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The Sanford Meisner Approach Vol 3: The Introduction

"Welcome to Workbook Three, our class on how to approach working with a playwright's script. The foundation work we have done together in Workbook One and Workbook Two has strengthened you in essential ways and has prepared you for incorporating these next crucial elements into your own very personal craft of acting. (Oh, by the way, If you haven't read my first two Meisner books, you may go ahead and read this book and I invite you to take a look at books one and two as it will make your experience here much more rewarding.)

To be brief, (so we can get to work!) I want you to know that this book is about three primary things related to working with the text and acting the part -

1. Freeing your instincts

 

Using the exercises in books one and two, you re-claimed your instinctual self! You re-ignited the part of you that is fully expressive, fully present and available, immediately responsive, spontaneous, passionate, emotionally alive, keenly interested and human. You learned how to bring a simplicity and a reality to the stage that is extraordinary and rare. Now, how do you bring all of that wonderful life and aliveness to the text? Well, in a step-by-step fashion-that's what we will be working on in the following lessons. Sound good?

2. Reading the script like an actor

 

Let me describe it this way. After graduating from the Neighborhood Playhouse and studying with Sandy, I was most fortunate to continue my studies with Suzanne Shepherd. Suzanne gave me so much and one of the most important things was how to investigate the script like an x-ray. That's a great analogy, looking at the script "like an x-ray."

My best buddy, Richard Kowal, who is an extraordinary chiropractor and nutritionist in New York City, described looking at x-rays to me. He said that on his, or anyone's, first look - the person's basic skeleton is immediately apparent. Then, he takes a second, more careful look and through his trained eyes, he can see how each of the bones relate to the others. And as he continues to look, certain elements of particular bones, (such as size, shape and density,) will "speak" to him and he begins to see these specific parts in the context of the whole skeleton and in the context of what he knows about the person who was x-rayed.

As you noticed, I highlighted the words "anyone" and "trained eyes." Obviously, anyone can read a play and the basic storyline will be immediately apparent. But you are not anyone, you are the actor reading the script and it is vital that you train your "eyes" to "see" the script in a deeper and more specific way. We are talking about refining your sensibilities to the text! It is only when you have become sensitized to:

o the characters in the play and how they respond to each other;
o how the characters relate to the world around them;
o the pivotal circumstances the characters find themselves in;
o how the characters react to these circumstances and
o the specific point of view of each character, that the script will begin to "speak" to you in a very personal way. And, listen now, getting on intimate terms with the script is key.

 

3. Having Fun!

 

Ultimately, ULTIMATELY, it's gotta be fun. Don't you think? I mean, if it's not, why would we go through all the difficulties and hard work necessary to do this thing called acting. And, as with any true craft, the process is demanding and rigorous and uncomfortable. But you know what? I have found that even that which may be uncomfortable now, becomes enjoyable. Even when I go through that period of terror that has no end in sight until I suddenly find I am on the other side, when I look back at it - hey, I was having fun! (I don't know, maybe I have a strange concept of fun?) But listen, acting is fun and when you do it for real, as we have been so meticulously working on together, it becomes glorious! The hard work comes first, then you leave the work alone and what's left is pure fun. So, let's get to it!"

-- Larry Silverberg