My Man Meisner

Meisner has been very influential to my LIFE! Not just my acting but my life he has influenced. He keeps it real. What I mean by that is that he doesn't just explain how an actor should be in the studio but he also speaks about the actor outside of the studio. The forever growing and forever learning human beings that we should strive to be will help us in the studio. Growing up in a world so heavily influenced by society makes it hard to be different from what everyone else in society has learned to understand and except. Does that make since? Example. You stop by starbucks before going to class. You really need some coffee to stay awake because the night before you were up all night writing your ten page paper on why do you think Jason is so tall. You have 3 classes today and you are running off of an hour and thirty minutes of sleep. You left your ipod in the dorm room and you cant go back to get it because you already gave the subway your last $2.25. The 6 train finally arrives after running 10 minutes late and the people storm off of it and on it at the same danm time. A stranger bumps into you and knocks your coffee out of your hand. You go to catch it with both hands forgetting that you're holding Jason's ten page paper in one hand, the lid pops off, the hot coffee splashes into your face and onto the paper. The stranger looks and shouts while walking away "Sorry about that." You then reply, "Its ok". Now what society has taught me at least was to be nice and its not right to yell at strangers or be mean. Society tells us that accidents happen and its not right to blame other people for accidents. You are supposed to be nice. :/ Do I feel a Meisner moment coming up? I think so... FUCK BEING NICE!! I don't know about you but in the studio if that happened, it would get ugly. Now sometimes in the real world you shouldn't take things to the extreme because of the permanent consequences they may lead to. Meisner helps me explore those impulses that I sit on in the studio and in real life. I thank him for showing me and explaining to me that sometimes its ok not to sit on impulses, in fact you should rarely sit on impulses.

Meisner is The Man

Just for the sake of saying it, when Jason called us 'Meisner trained actors' it just made me beam like the sun. As much as I respect Strasberg's approach and don't know a lot about Adler, i really feel like iv'e been doing what Meisner has broken down for us, all my life. Iv'e always memorized lines by rote, sometimes it was great and all those other times i can look back on now and say,"I get to learn how to make those times great". With Meisner's approach it's really important to know you're lines, not because the lines are important, but because it should be text that you can rely on, that you don't have to go to your logical brain for. At first, the Repetiton exercise was hard for me to get and do, but now I completely understand working purely off of your partner's behavior and as it goes back and forth; a scene is like a ping pong match, you have to receive the ball your partner is sending for you to be able to send it back across the table, your stage(observed circumstance). This is really going to help a lot with scene work because as much as we can experience a scene where your having an argument with your best friend, it's nothing like having a real argument with your best friend. In a real argument it's all about the words, a person's behavior is instantly accepted and then cast aside. In a Meisner influenced scene the actors are fully aware of each others behavior and can't be shocked by the text but by the way they say it in their body. With conditioning like this i hope to be able to catch onto a person's behavior instantly, even in the heat of the moment, and get to the root of the real argument. That's what the repetition exercise is, dealing with the problem and moving on, no buffering.

Meisner Work Reflection

I went into the Meisner based work with a certain confidence because I understood it as being dependent upon another person, which it is. I figured that maybe this could be my technique because working within my own head leads me to think and analyze way too much for my own good. With my past experience in Meisner based work, I knew one of the bigger challenges I would face was the fact that you have to trust the person you are working with considerably in order to do the work and be believable. The value of trust in acting, I feel, is most visible in Meisner activities.

That being said, I was wrong in thinking it would be that simple. Thinking that I only had one obstacle to overcome was a ridiculous thought and it turns out anything can be over thought. It is something that I am working on, and I feel I am getting much better with it, but even in responding one begins to consider how the response will be interpreted, how a response can be formed from what your partner will possibly say, and even what will be said after class. Even the one obstacle I initially expected presented much more difficulty than anticipated. Trust is a bewildering concept to someone who believes that a person is never really known by their peers. Also, the impulsiveness required for the Reptilian Brain exercises was still there. Impulsiveness is still something I feel I struggle with.

