Prague Playhouse

Meisner Acting Class Blog on “getting affected”

September 22nd, 2009 at 05:49pm boris

Hi everyone!

I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.

This entry is about how getting affected is key to doing the Meisner work.

Click on the “CLASSES” button above and then choose “ACTING FOR PROFESSIONALS” to read more about the class itself and where we meet!

I have just been sent an email by a class member who stated my English had “a certain Germanic flavour” which would cause it to collapse sometimes. To start with, I would spell flavor the American way, like color and labor. Then – being a foreigner himself – who is he to… But there we go: I got affected. And from a Meisner perspective, that is a great thing!

You start class with good intentions: Yes, you believe in Meisner, whatever that means. Yes, you are dedicated to the “work”. Yes, you are willing to go where Brian, our brilliant teacher, is taking you. And all of a sudden you are in front of a sweating, twitching individual (just like you) who tells you stuff like: “You are defensive!” or – horror of horrors! – “you are pathetic!” (or, in my case: “Your English sucks!”)

Of course, this should affect you. But strangely, it fails to do so. Why? Because you are not yet ready for it.

Now, it takes courage to let things affect you. And some students will get there faster than others. But I came to realize that it is not the speed that tells you about your progress: It is the effort you are willing to make that ultimately propels you to new levels.

So if getting affected means for you to first fight and deny it, so be it. If it means, you feel bad and would love to skip over these bloody rounds of seemingly endless repetition, you are where you need to be. That alone means, you are already getting affected – one way or the other. And that is all there is to do. Expose yourself. And the rest will follow suit.

That’s all, folks!

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General stuff:

Our acting class consists of some fifteen new and not so new active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!

If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us! But beware! This quarter is all new and full of promises. So buckle up and get ready for some serious thrills!

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About the author:

I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague. I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work, that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!

Acting,Classes,Theatre