Sanford Meisner-The Reality of Doing

The Reality of Doing

The foundation of acting is the reality of doing. So you may be asking yourself what exactly does that mean? The reality of doing means to actually do something not "pretend" you’re doing it. For example if you are suppose to be listening really listen not pretend to listen. If you are supposed to drink out of a cup don't pretend to drink out of the cup really drink out of the cup! If you are suppose to count how many lights are in the room then REALLY COUNT how many lights are in the room! It's just that simple! Well it sounds easier than you think. As actors we spend years being taught "How to act" and "How to become an actor" that we develop these pre-developed actions that are supposed to be what a good actor does. How many times have you seen a play and the actor who's more concerned about performing and entertaining the audience is using over exaggerated hand gestures and pre-rehearsed delivery of lines. They think that they are so good that the audience can't tell but they can! This is because there is one simple fact that separates the good actors from the bad and that is TRUTH! So say it to yourself every day. The foundation of acting is the reality of doing!!! When I learned that while studying the Meisner Technique it changed my life because it is so simple! I remember performing in the play A Raisin in the Sun and I had a scene where I was suppose to drink out of a coffee cup and every day I did the same thing I pretended to drink out of the cup. On the last dress rehearsal one of the prop masters set the table and put water in the cup without me knowing. When I finally got to me scene and it came to the part where I was drinking out of the cup I was so surprised that there was water in the cup that I forgot my lines! The reality of doing was so foreign to me that it caught me off guard. I had been so programmed to "pretend" to drink that I had no clue how to really drink out of the cup even though that is what I do every day in my everyday life. Sanford Meisner said that we are suppose to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances and this is done by setting up the foundation of acting which is the reality of doing.


Word Repetition Game

Those of you familiar with Meisner know very well the word repetition game. It is the bases of learning the Meisner technique, it was created to get actors out of their heads so they won't think but do. Sandy Meisner wanted to create the simplest task so that actors would not have to think and could focus on doing. With word repetition you are to repeat accurately everything your partner says. On my first day of school I was told to sit down across from my partner, they would make an observation of me, say it, and I was to repeat EXACTLY what they say word for word. My partner looked at me and said "You have a pretty smile" and I repeated "You have a pretty smile" we did this for about one minute and I got kudos because I simply knew how to listen! That's it knowing how to listen was getting me one step closer to becoming a better actor. The next day I got up again and this time we did the same thing but now instead of saying it word for word I was to say it from my point of view. "You have on a green shirt" and I said "I have on a green shirt" We did this several times going back and forth making an observations with each other. The next day I got up to play the word repetition game again, feeling pretty confident that I did good that past two days I was ready to get to work. My Partner was told to make an observation of me and he said "You have big hair" and without me thinking I said “I have big hair?" The class broke out in laughter because I was clearly not happy about that comment! The teacher stopped us and asked me how I felt about that comment and I said it made me a little angry and that I thought it was an asshole thing to say and he told me "well tell him that"! That's when I was told the third most important thing I learned from the repetition game Listening, Point of view, and THE PINCH! That feeling I felt about the comment was the pinch the point in the repetition game that I could now say how I felt about the comment. "You have big hair" "I have big hair?" "You have big hair" "That's an asshole thing to say"...!!! Waiting for the pinch is confusing because it happens at different times for people. The most important thing I learned is no matter how long you do repetition waits for the pinch! Most people don't wait and make a change themselves and by doing that they are not reacting truthfully. I would do repetition sometimes for minutes until the change naturally happened. You know the feeling and by not waiting for the pinch you are doing yourself an in service because you are not acting truthfully. I don't care if you have to do repetition for hours WAIT for the pinch, let the change come naturally! Now of course it doesn't take that long but you get my point. The actors who did the best in the class knew this was a key rule in mastering the Meisner Technique.

The word repetition game is the foundation of the Meisner technique. It is so simple because you don't have to think you just have to listen and do. The actors who did not listen to their partners were the ones who made the change themselves in order to make something happen. If they just simply listened to their partner the change will naturally come. Sanford Meisner said don't create change wait for a pinch it's about your instinct. At Playhouse West the most beneficial thing I leaned was to NOT BE POLITE! Being polite will get you now where with the Meisner Technique because it is expressing how you really feel. I can't began to tell you some of the thing I said or had to me but those time on stage where the times that I learned the most. Those experiences showed me a world I never knew existed and I became the actor I always dreamed of being.