Everything I presented as difficulties would make one think this was the hardest few weeks of my life. In all honesty, I found working with Meisner technique fairly manageable. It made me aware of what I needed to work on as an actor but did this in a manner of low intensity. I never felt that any activity was daunting and I enjoyed every minute of it. I do not know if this technique can be called my favorite, but I undoubtedly enjoyed working with this technique and I hope to come back to it if I am not incorporating it into every thing I do from here on in (which I probably will be).

~ Joshua D.A. Scarlett

Breaking Through

At first I was excited to work on Meisner. But as we went through the exercises I found that it was harder than any other technique I've studied. I went in expecting immediate results and, much to my dismay, it didn't work out that way. I've always had a problem acting on impulse. Living in the streets, I couldn't afford to do that. Every move I made had to be carefully thought out and planned. I can see the result of that in my work. For a long time I wasn't getting anywhere, it felt like I was at a stand-still in the work and I was so ready to give up. 

I think incorporating the justification for the activity really helped me. I was finally able to connect the repetition with the extreme point of views and that's when I began to grow. Just doing an activity with no reason wasn't good enough for me. I didn't get the point. But he daydreaming exercise helped me. I got to explore a situation that I never would have the balls to do otherwise. I put it off until the last possible day. I dreaded that assignment because I knew that I'd have to finally confront my fears. That daydreaming exercise began to knock down a wall that has been up for years, and I was finally able to break through and grow in the work. 

-Darius

Meisner in Real Life

It was really almost magical exploring through the basic Meisner work. I had never experienced anything like it, and at first was afraid of my impulses. I went into this work with a closed mind, thinking I wouldn't like it. However, through our little Meisner adventure, I have learned to embrace both the content of it as well as my impulses. I feel like my letting the repetition exercise into my life has helped me in the studio and in the real world. Of course, the extreme point of view that I am free to express in the studio is not acceptable in all places in my life, I find that I am openly expressing what I am feeling more often. I am also getting better at KNOWING what the impulses that I am sitting on actually are. This is silly, but sometimes in public when speaking to my family or friends, if they say something to me such as "I am upset today." I find myself repeating it back to them, until their behavior changes me to say something else. I don't even catch myself doing it on occasion. It has also happened outside of class with some fellow students in the class, and it makes the exercise even more enjoyable and enlightening.

When reading STOP KISS by Diana Son as well as my scene, I immediately thought of Meisner work. The text is very much like the repetition exercise, which is very exciting. It is very impulsive and I feel is a great step up in the work. I am very very curious AND excited to work with Monica on the scene in public tonight and tomorrow and see how it goes. Perhaps my subconscious experiences with the Meisner work in the recent past has been leading up to the public scene exercise.

I REALLY want to continue in the Meisner work, for forever, all the time. Ha. And I'm pumped for what is to come.

rawr.

Chelsea

~What Meisner Has Taught Us~

The Meisner work that our class has been doing has been such a fulfilling experience for all of us because not only have we all improved individually, but we have been able to witness each other grow and have these brilliant breakthrough moments that I have especially enjoyed watching my fellow peers experience! I think the most important thing I have learned from this Meisner work is that the possibilities are absolutely ENDLESS! However in order to be open to all of these opportunities/possibilites you have to focus 100% on your partner and be completely free and open. Once you let go of all you inhibitions your viewpoint changes and you can see all the creative possibilites and act on them impulsively. These magical moments that have happened in class have been so natural and organic and I find them to be so amazing because they could never happen, unless the actor was completely open and willing to take the risk and trust their impulses.

The things we have learned from Meisner are crucial for our upcoming scenes because we have to trust our partner and work off of them, and once we feel comfortable with our lines, scene objectives, etc...the impulses will then come naturally. I'm very excited for this next step, it will be so liberating!

