Sanford Meisner was one of the best known and beloved teachers of acting in the country. This book follows one of his acting classes for fifteen months, beginning with the most rudimentary exercises and ending with affecting and polished scenes from contemporary American plays. Written in collaboration with Dennis Longwell, it is essential reading for beginning and professional actors alike. Throughout these pages Meisner is a delight—always empathizing with his students and urging them onward, provoking emotion, laughter, and growing technical mastery from his charges. With an introduction by Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa and Tootsie, who worked with Meisner for five years. "This book should be read by anyone who wants to act or even appreciate what acting involves. Like Meisner's way of teaching, it is the straight goods."—Arthur Miller "If there is a key to good acting, this one is it, above all others. Actors, young and not so young, will find inspiration and excitement in this book."—Gregory Peck

Taking readers step-by-step through the most basic acting exercises to critiques of performances in scenes from contemporary American plays, this volume follows a class of eight at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where Meisner has taught for fifty years

Michael Chekhov and Sanford Meisner: Collisions and Convergence in Actor Training offers a comprehensive analysis of the Sanford Meisner Acting Technique in comparison to the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique. This compilation reveals the connections as well as the contradictions between these two very different approaches, while highlighting meaningful bridges and offering in-depth essays from a variety of sources, including master teachers with years of experience and new and rising stars in the field. The authors provide philosophical arguments on actor training, innovative approaches to methodology, and explorations into integration, as well as practical methods of application for the classroom or rehearsal room, or scaffolded into a curriculum. Michael Chekhov and Sanford Meisner: Collisions and Convergence in Actor Training is an excellent resource for professors teaching Introductory, Intermediate or Advanced Acting Technique as well as acting program directors and department chairs seeking new, impactful research on actor training.

A masterful introduction to the actor's craft presents a series of rigorous but flexible exercises, based on the Meisner Technique of acting, designed to help actors deal with a wide variety of performance challenges. Original. 15,000 first printing.

Product DescriptionShortly before his death, Sanford Meisner arranged for Larry Silverberg to create a written legacy of his teaching techniques. This book is the second of four books in the Sanford Meisner series. In this extraordinary new book, Silverberg demystifies the emotional demands of acting and leads the actor through a process aimed at tapping into and deepening his own emotional instrument. Not only will actors gain insight into the whole realm of the emotions, they will see very clearly the traps most actors fall into when it comes to "being emotional" on stage. A healthier and more effective way of working will be taught -- a way of working which brings the actor powerful and unique creativity to every part. About the AuthorLarry Silverberg is founder and Artistic Director of the Belltown Theatre Center in Seattle, WA. He is also on staff at the University of Washington where he teaches Master Classes in the Meisner Work, while continuing his own acting career. Larry is a past winner of the Warner Bros. Filmmaker of the Year Award for his film, Flight in Masquerade, and has also been busy directing for the stage. Larry is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater in New York City where he studied with master acting teacher, Sanford Meisner.

This practical handbook is invaluable for anyone performing, teaching, studying or simply wanting a new way to enjoy Shakespeare. It provides an outline of Meisner's work and legacy, a discussion of that legacy in the light of the enduring global popularity of Shakespeare, and a wealth of practical exercises drawn from Meisner's techniques. Shakespeare writes about the truth in human relationships and human hearts. Sanford Meisner's work unlocks truthful acting. They would seem a perfect match. Yet, following Meisner's note to his actors that 'text is your greatest enemy', Shakespeare and Meisner are often considered 'strange bedfellows'. The rhetorical complexity of Shakespeare's text can often be perceived as rules an actor must learn in order to perform Shakespeare 'properly'. Meisner's main rule is that 'you can't say ouch until you've been pinched': in other words, an actor must genuinely feel something in order to react in a performance which is alive to the moment. This book explores how actors can use Meisner's tools of 'acting is reacting' to discover the infinite freedom within the apparent constraints of Shakespeare's text.

Explains how plays are structured, looks at theatrical exposition, theme, and images, and shows how to analyze a play and understand its production

(Applause Books). A master actor who's appeared in an enormous number of films, starring with everyone from Nicholson to Kermit the Frog, Michael Caine is uniquely qualified to provide his view of making movies. This revised and expanded edition features great photos, with chapters on: Preparation, In Front of the Camera Before You Shoot, The Take, Characters, Directors, On Being a Star, and much more. "Remarkable material ... A treasure ... I'm not going to be looking at performances quite the same way ... FASCINATING!" Gene Siskel

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