Shakespeare and Meisner: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers (Arden Performance Companions)

"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."-- Provided by publisher Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page CONTENTS SERIES PREFACE AUTHORS’ PREFACE FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 Introduction Truthful connection to text Meisner and Shakespeare Formalizing Meisner’s technique How to use this book PART ONE Sanford Meisner and his work 2 Meisner’s influences The Group Theatre The Group Theatre’s legacy Meisner and Stanislavsky Meisner and Method Meisner’s timeline 3 The reality of doing Silent messages – the ’93 per cent rule’ Act before you think Summary of reality of doing 4 Repetition Meisner’s word repetition game Why do Repetition? Observations versus judgements Why do Repetition when working with Shakespeare? Exercises with Repetition Summary of Repetition 5 Independent Activity and Knock on the Door Creating an Independent Activity Knock on the Door Doing nothing Summary of the Independent Activity 6 Given and imaginary circumstances Connecting to the given circumstances Stage directions Acting as intuition Summary of given and imaginary circumstances 7 Preparation and As Ifs Preparation Only for the first moment Choosing Preparations As Ifs Choosing As Ifs Other uses for As Ifs Preparation summary As If summary PART TWO Bringing in text 8 Learning lines Learning lines Learning lines neutrally Awareness of rhythm Summary of line learning 9 Paraphrasing, Breaking the Back and soliloquies Paraphrasing Breaking the Back Soliloquies Summary of paraphrasing Summary of Breaking the Back 10 The strengths and limitations of Meisner for working with Shakespeare Staying truthful under Shakespeare’s heightened situations Staying truthful under Shakespeare’s heightened text Canoeing with Shakespeare Summary of strengths Summary of limitations PART THREE Aileen Gonsalves in conversation with Tracy Irish about how Butterfly Theatre Company use Meisner’s techniques 11 Taking Meisner’s principles into the practice of Butterfly Theatre Company’s ‘Five Conditions’ Who are Butterfly Theatre Company? Why has Meisner been so influential on your practice? What limitations have you found in working with Meisner techniques on Shakespeare? How have you adapted Meisner’s key exercises and concepts for how you work with Shakespeare? Can you explain what the Five Conditions are and how they work? Working with Preparations and As Ifs has been discussed earlier in this book (in Chapter 7), but can you say more about Objectives, Stakes and Entitlement and how you create those conditions? Can you give another example of how the Five Conditions would work with a Shakespeare scene? Summary of Butterfly’s Five Conditions 12 Taking Meisner’s principles into the practice of Butterfly Theatre Company’s work with Shakespeare’s text As discussed in previous chapters, Meisner’s expertise was not in working with Shakespeare. As a theatre company who mainly work with Shakespeare, how has Meisner helped you with text work? Who else has influenced your work with Shakespeare’s text and how has this manifested in your practice? Can you share some of the additional exercises you use in Butterfly for working with Shakespeare’s text? Since Meisner is all about ‘living off the other fellow’, how useful are his techniques for soliloquies? Summary of Butterfly’s techniques for working on text REFERENCES ABOUT THE AUTHORS "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." --Page [4] of cover