~Emily : D

Meisner Work Reflections- The Power of Freedom & Intuition

Since starting the Meisner work, I have really come to appreciate the freedom of the studio. When I walk in, it's like a breath of fresh air (no pun on the Thailand-scented spray intended); I know that nothing I do will reflect upon me as a person, as it would in everyday life. It's a place where my classmates and I feel free to let our raw, human impulses flow, knowing that it won't always be pretty. In fact, we respect one another for being able to say "Yeah, this is how I feel! And YES, I'm going to let you know and make you GET IT."

Outside the studio, I've noticed myself taking inventory of what other people say and thinking to myself, "Don't let it roll off! How did what [he/she] said make me feel? How would I respond to this in the studio?" In fact, this silent activity, intended to make me more aware of my everyday reptilian experiences, has sometimes brought itself into my actual conversations and interactions. In one situation, when I realized that I was repeatedly being taken advantage of and disrespected, I spoke up for myself. Now, in the studio, I may have reached right out, grabbed her by the arm, and called her a bitch. Realizing this, I finally understood that the choice of ignoring what she said would have been boring for a scene and unproductive to a story; I would never "deal with it" (one of my biggest struggles in class) by ignoring it, whether in a scene or in real life. So, I composed myself, and finally let her know that what she said had insulted me.

Going back to this "inventory" of emotions and their real-life attachments will help me in scene work, I believe. Like several others were saying, I am a tad fearful of losing my sense of personal truth when taking on a character, but I think what will help me most is remembering that I must "live truthfully," even if my imaginary circumstances are that I am not myself. Perhaps my character would not react the way I would in a given situation, but if I return to my "inventory of emotional experiences," I'm sure I'll find something to draw from. If not, I can always escape to my daydreams-- they are goldmines.

I must never stop collecting more and more emotional experiences-- it's like a plant I must take care of and attend to daily, and the the more I collect, the more fruitful of an actor I'll become.

"Live fully - moment to moment - that is reality." ~Sanford Meisner

What I Learned From Sandy

There are 2 things that stick out to me when I think about the Meisner work we have done. The first is like what Madeline said, becoming a listener. The 2nd is like what Taylor said about letting everything in everyday life affect you and taking impulses off those and acting on them. I have too become a listener now. And now I let everything I hear have an effect on me. Well...I like to think everything...but I know I'm not that good yet :) In everyday life I find myself more expressive and more free than the average person bound by society. Now society sometimes prevents me from acting on those impulses I have, but I truly let everything affect me and I get something out of it...And if I can't act on it, I put it in my status on facebook :)

The ENTIRE work with impulses has really helped me grow tremendously as an actor. I feel more aware and connected when in the observed circumstance. And also I feel like when we approach text, I won't need to plan out what to do. I can now trust my impulses enough to just say go with it and whatever happens happens...And if it doesn't work, well, I tried :)

I feel Meisner has brought me more in touch with myself as a person too. Like I said, I feel I have something that no one else outside of the acting world has - Freedom.

Like Bruce Willis has told us "Live free or die hard!"

-Drew

Listening

Someone recently asked me if I was more of a listener or a talker, and I found myself hesitating before giving an answer. If someone had asked me this question before doing the Meisner work, I would have instantly said that I'm more of a talker, but the work we've been doing in class has made me more of a listener. The repetition has really made me aware not only of what an individual is saying to me, but how they're saying it, how they feel about it, what's going on with them today, etc. In the observed circumstance, I'm more conscious of how what I say or do affects my partner and vice versa. This awareness has carried over into my every day life; I'm more intuitive with people and I'm really starting to hate small talk. I'm constantly trying to make meaningful contact with people and to be more direct in my communication with others. I can feel myself becoming more impulsive on stage and off, and I really feel that I'm living life more fully than I ever have before. I love how the studio work overlaps with everyone's personal lives, I've said before that we're essentially going to school to learn how to be children again, but I also believe we're learning to be better human beings.

