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