently an emotional circumstance. Not to mention the fact that all actions and dialogue must rely solely on impulses and the actions of the other actor. All of these elements elevate this seemingly juvenile activity to a complex exercise that takes months of practice to become comfortable with. 

          The next step in the process is the introduction of actual scripts. Sandy gives each couple an "old-fashioned" script, old-fashioned only in the sense that it was written before they were born, and tells them to simply memorize the lines without any sort of emotional significance or meaning. All he asks of them is to learn the lines rotely and mechanically in order to avoid any preconceived habits, patterns of speech, or expected readings. This way, the script is a blank canvas, and the actors' reading can come naturally and truthfully based off their instincts.

Quote of the week:

"I'm saying that wishful thinking is a product of the imagination. If I say, 'I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars. What will you do with it?' On the one hand, if someone said, 'I'd pay my rent for the next five years,' I'd say, 'Bulls***. That's too realistic, it's too unimaginative, it's too practical.' On the other hand, what if a girl said, 'I'd like to go to the White House in a dress that's made of solid emeralds. Gorgeous! Solid emeralds! On some kind of cloth which can only be made my one nun in India!' That's extravagant, but it's the essence of wishful thinking."