Notes on Sanford Meisners approach to actor training

Sanford Meisner was one of the earliest American disciples of Stanislavskis work. He was a
contemporary of Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg and each developed a specific and unique
approach to acting and actor training. Each based their training on different aspects of
Stanislavskis system and there was a great deal of argument between these disciples as to the
choice of focus. Through this great debate, they are collectively credited with developing
Method Acting in America, which had a huge impact on not only stage acting but film acting
as well. They worked together for a brief time to form The Group Theatre in New York in
1931. All used the technique of having a company model of frequent classes where scene work
and monologues were rehearsed and scrutinized as well as mounting productions of plays.
Meisners focus was on action. He said Acting is doing. An ounce of behavior is worth more
than a pound of words. His goal as an actor is To live truthfully under given imaginary
circumstances. Of course, given circumstances are one the most powerful of Stanislavskis
discoveries and is closely tied to his Magic IF as well. What is each character bringing into
the scene? How do those particular circumstances change or shape the actions and reactions
of the character within the words of the scene? Actors should come to the work with a clear
understanding of not only the given circumstances of the character but also the characters
wants and desires (objectives). The actor should work in a state of What if I were in this
situation? Meisner did not want actors to come into the rehearsal process with a
predetermined set of actions, but rather use the information of given circumstances and script
as a jumping off pointfocusing on what happens in the moment between actors involved. He
encouraged actors to act/change only when forced, usually by other actors in the scene. His in
class exercises included repeated lines back and forth between himself and another actor or
between two actors (recall the repetition exercise we did in class) or exercises where he gave
students a task to complete, emphasizing DOING rather than performing (recall the listening for
cars vs. the counting of the seats exercise).
Key Ideas:
*Acting is doing.
*focus on given circumstances and objectives of characters with no predetermination or
expectation of action.
*Focus on being receptive and reactive in the moment.
*Dont do anything unless something happens to make you do it.