On a different note, I can't wait to get started on scene work! I imagine that the text will replace the repetition but the impulses will still carry the interaction. Adding text will definitely make things more challenging, but I can't wait to just play with it. I've been working on my monologue for the TPW audition, and I'm probably going to use the daydreaming exercise for my emotional preparation. I did a kind of mini daydream prep for a scene I read in my script analysis class, and I could feel the difference in my work.

~Madeline

My Meisner Work

I have made many profound insights throughout my Meisner work. I now know the importance of listening and reacting, and using the impulsive side of my brain. Oftentimes we as humans are instinctual creatures; reacting without thinking. As actors we must find a way to break free from our logical, "theatre brain," and let things come naturally. Through exploration of Meisner's work, I have noticed a significant difference in how I react to the world around me. Even in my everyday life I find myself speaking more from my gut, letting my words be spoken truthfully, and tersely.
Now that we are stepping out of exercizes and have begun dealing with full scenes, it will be nice to incoorperate everything I have learned into a piece of text. I will use what I have learned in Meisner to react truthfully, and use mental preperation to put myself in any sort of situation. I know now the importance of focussing on my partner and listening, and I will let practice cultivating my full attention and focus while working in my scene. I can't wait to start rehearsing, and to incoorperate everything I have learned!!
-taylor h.

Meisnerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

WHAT. A. JOURNEY. THIS HAS BEEN.

Meisner... hm.

This technique has stirred different emotions in me. It scared me, chilled me to the core, and made my heart glow. All at once. It's funny, letting my reptilian brain and impulses lead me...it's so freeing. Such a blank slate. It's made me see myself in a new light. I feel like I am getting to know myself deeper, and paying attention to how the world makes me really feel. I'm also hyper aware of others... their truth being revealed in subtext and body language. My interactions with others have evolved to a level of honesty that was not there before.

I LOVE the readings. Reading it, seeing our class on paper... awakens my brain. So many quotes have stuck out and stayed with me as I delve further into Meisner. For example, from the Mesiner packet: "until we acknowledge what's truly going on within ourselves-- the specifics of who we are and how we feel-- how can we possibly seek to be understood by others?" The concepts of being fully aware and having a complete point of view on everything has taught me the character of Monica. As we branch on to text, I think I am ready to take hold of a new person for I know my blank slate and how to let it go. And also, how to incorporate my impulses and draw from my imagination to paint the imaginary circumstances. The recent daydreaming work and emotional preparation was interesting... I liked letting my heart and mind wander and see where it lead me. Bill said, "a daydream will seek to reshape harsh reality into a form our egos can embrace."

Our midterm scenes surprised me. I saw how much we have all grown and sewn together the different aspects of Meisner into one cohesive presentation. There were both highs and lows, which can be expected. BUT. One thing I MUST let go of is expectation. I always feel like the scene has to GO somewhere. But no... the impulses will drive the scene and something will happen out of the course of things happening. A climax will come naturally. Or if not, then that is the truth of the scene. Always truth.

For my personal work, sometimes I sit on my impulses while trying to figure out how to word it. I get lost in the words. In the translation. So, we'll see with these scenes. I will try to own the text, not vice versa.

To infinity and beyond. :)

~Monica

Meisner and Madonna

I feel like I've grown within the past couple of weeks with the Meisner work, mainly because I've been able to be myself. I really enjoyed learning about letting go and letting the natural emotion rise to the surface and just be myself. I felt that as we progressed, I gradually broke out of my shell, and I saw that everyone else did as well, and it was nice to finally see the true, raw emotion and personality come out of everyone.

In regards to the scene work, I'm very interested in how we will take what we've learned of the Meisner technique and apply it to characters. Yes as we've developed our repetition exercise, it seemed to gradually become a natural scene and the repetition was a buffer, letting life portray itself genuinely in the studio. But I'm curious as to how to prepare for a character with this work. Yes, there is the mental preparation, but I feel like there may be something more. I kind of enjoy how we need to memorize, not with feeling, but just the basic gist of the words for our scenes. After reading my play (Stop Kiss by Diana Son), I realized though that there may be difficulties among actors with mental preparation because of the structure of the plot. I guess I'll learn eventually how to fully adapt and utilize the Meisner work for works like this, as well as others in mildly abstract styles [i.e. how would one prepare mentally for something as abstract as The Bald Soprano?]

