We are now beginning our intensive SUMMER MEISNER TRAINING PROGRAMS at Willamette University. During the summer months, we will be on break from our daily True Acting Tips format. 

Please visit our FACEBOOK PAGE to read our "true quote of the day" and other summer news from the True Acting Institute.

Our daily True Acting Tips will resume in the fall.

THE SEED OF LIFE

"Almost every acting class in the world trains actors to "play an objective", in other words, to choose an action based on the information you get from reading the script, or, why the character is doing what he is doing. Believe me, that's the easy part of dealing with actions. The piece of the puzzle that few actors learn to deal with is the deeper, personal layer of "why" they are playing those actions. 

Please consider this acting fact. Without a personal need to accomplish the "action", you have not yet earned your right to stand on that stage and speak the words of the script. I am talking about having the true need to do the things you are doing in the play. The "true need". Not the pretended need or the indicated need, but the authentic need. Having the true need to do what you are doing, is the seed of all life on stage. 

Isn't this true in life? Yes, in life, your actions are purposeful, you have the true need to do the things you do in each moment or you would not bother doing them. It is the same on the stage - we call this "purpose", your acting must be truly purposeful.

Remember, theatre is not an imitation of our lives, it demands a greater truth. "True purpose" is an essential part of that greater truth."

A RECIPE FOR GREAT SOUP!

"As you know, my mission here in the True Acting Tips column has always been to stress basic human values that make our lives and our work more effective, more enjoyable, so that we can all make a bigger difference in this world through our art. From the many emails I have been receiving from you, I am thrilled to know how much you enjoy the combination of stories and fables, inspirational quotes, along with the more technical elements of our craft, which I have been posting here. 

For those of you who are new here on our Facebook page, please contact me and tell me what acting issues you would like to see explored. Here's the link to email me:

http://www.trueactinginstitute.com/contact/

To continue with great stories, here's a beautiful children's fable from Aesop...

"Many years ago three soldiers, hungry and weary of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a meager harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three at the village square, wringing their hands and bemoaning the lack of anything to eat.

The soldiers spoke quietly among themselves and the first soldier then turned to the village elders. "Your tired fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of how to make soup from stones."

Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was put to the town's greatest kettle as the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones. "Now this will be a fine soup", said the second soldier; "but a pinch of salt and some parsley would make it wonderful!" Up jumped a villager, crying "What luck! I've just remembered where some's been left!" And off she ran, returning with an apronful of parsley and a turnip. As the kettle boiled on, the memory of the village improved: soon barley, carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot, and a cask of wine was rolled into the square as all sat down to feast.

They ate and danced and sang well into the night, refreshed by the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke to find the entire village standing before them. At their feet lay a satchel of the village's best breads and cheese. "You have given us the greatest of gifts: the secret of how to make soup from stones", said an elder, "and we shall never forget." The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said: "There is no secret, but this is certain: it is only by sharing that we may make a feast". And off the soldiers wandered, down the road."

A WEDNESDAY FOLK TALE

"An old man sat outside the walls of a great city. When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?" If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here." 

But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here too, you will find only good people." 

ACTING AS PILGRIMAGE

"Many people come in to the world of acting, not with a love for the rigorous work it requires, but as a strategy to achieve immediate results not related to the work.

In truth, the results are out of our control, so without a zest, an enjoyment for the process itself, acting must become a burden. Anita Brookner said something about life that every actor would be wise to take to heart...

"Real love is a pilgrimage. It happens when there is no strategy, but it is very rare because most people are strategists."

"The great acting teachers were more interested in helping their students become fully expressive of their own, unique voice than in becoming an imitation of the teacher. I was fortunate to study with one of those great teachers. I am also very grateful to work with many current teachers of acting, wonderful artists and human beings who care deeply for their students and helping them become strong in their craft, simple and authentic in their work and free to unleash their heart, soul and spirit. What a joy to be in the room with teachers such as these. 

In the acting class, there are some things which can be taught and these "technique" related skills must lead to greater and greater simplicity in your work, so that ultimately, there is nothing "extra". As you probably know, true simplicity is the mark of all great artists and one of the most difficult things to achieve.

