Today’s discussion in both the day class as well as the evening class centered around the concepts of Risk, Passion and Imagination. The three ideas came up in the context of doing Meisner exercises and how they relate to actual work. Lately in the class, people have been feeling like the exercises are pretty divorced from the work. The main thing to remember is that these exercises are kind of like finger exercises on a piano: they form the backbone of any more complex work; they are the framework that holds the artistry together.
While I wouldn’t necessarily apply a Meisner exercise directly to a problem in working with a text (although it’s perfectly legitimate to do so, even with early work like repetition and activities), the underlying concepts that those exercises are training — listening and attention for repetition, the reality of doing for activities — are directly applicable to working with a text in the “real world”. (more…)
Post Category: Acting,Classes
March 30th, 2010 at 01:11ambrian
If you’ve been holding out on coming to the 2010 Expats.cz and Prague.tv Playwriting Contest performances, your last chance is Tuesday, March 30th at 18:30. We moved the time up an hour to make room for the Awards Ceremony and after party which you’re invited to. There will be free food and drink thanks to Troja Catering!
There are tickets still available, but I would highly recommend ordering beforehand online (you can pay for them at the door) as it is likely to sell out.
The show is at Divadlo Ponec (Husitska 24a in Prague 3).
Tickets for the final night are 280 Kc general / 250 Kc students and seniors.
Post Category: General
March 29th, 2010 at 01:44ambrian
The 2010 Expats.cz and Prague.tv Playwriting Contest continues tonight! There are still tickets available, so get yourself down to Divadlo Ponec (Husitska 24) by 19:30 to join in this celebration of local writers. If you’re not available tonight, you still have 2 more chances: Saturday night at 19:30 (tickets for this are going fast, so book now!) and Tuesday night, which includes the closing night awards ceremony and party catered by Troja Catering. Both shows will be really well attended, so don’t be lazy about getting tickets!
I have to say that I am really proud of all of the participants in this year’s contest. We have really seen a lot of growth in the contest since the beginning 4 years ago. There have been challenges, sure, but they have been overcome and the result is a wonderful testament to local artists creating theater. Come out and support it!
Post Category: General
March 24th, 2010 at 06:18pmbrian
Nancy Bishop, Casting Director author of “Secrets from the Casting Couch,” offers film acting and audition seminars in Prague
DAY 1 (March 27): SCREEN ACTING TECHNIQUE CLASS: Actors participate in a series of practical exercises that develop effective methods for screen acting. Material covered will include learning how to calibrate a performance for close-up vs. wide shot, playing an inner monologue, playing reaction shots and playing in the eyes. All participants will receive a free copy of “Secrets from the Casting Couch.”
DAY 2 (March 28): AUDITION TECHNIQUE CLASS. This class will target specific strategies for casting, including cold reading skills, and audition technique. Actors will also do a casting session on camera with coaching from Nancy. All participants will get a free copy of “Secrets from the Casting Couch.” (more…)
Post Category: Acting,Workshops
March 12th, 2010 at 01:42pmbrian
Czech film company, Duracfilm, announces a casting call for a short education film part funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry.
We are looking for:
We are open to both Czech or English speaking actors – the decision hasn’t been made on whether the film will be shot in English or Czech. Either way, we are looking for a Danish accent to whichever of the two languages is spoken. An English or Czech speaking Dane, Swede or Norwegian would be ideal.
There is no age limit. Nor is there any particular look we are searching for.
The part:
The role to be auditioned for is Kohl Larsson, a disaffected ex-power station worker who is appealing for asylum in the Czech Republic on Ecological grounds. Kohl is a man who likes his coal. He’s not happy about the changes that have taken place in his country over the last twenty years, wind turbines, solar power stations, passively heated housing and is seeking asylum in the Czech Republic, a country he sees as more in tune with his way of life.
Filming dates:
There will be three days of shooting, two in Denmark and one in the Czech Republic. We will be filming either in the week following the Easter weekend (6th – 11th April) - or the following week (11-18th April).
Pay:
Unfortunately the funding available from the Danish government for this project is very small. All the crew will be working well below industry norms. We can offer 1,500 kc cash a day, plus a delayed payment of an extra 1,500 kc a day should we be successful in selling the film to a commercial television company in this country.
There’s a return flight to Copenhagen and two nights in a hotel there included in the film’s budget. If you’d like to fly out earlier or stay on after the shoot and have an extended stay, we’ve no problem with that (though we can’t cover the extra hotel nights).
The casting will take place at the offices of Duracfilm, Turnovská 365/5, Praha 8, on Monday March 15th. Please contact Pavlina Kalandrova, the producer, 724 328 583 or pavlina@duracfilm.cz to arrange a time for an audition and to receive copies of the texts to be read.
Post Category: Acting,Auditions,Films
March 9th, 2010 at 12:44pmbrian
Buy your tickets now! Order them online.
There are four shows and each night you are going to see all three finalist plays. Show lasts approximately two hours including an intermission. At the end of the show audience is asked to vote for their favorite play.