Overall, I find Meisner very much like Madonna: it's all about being true to yourself and not inhibiting your natural being. In the end, it's important to express yourself...

Meisner, our master

I apologize for not getting on here sooner, my inbox is a bit of a jungle of disorganization and chaos. However, I've found my way now and that's all that matters.

In regards to the Meisner work, I was pleased with the progress that I made personally. In real life, if someone insulted me, I almost always laughed it off and then got angry later. This bled over into my Meisner work and taught me that that is not the way to be in acting. It's uninteresting to the audience as well as boring to act. I have happily noticed that things in the exercises have begun to hit me more fully, thus making my reactions fuller. I know I still need to work on pushing my reactions even farther and allow some of my aggression out.

My scene corresponds perfectly to this skill. My character definitely has some major anger problems, and that just so happens to be exactly what I need to explore within myself. I think it will be easier now that I have the Meisner techniques "in my back pocket", as to say. I know if I let the circumstance, and my partner's lines to truly effect me, I'll be a raging ball o' terror in the scene.

Hope everyone's break is going well,

Bridget

What I've Learned

I can definitely say I have never done anything quite like the Meisner work we have been doing. You would think it would be easy just repeating and letting your impulses flow, when actually it is super challenging and takes alot of practice to get where you want to be. I've realized I think alot before I speak and yes thats ok in certain times, but when your trying to let your impulses flow its not the best trait! I definitely feel the Meisner work is helping me work on just letting my feelings come out and not be so thoughtful. I'm so excited to see what putting text with our Meisner training will bring to the table. I think it will be tricky at first but really bring out a side that none of knew we had in us! Cant wait to see what comes next.

Hope everyone has a nice thanksgiving :)

- Alysha

lifeimitatesartimitateslifeimitatesartimitateslife

ALL righty...

The semester thus far has been quite a journey for me. I consider myself a considerably "present thinker," but for some reason in this class I've been trying to see into the future. I want to know the meaning of each excercise and what I need to be learning right as they are happening. After learning a great deal about patience, I've reached these conclusions: the learning never ends, it's about being true to yourself to your fullest and (as Jason would say) most present extent, and it's all about connection and response.

The Meisner repetition has brought the heart-on-my-sleeveness and sponteneity that I generate in my "real" life, heightened it, and made it come out of me in a much deeper, more honest way. This excercise must come from your gut or else you aren't doing it right and it has been a thrill and a terror to be forced to get out of my head, take a deep breath, and act on my impulse.

The packets in particular taught me a lot about the dynamic of the studio and a great deal about communication with your scene partner. I've always known the rule about putting the attention on your partner instead of yourself but it was a great way to put that concept into practice. Taking these risks and being intuitive about a person who, though you may not have known three months ago, you really want to succeed and grow with helped us grow as a class and as a team.

About the scene work: I'm getting a little scared of text. After all this work on being honest and impulsive, having another artists words in our mouth is going to be quite a challenge. I want to continue to react honestly and respond to my partner impulsively and I feel a text will kind of hinder that honesty. But then I think, maybe it will propel the honesty and allow us to adapt the people we have found in ourselves in the Meisner work and use it to experience a different reality, a "Rabbit Hole," if you'll excuse the oh so necessary kind-of-pun.

OK I'm kind of rambling - but the brain drain helps me to get my mind out of the tangles and settled clearly into the work.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Black Friday blows. (--pointofview)
:) Hunter

Thoughts on Meisner Work

The work we've done in class has allowed me to live more fully, make deeper connections with people, and go off of impulses. I can more easily express myself and I can mix real life connections with imaginary circumstances.

The use of imaginary circumstance and creating meaning by substituting people important to me is a great tool to use in scene work. It is always important to use moment to moment within scenes so that you can truly react off of what is given. This allows for the work to be organic and not pushed or fake. On stage the connections between actors are real. There is a trust and communication that allows us to react to the imaginary circumstances in a realistic way.