Then their is the big thing that can not be taught and this has to do with your own humanity, your "temperament", what you have inside yourself to bring to the world through your acting and, when you are working well, the very thing that makes your performance different than any other actor who has ever walked on that stage.

The great Russian acting teacher and director, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, had this to say...

"When I look closely into the elements of an actor's genius, they fall into three large divisions in my mind. The first are the individual qualities of the actor, his faculty to inspire the infectiousness of his temperament. The second is naturalness, sincerity of experience. And the third is technique, proficiency."

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

"During rehearsals, the work you do in the evenings at home, will be as vital as the work you do during the day in the rehearsal hall. Much of this work will consist of getting more specific with the events of the days work, personalizing both the text and your objectives and spending internal time looking creatively at the possibilities for the scenes you will put on their feet tomorrow.

Each day, with greater clarity and with deeper, personal connection, you must know what it is you are doing (your actions or objectives) and why you are doing it. But what about the "how" you are doing it?

The "how" you go after your objecectives is the one thing I ask that you do not do on your own. Why? Because the "how you do what you are doing" must come from your partners. If you are authentically available to the other actors, they will continually tell you if you are getting closer to or further from the aim of your actions. Interestingly, we do this very naturally and spontaneously in life yet it is often missing on the stage. This is exactly why Sanford Meisner spent so much time working with actors to become deeply responsive to the behavior of their partners.

German director, Erwin Piscator (1893-1966), had some beautiful thoughts on responding to your partners. Also, he makes clear in the following passage that responding is not enough, that your response must be "set into motion" by your attempt to actually accomplish something, meaning, your "action". Here are his thoughts... 

"You exist through your partners on stage as much as through or by yourself. You can never find yourself before you have learned how to re-act to your partner. In order to find yourself you must go out of yourself. You will say that from re-acting to acting is only a little step forward. Yes - but a very decisive one. Your reaction must be spontaneous. It must come out of your sincerity without which you would not be creative. But this reaction is passive and must be set in motion to become action, which in turn gives your character the sense of reality."

FIND KINDNESS

"Unfortunately, in our profession and in the classroom, there are actors, directors and teachers who will purposely, manipulatively and with tremendous cruelty, try to break your spirit in the aim of making themselves seem more powerful. I have had many students come to me with the horror stories of working with these kind of people. 

You and I know in our core that, in fact, there is a "dark side" and it has a tremendous "pull." Isn't this why the story of "Star Wars" and the relationship between Luke and Darth Vader resonated with billions of people around the globe? 

Today's Tip? When you meet up with the Darth Vaders of the stage and the acting studio, people who are simply too weak to resist the ancient, barbaric and inhuman "pull", simply turn in the other direction and remove yourself quietly from their toxic environment.

And then? Be a living example of kindness. Kindness, compassion and respect. With these three qualities, you become a shining light and you will attract people into your life and work who share your approach to the world. No matter the outer circumstances, from this place, you have all ready achieved great success.

As you know I love quotes. I am continually inspired by these succinct thoughts from the great minds throughout history and I love sharing the gems I find with you here in the Tips column. Enjoy this one from George Sand...

"Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness."

WHAT'S IN THE SILENCE?

"The great fear for many actors is that they are not being "entertaining" enough. The ramifications of this fear is lifeless, forced and false behavior, aimed at convincing the audience that the actor is being "real" so that the audience and the critics will "buy" their performance. 

This fear is deep rooted and stems from the lack of understanding that when you know what you are "doing" in each moment, and when you know "why" you are doing it, and when this "why" has actual meaning to you, authentic behavior will occur on its own. The audience will accept your behavior as "true" because it is. 

French theatre artist, Jacques Copeau spoke at length about this very thing. Here are some of his thoughts on the matter...

"When there is silence, the actor thinks he has to indulge in facial expressions. An actor always makes too many gestures on the pretext of being natural. And always many too many facial expressions.

The actor does not know that motionless, like silence, is expressive, so he tries to make his silence expressive by a succession of little interrupted displays that aim at bringing out the slightest shadings of impression created on him by the words of whoever is speaking. 

But silence is expressive through the contained sincerity of the person who is listening, through the simple internal preparation of the answer. An actor who thinks and feels impresses the audience through the very quality of his presence, without having to externalize his thought by any grimace whatever."