Comments on: Meisner Acting Class Blog on “Home Alone” Activities http://pragueplayhouse.com/2009/06/22/746/ Information for, by and about Prague's performing artists Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:17:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: brian http://pragueplayhouse.com/2009/06/22/746/comment-page-1/#comment-6675 brian Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:25:26 +0000 http://pragueplayhouse.com/?p=746#comment-6675 Hi Jessica, welcome to the site! Fred was a classmate that is now teaching in Paris. I'm Boris' teacher and still working with him! You're right that it takes a lot of time (at least 2 years) to start to get a handle on the work. And also that you must get out of your head and into the "zone" (not a Meisner term, but that's ok, right?) of living moment-to-moment. And you need to know how to take that and apply it to work that you do professionally and with other people... It's a big adventure, this work! brian Hi Jessica, welcome to the site! Fred was a classmate that is now teaching in Paris. I’m Boris’ teacher and still working with him!

You’re right that it takes a lot of time (at least 2 years) to start to get a handle on the work. And also that you must get out of your head and into the “zone” (not a Meisner term, but that’s ok, right?) of living moment-to-moment. And you need to know how to take that and apply it to work that you do professionally and with other people… It’s a big adventure, this work!
brian

]]> By: Jessica Goldstein http://pragueplayhouse.com/2009/06/22/746/comment-page-1/#comment-6629 Jessica Goldstein Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:23:15 +0000 http://pragueplayhouse.com/?p=746#comment-6629 Dear Boris, Sorry about the unexpected departure of your Meisner teacher. I studied Meisner at Bill Esper's studio in NYC with Kathryn Gately for two years, and then went on to watch her teach, as well as Jim Bonney. When I moved to Seattle to get an MFA in Theatre, I felt the program didn't fully address strong communication between partners as well as Meisner exercises did, so I studied with Larry Silverberg in an intensive and then he asked me to teach with him. I opted out and instead taught adults for about a decade at Freehold Theatre Lab Studio with Robin Lynn Smith. You really need someone to teach you Meisner for two full years, with two classes a week, 4 hours at a time. That way, you will get a very strong workout and be able to apply what you are learning < this is the drawback to studying Meisner - you really need to learn how to apply it to real life acting work. Otherwise, it becomes more of an intellectual exercise, and you know Meisner said that 'the head is dead.' I am thrilled that Sandy's work is still being examined and explored and I urge you to continue your training without your teacher. Dear Boris,
Sorry about the unexpected departure of your Meisner teacher. I studied Meisner at Bill Esper’s studio in NYC with Kathryn Gately for two years, and then went on to watch her teach, as well as Jim Bonney. When I moved to Seattle to get an MFA in Theatre, I felt the program didn’t fully address strong communication between partners as well as Meisner exercises did, so I studied with Larry Silverberg in an intensive and then he asked me to teach with him. I opted out and instead taught adults for about a decade at Freehold Theatre Lab Studio with Robin Lynn Smith.

You really need someone to teach you Meisner for two full years, with two classes a week, 4 hours at a time. That way, you will get a very strong workout and be able to apply what you are learning < this is the drawback to studying Meisner – you really need to learn how to apply it to real life acting work. Otherwise, it becomes more of an intellectual exercise, and you know Meisner said that ‘the head is dead.’

I am thrilled that Sandy’s work is still being examined and explored and I urge you to continue your training without your teacher.

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