What Actors Are Saying

In this first class we will be looking into the core principles of Meisner technique, understanding in depth what it means to really put the attention on the other person, what active listening is and what it should feel like and how to make observations about each other that are clear, precise and from the gut!

You’ll be set up with the first of the long form Repetition exercises and have a go at this in break-out rooms and in front of the group. A handout to accompany this lesson will be provided in advance.

In the second session we will be building on your experience of the Repetition exercise and moving away from physical observations to intangible/emotional calls. You’ll have longer in each exercise and should start to experience the roller coaster journey of how each improvised scene can take place. We will also be dipping into the ‘3 Moments’ exercise, a short form version of Repetition that highlights the importance of the ‘third moment’, in any Repetition exercise.

In the third session, we will be focussing on Independent activity work. These exercises help you to focus on the ‘doing’ of a scene and encourage you to respond from your gut, rather than filtering or preparing a response to your scene partner.

Looking at how we can apply Meisner’s work to a scene, in this final session we will be looking at a short piece of contemporary text.

There are 3 main Meisner and Text based exercises that we will be exploring together, with the intention that you will feel confident to take these exercises away and apply them to any piece of text you’re working on.