Sanford Meisner: The Man, The Method

Guided Notes

Storytelling Exercise Question: When we told that story did we tell it as ourselves or as someone else? Sanford Meisner The exercise we just did was inspired by Sanford Meisner, whose teachings and methods have been greatly influential in American film and theatre acting since 1935. Born August 31, 1905. Died February 7, _______. One of the original founders of with Lee Strasberg, ____________________ and Harold Clurman. One of America's first acting schools for adults. Had poor eyesight Multiple operations were done on his eyes to fix his ________________________ Had throat cancer and as a result, had a ____________________. 1984 - hit by delivery truck while crossing the street and thus walked with a cane. He taught until ______________________________________. Emotional Memory The Group used to follow the teachings of ________________________ and his concept of Method Acting. Stanislavsky at one time taught Emotional Memory--the practice of drawing on personal memories to produce __________________emotional results. Some teachers still believe in this and use this method to this day, even in high school. e.g. if you had to cry onstage Stan would tell you to think about how you felt when a close relative died, or a favorite pet, and that would make you cry. Question: Why would it not be a good idea for high school students to use Emotional Memory?

Eventually even Stanislavsky would move away from this practice and instead started to believe that it was better to study the " ________________________" of the story at hand. Sanford Meisner felt acting was about reproducing ________________________. Actors should prepare for the __________________that will happen onstage. Sanford Meisner: The Theatres Best Kept Secret. 1985 documentary Notice how he communicates with people without his _____________ Listen for this quote: "...to eliminate all ______________________from the actors ____________________and to make him a ____________________responder to where he is, what is happening to him, what is being done to him." The Word Repetition Game This exercise allows the actor to _________________about what to say and instead respond ________________________, both physically and vocally. The exercise continues over a period of months with imaginary details added in and then eventually it becomes a ________________________. The objective was to always react ___________________to the situation at hand, and not simply change for the sake of change. Conclusion Meisner said he was against " ________________________" so he created this game and his technique as whole to make acting more spontaneous and personal.

Final Question: Do you think Meisners initial approach to acting (like using Word Game) can work in a classroom and/or for students? Why? There is no right or wrong answer. A two to three sentence answer will suffice.