3 TEXTS I USED TO READ IN THE FIRST YEAR ACTING CLASS, FIRST DAY (NOT ANYMORE)
To Train or Not to Train (Excerpt from a 1978 text written by an actor) Many people believe that training in a drama school is a waste of time.Acting, they claim, is something you either have or you don’t. How can you teach someone to do something that is either in their nature or not? […]
Stanislavski’s Vision of the Taskbook
Beyond Self-Observation Training: Stanislavski’s Actor Cultivation Apart from self-observation training, Konstantin Stanislavski had two other types of training under the title “cultivation of the actor.”G.V. Kristi describes its content: “The cultivation of the actor, as understood by K.S. Stanislavski, is the daily training of the internal, psychological, and physical qualities that support the actor’s creativity.” […]
The illiterate actor of the 21st century and a war against the author and the text.
“Text is the enemy of the actor…” A famous teacher once said…. but a gentleman never tells who… Well ok Meisner said it! yeah, apparently I am not much of a gentleman… Let me be clear text IS YOUR FRIEND! And you know how it goes, introductions matter when you first meet someone. So a friend […]
The love for art and the love for me, me, me.
A phenomena I see is the perpetual love for self in art instead of art for art sake. Stanislavski said it best, when he called out “don’t love yourself in art, but the art inside you”, the problem was in all probability as prevalent then as it is now. I am not saying loving yourself […]
# 1
I don’t only read acting books, even though people who know me best, know as a fact, that reading acting books is my main source of daily entertainment (yes I am boring) hey, I do other stuff too, you know…stuff that involves mostly uh… fuck it…reading. So to make a dull announcement even duller, I […]
Self-confidence in a class.
I really don’t like delving into such mattersI am not a therapistI am not a psychoanalyst…n o t a d o c t o r! But I see so many people in the class ( even seasoned professionals) suffer needlessly.Again, not a doctor, just an acting coach; As an acting coach I sometimes have to […]
HOW DOES ONE APPROACH A NEW TECHNIQUE?
And why on earth “are we so f@&^ing useless ?” Whenever we delve into the world of a new technique, be it M.Chekhov, S. Meisner, it doesn’t matter; you will fail…My advice?…do so gloriously! You ARE supposed to fail! The technique is new…at least to you, it is! Every step, every minute (mī-ˈnüt) addition in […]
DUSTY HERMETIC BOOKS AND PRINCIPLES ABOUT ACTING
Apparently, one can find truths about acting everywhere. My friend and mentor, CT(the most brilliant teacher I know on the damn planet) has diligent eyes; he can trace didactic material about acting into nearly anything. Yes, anything, even books on kayaking. I haven’t perfected my game, it takes freaking time and a friend/mentor, but I […]
Impregnated moments
What you are doing right now, right NOW, is already impregnated with the next Moment without you even knowing it. This moment right now contains the potential of the next moment! Nothing ever ends its a continuum of moments and that is energizing to know! When you close your eyes right in this moment you […]
On Vague Terms
There are a lot of vague words in acting! There are a lot of subjective terms and unless a teacher or a director clarifies what he or she means when they utter such words and terms things get murky. at best! Phrases like “find the truth” (who’s Truth, what truth, Characters ? Given circumstances? or […]
