Back to Basics

I had an amazing acting class this weekend. It was an introduction to the Meisner Technique with Jacqueline McClintok, an incredibly funny and inspiring woman who was one his last students at The Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.

If you read the book Sanford Meisner on Acting, the first three chapters give you a good idea of the exercises we were doing in class.

All the exercises mostly revolved around the "Repetition Game". Basically, two people sit face-to-face in chairs. One person makes a general observation like "Your shirt is blue" (or "You have curly hair," or "You just shuffled in your seat," ect.), the other person repeats "My shirt is blue," the first person repeats "Your shirt is blue," and so on and so forth until you are told to stop or switch. Then the other person makes an observation.

When I read the book, on paper, it sounded kind of boring. Especially when you realize that people spend weeks doing this one exercise before moving on to anything new. But once you're there, you realize how fascinating it is and how much it strips acting back down to it's basic, most essential elements: Stop thinking, Make it about the other person, Stay in the moment, and Listen!

You should see the great notes I took. It's a shame if you missed out on this amazing course (*cough* Eric *cough*).

Jacquelin is now based in Montreal but she had a wonderful time in Ottawa. Everyone in class was hoping that she would come back again soon, but if not, we may have to make a weekly road trip.