I’ve been thinking a lot about how the words and the circumstances that are given by a playwright can be interpreted so differently by different actors and directors, and how each interpretation has it’s own validity. If we think of the playwright’s contributions as a strong, white light, then the actors and directors are prisms.… Continue reading The Prism
Last night we continued to work on repetition with Trigger Events and Hot Whos. An interesting discussion arose out of one of the scenes. The question posed was something like, is it possible for a trigger event to be so “hot” that nothing the scene partner does can affect you? The discussion actually clarified something… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal 5.14.24
Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this specialobservance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature. ~Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 2 An interesting question came up on one of the many theater forums on Facebook recently. The poster said that they were a new director, and needed help coaching one of their actors on how to cry onstage. They said that the actor was wonderful and nuanced in… Continue reading Playing Emotion
The addition of the trigger events and Hot Who’s has really added a great dimension to the class. Everyone seems to be really enjoying them, and overall I think that they make the understanding of the repetition disciplines much easier to grasp. Kenny and I went first last night, and even though it took a… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal 5.7.24
I think I had misunderstood the Trigger Event and Hot Who. Maybe “not fully understood” is more accurate. I was approaching this from the perspective that my scene partner had just done something to me, and that the Hot Who related to that event. What I didn’t realize was that the Trigger Event could be… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal 4/30/2024
I am writing this a few days later than normal due to having one of the screws in my ankle removed. The only reason I mention this is because I typically like to journal the day after class while everything is fresh, but here goes… For me, the addition of the trigger event has helped… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal – Week 7
OK, I’m not really going to attempt to quantify what “good acting” is. I’m not even sure I am qualified to do so. What prompted this was the confluence of a couple of things. First, there is a video going around of Uta Hagen stating that “if the acting is visible, it’s bad acting.” Next,… Continue reading What is Good Acting?
After a week off to enjoy the eclipse, it was great getting back to class. In our last class, we were offered the option to change up the words we use in the repetition exercise based on observed behavior in our partners. This week presented a new challenge: adding a “trigger event” as a circumstance.… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal 4.16.24
Last night’s class was interesting. Jolene allowed us to begin to change up the words to reflect any changes in behavior that we witnessed in our partners, providing that it happened spontaneously. She mentioned that we didn’t have to do this, and that she reserved the right to discontinue this new layer (she didn’t…at least… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal #4
We’ve now been repeating for about a month, and while in ways the exercise is becoming more instinctive (I hesitate to use the word “easier”), I am still having difficulty identifying what I am seeing when observing others practicing the exercise. It’s said that it typically takes 20 hours to become reasonably competent in a… Continue reading Meisner Class Journal #3