Shows take place in:
Divadlo Ponec (map)
Husitská 24a
130 00 Praha 3
222 543 449
Sun 21 Mar, 2010 @ 19:30
Wed 24 Mar, 2010 @ 19:30
Sat 27 Mar, 2010 @ 19:30
Tue 30 Mar, 2010 @ 18:30, award ceremony and closing party following
General admission for Mar 21-27 is 220 Kč, students and seniors 200 Kč.
General admission for Mar 30 is 280 Kč, students and seniors 250 Kč; price of the ticket includes drinks and buffet.
To learn more about the contest, finalist plays and participants go to www.playwritingcontest.cz
Post Category: General
March 7th, 2010 at 11:00pmbrian
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.
***************
Rambo was very boring, really; so was the Terminator. They might have blown up a lot of things. They might have acted tough. They were always in control. But they were quite predictable. Those two guys had thrown their inner child into the deepest dungeon inside of them and let it languish there.
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Post Category: General
February 4th, 2010 at 03:50pmboris
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.
***************
This blog entry is closely related to my last one on keeping face. Brian has been telling us repeatedly to let go off control. The reaction to one’s respective partner should come “like hiccups”, involuntarily, instinctually.
Meisner’s main credo was “fuck polite”.
Politeness always gets in my way! Let’s say, the person in front of me smells from their mouth. See?! I’m being polite again! I wanted to say: If they stink from their mouth, I fail to tell them, for example. I suppress my instinct. Shame on me!
As an interesting note aside: “To stink from one’s mouth” is the direct, i.e. German, way to say it. The cowardly polite Anglos talk about “bad breath” or “mouth odor”. That sucks! In the English language there seem to be either euphemisms or four-letter-expletives. Where is the zone of truthful naming it, nailing it – so to speak – in between those two extremes?
“You have bad breath…” “I have bad breath?” “You have bad breath…” That’s as boring as a cold potato! Go get yourselves a life, people!
It is: “You reek from your mouth like a cow out of its ass!” Where is the fuck, the shit, the damn, the cunt, huh? None of that! And still, this is painfully truthful!
God! That gets me going!
(more…)
Post Category: Acting,Classes,General,Theatre
January 30th, 2010 at 01:04pmboris
Mind the Gap Films, an Irish TV production company, will be in central Prague to record the musical extravanganza,Halleluiah Broadway, on Feb 8th for American Public Television.
We would like to invite any members or friends of the Playhouse theatre who are fans of Musical Theatre to be part of our special invited audience on the evening.
In Halleluiah Broadway, we harness the emotional power of the songs that have so inspired millions of theatre goers and gather them all together in one feast of entertainment. This show is high on emotion with a true spiritual connection at its heart. We have selected the most uplifting and powerful songs from the great Broadway musicals and they will be sung in Church, accompanied by a full Orchestra and Choir.
Halleluiah Broadway will feature star performances from three featured soloists – the amazing Rodrick Dixon, formerly of Three Mo Tenors, the powerful soprano from the Chicago Symphony Alfreda Burke, and the marvellous Irish Tenor Anthony Kearns.
We will also feature as a special guest one of Broadway’s leading ladies – Linda Eder.
If you, or any friends of the Playhouse would like to be part of this very special evening then we would love to hear from you by Wednesday January 27th.
Email your name, contact phone number and the number of tickets you would like to: tickets@mindthegapfilms.com
Audience tickets are free of charge but strictly limited. If you apply and are successful, you will be contacted by a member of the production team with further details.
Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested and don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you would like any further information!
Post Category: General
January 24th, 2010 at 11:30pmbrian
Hi everyone!
I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.
*********
Wow! 2010 is still a baby. But so much has happened already. Class, for one, has started with a couple of surprises: Members who I thought would certainly stay left and others joined us.
I’d like to wish everyone who cares to read this a happy new year full of pleasant surprises!
A friend of mine really had the mendacity to ask me: “Why surprises?”
Well, gurl! Get this: Life is change. And change lacks predictability, you fool! Period!
If you live a life where everything is predictable, you’re stuck. And that equals death, really.
Last Monday our two new class members had their first moments of truth in the wondrous ways of the Meisner technique. Brian stopped them both short early in their exercises and asked them about why they failed to connect with their respective partners.
One was held up with listening to his own voice, which he hates. The other felt it hard to concentrate and squirmed because he wanted very badly to know what would come next. Both preferred to stay in the realm of the predictable instead of letting go of control in order to experience a surprise, be it lovely or scary, tearful or filled with laughter.
Both looked constipated and stressed, had blushed blotched cheeks and sad eyes. They looked surprisingly unremarkable, like most folks you can see every day in the trams and subways of Prague. They remained on the dead side of things – stuck, grey and wretched.
They kept face.
Click on the “CLASSES” button above and then choose “ACTING FOR PROFESSIONALS” to read more about the class itself and where we meet!
Click on “(more…)” below to read more about keeping face.
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Post Category: Acting,Classes,General
January 20th, 2010 at 02:09pmboris
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