The behavior observation exercise which is wrapped into repetition with continue to be important. No matter what the text is we still have to read into what we are getting from our partner behaviorally. How they say it and what their body language is telling us is just important as the actual text.

I know I can continue to hone my skill of reacting to impulses. I do still sit on my impulses and can work on trusting my instincts.

So I finally joined the blog, sorry it took so long Jason. Admittedly I hadn't been keeping up with the acting forum, and what Jason said in class about making our craft the number one priority despite all the other work we have for school really inspired me to do just that, so now I'm going to spend my bus ride home reading over all the old posts and adding any input I may have.

Let me start off by saying that I absolutely love the Meisner Technique. I really feel myself growing as an actor and person through the repetition exercise. I think the repetition I did with Taylor for the midterm on monday was the most honest acting I've ever done. The contact we made in those moments was also probably the most meaningful contact I've ever made with another actor.

Lauren: I'm trying to "live in the creative state" in my everyday life too. Last week, my life outside the studio was frustrating me precisely because I was unable to make meaningful contact with a certain person. This frustration turned into a rant about how I believe people should be more reptilian and open in their everyday lives, if anyone wants to read it let me know and I'll send you the link, it's posted on my tumblr.

Thoughts about daydreaming: The daydreaming exercise really worked for me, it came much more naturally than sense memory. I still think the sense memory exercise is important, but I think daydreaming for my emotional preparation will benefit me more. I have a very active imagination, perhaps that's why.

~ Madeline

Daydreaming as a Tool

First, why hasn't everybody joined this awesome blog that Drew created for us. My feelings are hurt. How can we get the others on board?

Second, I wanted to open the floor for discussion of any thoughts, questions, ideas, etc. from the reading on DAYDREAMING from Bill's book.

Third, I wanted to open the floor for discussion of any questions or clarifications about your preparation for your MIDTERM SCENES.

The floor is open (whatever that means).

Jason

Thanks Drew! And Great Class Today Ladies and Gents

Meisner

This is really cool. I hope I'm doing this right....

I agree with Drew, we're all so used to being in our heads it's hard to let go. It's hard to tune into behaviors instead of everyday conversation (what are you doing? what's up? How are you?). I love working in the studio because we can let go of everything. We shouldn't be afraid to act on impulses because we're in a safe learning environment where we can explore.

My main goal is to feel this way all the time. I want to live in a creative state everyday and be enthralled by learning and understanding behaviors. I think it wonderful that, like Madeline said in class, we are training to be more like children. What a concept we come to college to be more childlike; wanting to learn and explore everything and truly say what's on our minds.

Great job getting the blog up!

PS. I saw a dress rehearsal of Bald Soprano and Geography of a Horse Dreamer. Everyone should go I'd love to hear what everyone thinks!

Shows Coming Up

One last thing-

So I know this is the third time I've posted, but I felt this should go on a different post than the Meisner reading haha!

There are a few of shows coming up and I just wanted to be sure you knew about all of them.

First off is our 2nd TPW, Bill for Bill. The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco and Geography of a Horse Dreamer by Sam Shepard. The show starts tomorrow (11/17) and runs through Sunday (11/21). All shows are at 8 except Sunday at 2. Make your reservations in the theatre office. The only show sold out is Wednesday, so far. But if you come and get on the waiting list, chances are you will get in. Both shows are short, so they're doing 1, taking a 15 min intermission while they flip the set around, and then doing the second after intermission. It will be quite a show!!!

---Btw, I know all this because I work in the theatre office and am house managing the show :)

Also, don't forget auditions for TPW #3 will be 11/29 and 11/30. The Monday and Tuesday we get back from Thanksgiving break. Sign up for a slot in the theatre office!!

Also this would be a nice place to discuss if we want to have a monologue night with Jason and do some practice in prep for the auditions.