Practice Practice Practice!!!

My rule of thumb is practice three times a day if you can. Always practice at least once especially in the beginning of your training. Make repetition second nature to you; get it so ingrained in you that you don't think you just do. I practiced three times daily it was hard but if you want to be the best you have to work like the best. Actors have to train just like any other profession. You think Kobe doesn't train and sits at home and when it's game time he just turns on the magic? No! He practices everyday! And that is why he's is the best and in order to be the best you must work hard. Break a leg!

Sandy Meisner-Best Kept Secret

Meisner Acting Technique

There is a lot of information out there about the Meisner Technique. In LA you will find hundreds of people claiming they are trained in Meisner, schools that teach it and places that charge you thousands of dollars to learn it. The fact is this there are only a few schools that teach the Mesiner Technique correctly. What you will find is that some teachers do not fully grasp the concept and it results in them poorly training thier students. Learning Meisner is a process. People are sometimes too interested in the fast approach to things. They get addicted to "Get rich quick" or "Lose weight fast" schemes and this is no different for actors. The bottom line is this Meisner is about breaking down all your bad habits you learned in your life, stripping them away so that you can finally get truthful in your acting. What people fail to realize is that everyone is different so this process will affect people differently. Schools that don't consider this and choose to train thier students all at once expecting them to grow and learn at the same rate, results in over half of the students not fully knowing what they are doing and not learning the technique correctly. The point of the Meisner technique is to act TRUTHFULLY under imaginary circumstances. Note the word thruthfully. for example If one student is understanding the technique and the second is not but the teacher is forcing them to move on to the next step this result in student #2 not acting truthfully. Of course because most actors are ego drivin and will refuse to admit they don't fully "get it" Student #2 will never fully learn the Meisner Technique correctly. Now imagine that student is now grown up and becomes and teacher of Meisner! You then get 100 more people learning it incorrectly...GET MY DRIFT! This is the majority of schools in LA who claim they know how to teach the Meisner technique. In my opinion Playhouse West is the best school in LA that's teaches the Miesner Technique. Robert Carnegie who worked with Sandy for 15 years at Playhouse still teaches there. It is the only school that has knowledge if the last teachings of Sanford Meisner. I LOVED my time there and would not bethe actor I am today without training there. No one is the master of Meisner except himself but if you want to learn it how he intended actors too you have to be willing to comit to the process. Commitment is the first step and hard work is the next.

Sanford Meisner Technique

Playhouse West

The Playhouse consist of teachers who wokred with Sandy. They were his students and are now passing down his teachings to others. Playhouse West is the best because unlike every other school in LA that charges you thousands of dollars per year to learn what they think is "acting" Playhouse charges around $185 per month. They are considerate to the fact that we are struggling actors and goes to show you that they are not in it for the money they are commited to traning people to be the best actor they can be. My time there changed my life and encourage you to go sit in on a class and see what it is all about. I promise you in the first five minutes you will be ready to join the school. I'm not on here to get you to go to Playhouse I writing because I don't want people to make the same mistake I did. I spent $20,000 on a school that I leaned absolutely NOTHING from! Supposidly one of the top schools in LA (American Musical Dramatic Academy) Now I wll go into details later about this joke but the point is don't waste your time. I wish I would have discovered Playhouse West sooner but I'm glad I finally did. Be prepared to lose all those bad habits you spent years learning when you thought you were a good actor. Trust me you have no clue what doors are about to open from you if you attend this school. You will discover the wonderful world of Sanford Meisner's technique the way he wanted us to learn it. The feeling is priceless and I can't say it enough of how much it changed my life.


Just got done watching Sanford Meisner - Theater's Best Kept Secret (Part 1 - 7)

It was so good I got lost in Sandy Meisners teachings. It made me miss Playhouse West and only confirmed that I need to move back to LA to get back in school. Playhouse was the one place I actually learned. I wish I could have met Sandy and been his student. I have been to so many acting classes and schools and the only one out of all the places I went, thousands of dollars I spent, and time I wasted the only one that I can say helped make me a better actor is Playhouse West in LA. I am so blessed I found that school it changed my life and I can't wait to go back.