Meisner technique

Meisner Technique is an approach to acting and actor training that was first developed and taught by Sanford Meisner, and is now taught by his students and many others.

Beginning in the 1930s, while working with the Group Theater, and then at New York City's Neighborhood Playhouse, Meisner refined and taught his namesake technique for more than fifty years, until retiring in 1990. Programs and studios throughout the United States continue to use various elements, but complete Meisner Training -- a series of increasingly complex exercises and assignments -- requires meeting weekly with a single teacher for two years, and significant outside rehearsal.

Though the technique builds upon the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski (grandfather of the elusive American "method"), it departs from the Russian's system to place a specific emphasis on action-driven, "moment-to-moment" spontaneity that Meisner thought better suited to contemporary American actors.

Two main ideas drive the training. First, from the earliest exercise, an actor learns to "take his attention off of himself" and to focus outward. By focusing on a partner ("listen and respond") or an activity ("nail down the concentration"), he learns to be in, and react to, "the moment." Phrases like "make your partner more important than you are," and "put your attention on your activity!" are heard over and over in a Meisner class as students learn to leave themselves alone and to make a full investment in what's happening around them.

Second, actors learn to prioritize (worship, really) "actions" (a pursuit of "objectives" or "wants," sometimes called "the doing"). Coupled with "listen and respond," actions also dicate an actor's behavior. Instead of conjuring emotions or fabricating "character," crafting actions -- verbs -- is what moves the actor in time. Meisner actors are first introduced to this "doing" through simpler activities (find the keys), and then they go on to more sophisticated actions like "to woo her," or "to crush her into submission." Whether in an "activity" (clean the floor), or dialogue (scold your son), or silence (intimidate her), actions are critical to reading a moment. "What are you doing?" or "what are you playing?" are frequent, in-class questions that remind actors to choose actions and commit to them. If the commitment is full, the actor's inner life is baited into authentic revelation, vulnerable in its dedication, and unadorned.

By combining these two main tasks of putting one's attention outward and committing to an action, Meisner technique pulls the actor into the moment while at the same time propelling him forward with concentrated purpose. The more an actor dedicates to this "taking in" and to his "action," the more he's able to "leave himself alone," liberate his authentic response and create truthful behavior within the imaginary circumstances.

One of the great strengths of Meisner Training is the interdependent, layered structure of the exercises. Skills learned in the beginning are critical for later, more complex exercises which build directly upon the preceding. For example, the most basic exercise in Meisner, the Repetition Exercise, teaches actors to read each other's behavior (and subtext therein). Two actors sit face to face and "repeat" their observations about each other back and forth ("you're smiling," "I'm smiling," "You're smiling," "Yes, I'm smiling"). The actors are learning to "read" one another and to let behavior arise directly from the stimulus of the other. When an actor makes a partner "more important than herself" and allows her behavior to spring from what she's "getting", this is called "picking up an impulse" and living in the moment. This skill remains critical as the moment evolves to include "given circumstances," "relationships," actions and obstacles. From start to finish — from Repetition to playing a lead role — the fundamental principle of "listen and respond" and "stay in the moment," supports the actor's work.

By relieving actors of real text, Repetition teaches actors to respond to "subtext," and "the moment" over literal or conventional meaning of words. If a pedestrian meaning of a word, or the actor's self-consciousness, pulls attention away from the partner, the actor's response detaches, and she will likely have "missed the moment." Once given actual dramatic textFor a Meisner actor, memorizing lines with vocal inflections or gestures makes no sense. Doing so merely increases the chance she'll miss a moment in service of a rehearsed habit. Meisner actors learn lines dry, "by rote," without inflection. They know a line's "quality" will ultimately arise from the moment. Such clean, reactive spontaneity makes Meisner actors excellent improvisers and enables their fresh, if slightly varied, performances. A "moment" is never quite the same, so the actor's delivery varies as well -- though obviously within limits.

The improvisatory thrust of the technique should not be construed as permission to "wing it" or to go unprepared. Meisner training includes extensive work on "crafting" or "preparing" a role. As students mature in training, they get to know themselves and can exploit this self-knowledge by choosing actions compelling to their particular instrument. Thus they "come to life" through informed, provocative choices. Actors also prepare emotional frameworks by "personalizing," "paraphrasing" and "daydreaming" around material in highly specific ways that they've learned are provocative especially to them. If their preparation is accomplished with specificity and depth, their attention may finally move away from it and onto what's happening "NOW." Solid preparation supports spontaneity, a concept articulated by Martha Graham when she says, "I work eight hours a day, every day, so that in the evenings I may improvise." A hightened responsiveness -- earned through homework -- is at the heart of Meisner training.

Characteristics of Meisner-trained actors include a sparkling spontaneity, a willingness to change along with a changing "now," truthful, sincere dedication to the "reality" of a moment and to a partner's input. Benefits of training include vastly improved improvisational skills and an accurate reading of others' behavior. One weakness may be the omission of a methodology for building "character." Focusing as it does on a personal response to given circumstance, the technique should be rounded out with a character-based, physical practice like Michael Chekhov, for example, and with some external work on style, physicality and period.

Probably the best Meisner teacher in New York City is Maggie Flanigan (arguably in the country, though we'll wait for a West Coast expert to read this and add something here about what's up in L.A.); following closely are the members of her studio; also those at the William Esper studio and instructors at The Neighborhood Playhouse -- if only because of their heritage (both in NYC). Meisner's book on acting is essentially a record of one class's journey, and is a wonderful way to further assess if the technique is appropriate for an individual.