SanfordMeisneronActing

THEFOUNDATIONOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING.
Areyoulisteningtome?
AreyouREALLYlisteningtome?
YourenotpretendingthatyourelisteningyoureREALLYlistening?Would
yousayso?
Thatstherealityofdoing.
Howmanyofyouarelisteningtomenow?
Now,justforyourself,listentothecarsyouhearoutside.Dothat.(1min)
Ok,howmanydidyouhear?
Didyoulistenasyourself,orwereyouplayingacharacter?
Asastudentpartlegitimate,partacting?
Wereyoureallypuzzledorwereyoupuzzledincharacter?
Now,singtoyourselfnotoutloud.(1min)
Howmanyofyoudidit?
Foryourselfortheatrically?
AsHamlet,asyourself,halfandhalf?
Now,countthelightbulbs.
DidyoucountincharactertheatricallyordidYOUcount?
Computeinyourhead931x18(=16758)
Didyoutry?Youmayberightorwronglikelifeyoumayhavecometo
differentconclusions,butitsimportantthatyouTRIED.
Itsoktobewrongbutitsnotokifyoudonottry.
Observeapartner.(1min)
WeretheobservationsdonebyYOUorbyacharacterfromaplay?
Canyouholdontothat?
Canyouhearwell?
Canyourepeatwhatyouhear?Exactly?(Ofcourseyoucan!)
Lookatyourpartner.Whatdoyouobserve?NOTHINKINGORREADINGS,
justrepeatwhatyouobserve.(ex.Youhaveblondehair)
NowIbelievethatyoucanbothhearandrepeatwhatyouhear.
Thismayseemsillybutitisthebeginningorthebasisofsomething.A
connectionisestablishedwhichisthebasisofwhateventuallybecomes
emotionaldialogue.
RepetitionFromtheOthersPointofView:
Youhaveblackhair.Isthattrue?No.
SothatswhatyouanswerNoIdonothaveblackhair.
Youhaveblondehair.
Yes,Ihaveblondehair.
Yes,youdo.
Yes,Ido
Thisiscontactbetweentwohumans.
Youcurlyourhair.

Yes,Icurlmyhair.
Yes,youdo.
Yes,Ido.
Yes,Icanseethatyoudo.
Yes,youcanseethatIdo.
Commentontheircomment.

THEBASISOFACTINGISTHEREALITYOFDOING.
Howdoesthisdefinitioncomparetowhatweredoing?
Ifyousimplydoit,youdontfocusonyourself.
Ifyousimplydoit,youhavenotimetowatchyourselfdoingit.
Itbecomessomethingthatreally,reallyexistsspecifically.
Whenyoudosomething,youreallyDOitratherthanpretendingthatyoure
doingit.Andyoudontdoitlikeacharacter.
Dontplayatbeingacharacteritisrightthereinyourdoingit. Itwillreveal
itself gradually.
Inwordrepetition,dontgotoofar.
Dontdolinereadings.
Silencecreatesanewmoment.
Theverbalcontactbetween changesisbasedoninstinct.
Apointwhereonehastopickupwhattherepetitionisdoingtoyoumustbe
spontaneous.
Youcancommentontheirbehavior.
Lettheinstinctiveremarkscomeout.
Dontthinktoomuchortrytocontrolwhatyouresayingjustlisten.
Twomoments:cancomefrominstinct.Donotrepeatthesamelineagainifyour
partnergivesyousilence.Usethenewmoment.
Actingisnotanimitationoflifedontbepolite.Ifyourehit,retaliate,evenif
youwouldnotinreallife.
Truthfulnesscomeswhen:
Youdontdoanythingunlesssomethinghappenstomakeyoudoit.
Whatyoudodoesntdependonyouitdependsontheother.
Itcomesfromspontaneity.
Eliminatealltheheadworksoyoucanbeimpulsive.
Inrepetition:listen,nothinking,nointellectuality.
Yourrefusalsetsupanimpulseinmewhichcomesdirectlyoutof therepetition
andmakesyourespond.(ex.Lendme$10.Lendyou $10.Ineed$10. Youneed
$10.Imusthave$10.Youmusthave$10.Youmustgiveme$10.Goask
someoneelse!)
Graduallyasyoutrain,theresponsescomenotfromyourhead,buttruthfully
fromyourimpulses.
Apractitionerissomebodywhoislearningtofindhis/herinstincts,nottogivea
performance.Likeamusicianwhoworksonrepetitionofscales.
Iamanonintellectualteacherofacting.Myapproachisbasedonbringingthe
actorbacktohis/heremotionalimpulsesandtoactingthatisfirmlyrootedin the
instinctive.Itisbasedon thefactthatallgoodactingcomesfromtheheart,asit
were,andthattheresnomentalityinit.
PullingtheRepetitionExerciseTogetherWithanIndependentActivity:

 Lookupaphonenumberinthephonebook,ofagirlwhoyoumetapartylast
weekwhohasinvitedyoutospendthenight.Youlostherphone#butyouknow
hernameisSueSmith.Haveyourpartnerknockon thedoorinthemidstofyour
searchingandask,Areyoulookingforsomething?anddotherepetition
exercise.
Chooseanactivitythatisdifficult,butnotimpossible.
Youmusthaveareasontowanttodoit.Itisthesourceoftheconcentration,
whicheventuallyleadstoyouremotionwhichcomesbyitself.
Actingisnottalkingitislivingofftheotherperson.
On stagewewantpublicsolitude (Stan)
Pickanactivitythatistruthfulforyou.
THREEKNOCKS
Aknockhasameaning.Knocktruthfully,3times,10secondsbetweeneach,with
3differentmeanings.Askanotherstudent,whatdideachmean?
Knocksothatithassomeresemblancetolife.Dontknocktheatrically.
Firstmomentoftheexerciseistheknockthesecondmomentistheopeningof
thedooryourthirdmomentistheinterpretationoftheknock.
Thethirdmomentisthemeaningtheknockhasforyou,verbalizedbyyouasyou
openthedoor.Thenyougobacktowhatyouredoing.Dowhateverthethird
momentpermitsyoutodoandthengobacktoyourindependentactivityandlet
theexercisecontinue.
Afterthefirsttwoknocks,tellmewhattheymeantoyou(nottheknocker,butthe
personintheroom).Afterthethirdone,openthedoor.Anduseverbally what
thethirdknockmeanttoyou.Thengobacktoyourindependentactivityandthe
exercise.
Youdonthavetoanswerthedoor.
Takeawaythelogicbecauserepetitionwillinducerealemotion.
Youmustrepeatwhatissaidtoyouevenifyouredoingacancerexperimentand
someonecomesinandsaysIlovespaghetti.
Anindependentactivitymustbeurgent,truthfulandDIFFICULTtodopublic
solitudeactivitynottooexaggeratedorfarfetchedknowthereasonwhy.
Difficultyismostimportantstrengthensyourconcentration.Mustpracticelikea
musician.20yearstomasterit.Youmustlearntouseyourinstinctsbasedon
whatsomebodyelsedoestoyou.Giveyourselftimetomasterit.
Inrepetition,thecontinuityisimportant.
Dontact,dontfake,dontpretendwork!
BEYONDREPETITION:
Nexttime,thepersonwhocomesinhastohaveareasonforcorningin.Andthe
reasonhastobesimpleandspecificandnotdeathdefyinginitsurgency.The
knockshouldstillhavemeaning.Evenifitsjustfororegano.Ifyoucreatea
studyforyourself,justletitROOTyoudontplayacharacter.3knocksthen
continuewiththerepetition.
AboutStrasbergheintrovertsthealreadyintroverted.Putallyourattentionon
theotherandrepeatwhatyouhear.
Anactorsfaiththeybelievethatthecircumstancesaretrue.
Youdonthavetoworryaboutbeinglogicalbecausethescriptdoesitforyou.
Actingisallagiveandtakeofthoseimpulsesaffectingeachperson.
Maketheactivitymoreimportantthantherepetition.

 Trytotightentherepetition.Trytoletitmoveinitsorganicrhythm.Avoid
playingascene.
Saylinesfromascriptwithnomeaningorreading.Themechanicalapproach
avoidscalculatedresultsRAW.
Reduceyoutoaneutral,meaningless,inhumanobjectrobotsoonyouwillfill
thosewordswithtruthofyouremotionallife.
Remainneutralandrelaxedifpushedyouwouldberesponsive.Iffirmandtense,
youcantbebudged.
Soontheemotionwillcomeoutofwhatyourpartnerisgivingyou.
Theexercisestripsyouofyourbadhabits.
SCENEShandledimprovisationally,impulsetoimpulse:
Takecurrentrepetitionexerciseandaddanemotionalcircumstancetothe
characterwhoisenteringtheroom.Thismakesitintoascene.
Pickuptheimpulseinsteadofthecue.Whenyouhearthewordscotchinthe
sentence,begintoimpulsivelyrespond.
LearnthelinesTHENpickuptheimpulses.
Soonaddpreparationwhichistheselfstimulationofyouremotion.
Anddonttrytoseethesnowfalloutside.Youwillseeflats!Makethe
audiencebelieveitsforthemnotforyou.
BEGINNINGOFPREPARATION
Askwhattheywoulddowith $100,000.
Iftoopracticalandnotimaginative:respondthatwishfulthinkingisbasedon
stimulatedimagination,andisapreludeinpreparation.