There is a TON of stuff around the city right now. If you all don't belong to studentrush.org, you should! It's totally free and they let you know rush policies for shows and whatnot. They also have a willcall club and they get free tix and make them available to their members for free (actually $5, but that's just a reservation fee)!!! Currently I'm getting offers for free tix for Golf: the Musical, which I've heard is quite funny. So you should all join because it's totally free!!!

Lastly, my favorite thing about the city is the NYPL Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. This place is AMAZING!!! It has sheet music, cds, scripts, everything you can think of!!! I'm currently typing this from the library actually haha! I was here because of my favorite feature, the Theatre On Film and Tape (TOFT) archives. They've recorded almost every Broadway show, and a bunch of Off-Broadway shows, since the invention of film. I just got done watching the ORIGINAL production of A Chorus Line at the Public Theatre. It was awesome! This is like the 3rd show I've seen here so far haha. All you have to do is call and make a reservation in advance (or walk-in on some days) and tell them you're an actor or you're doing research for college and they will let you watch something. Be aware, you can only watch a show once. So if you do plan on doing an essay about a show, make sure you know what you're looking for before you go. And bring stuff to take notes with :)

Peace

-Drew

Meisner Reading

Hey all-

It's Drew again. So I thought I'd get the ball rolling with the discussion.

I really liked the quote when Meisner said "Grapes are to wine as life is to acting" (or something along those lines). That really helped me as an actor because sometimes in the studio I have a tendency to tell myself "So-and-so is just acting. They don't really mean that." But that hurts my growth and ability as an actor. I learned that I need to now understand that yes, the circumstances are imaginary, but it's still this person and they have meaning to me so my actions DO have consequences. It helped me find out how to put a real-life person who has meaning for me into an imaginary condition. I should draw from what they mean to me and not focus on the condition and tell myself "They would never do that or be in that situation."

That helps with the repetition exercise because we want to strive for the dramatic side, but when we get there we must respond as though it's actually happening.

One MAJOR thing Jason said in class today really stuck with me. He said that you can't tell yourself "I would never react that way" or "I would never do/say that" because these are IMAGINARY circumstances. You've never actually BEEN in any of these circumstances before so you DON'T know HOW you will react. And that's where our impulses come in. They are how we would react if this were happening. Because in real life, you don't get a chance to step back, pause time, and think. If someone says the building will blow up in 30 seconds, you won't take time to pull out some paper and start planning your escape route. YOU RUN. And at each turn or hallway something new happens and an impulse strikes and you act on it. That's what we strive to achieve in the studio.

At least for me, the biggest hinderance on my impulses is judging myself and thinking "What will others think?" Today in class at the beginning we were warming up our impulses. I had one and I judged myself and didn't do what my reptilian brain told me. Then I told myself "NO!" and a minute later when I was in my reptilian brain, I found myself doing back-flips/somersaults over Monica haha!

I don't know what you guys struggle with particularly when it comes to impulses, but for anyone who has a fear of being judged, know you're not alone. It's hard and I feel like I'm not gonna be 100% cured for a VERY long time, but this reading (and class today) definitely helped!

Peace for now!

-Drew

New Blog

Hey guys!

So I created this blog so that we can have a simpler and easier way to communicate between classes! I know this will be easier for all of us and it will be helpful in not cluttering up our inboxes haha!

I figure this will also help both classes come together and maybe learn from each other's experiences so we can all grow as actors.

We can use this blog to discuss readings, like we did with Meisner and the emails. But I feel like this would serve as a great place to discuss things we talked about in class or share moments we had in class with the other section. Also if people want to delve more into a certain area, this would be a wonderful place to promote such discussion.

Lastly, any great theatre in or around the city that anyone has seen or heard about or a show that someone is in at Marymount, this would be a wonderful place to share. And maybe we can all(or at least some of us) get together and go see a show one night!

I hope this promotes strong growth and healthy conversation to dig deeper in both our work and the work of others!

-Drew

PS- If anyone has anything else theatre- or class-related, feel free to post!!!