About the Program
An award-winning program, The Meisner Core Program teaches the approach to acting developed by Sanford Meisner and explores what it means to “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances”.
Who is Sanford Meisner?
Sanford Meisner is the founder of the Meisner technique of acting. Born on August 31, 1905, Sanford “Sandy” Meisner graduated from Erasmus Hall in 1923. He attended The Damrosch Institute of Music (now the Julliard School of Music) and studied to become a concert pianist. It wasn’t until he became part of a production by Theatre Guild of ‘They Knew What They Wanted’ by Sidney Howard that Meisner realized his love for acting.
The Journey
Sightlines Actors’ Space uses a cyclical learning model where actors progress based on their level of comfort, pacing, and proficiency. Actors may choose to continue to work within their current stage; however, they may advance to subsequent stages upon endorsement by the Designated Meisner Teacher.
The Meisner Core Program Stages
Meisner Core Program: Fundamentals aims to instill the foundational skills that actors need to follow their instincts. In order to follow their instincts, they must first manage social editors that hinder them from expressing their full and authentic impulses. This is worked on through the Repetition exercise.
Upon building consistency in expressing authentic impulses, actors can then engage in connecting their instincts to imaginary circumstances through the next exercise: Independent Activity. Emotional Preparation and working with words through Open Scenes are also introduced during this stage of the training.
Upon assessment by the Designated Meisner Teacher, actors are able to proceed to the next stage of their training, Meisner Technique: Exploration.
Meisner Core Program: Exploration aims to apply the foundational skills to scenes. According to Meisner, “the text is your greatest enemy” because it tends to get actors back in their head. They start “performing” rather than responding truthfully to their scene partner. To maintain the freedom they discovered during the earlier stage of their training, the actors will learn the different tools for scene work: First Reading, Improvisation, and Lou Gehrig Exercise.
The actors will be tasked to select and explore contemporary dialogue & monologue scenes based on the strength of their connection to the material. Through exploration, actors will experience what it’s like to equip themselves with tools that allow them to learn how to be responsible for the development of characters in the scenes they encounter.
Upon assessment by the Designated Meisner Teacher, actors are able to proceed to the next stage of their training, Meisner Technique: Integration.
Meisner Core Program: Integration aims to strengthen & expand the actors’ imagination by exploring characters in more complex imaginary circumstances. The actors will engage in material with heightened language (i.e. Spoon River, Shakespeare) and characters with differences (i.e. impediments, cognitive, emotional, physical, and/or vocal differences).
Actors will engage in Character Research & Development to deepen their understanding of their material. As they explore using the tools they have previously learned, the actors may encounter emotional discrepancies between themselves and the character. These discrepancies can then be addressed through Particularization & Fantasy Work.
The Integration stage requires the actor to create and implement their own working process that serves their characters based on the context of the material – empowering them to create bravely and truthfully.
Testimonials
Class Award
Winner of the Best Acting Program Award at the Meisner Insititute International Scene Competition 2021
Program Guidelines
- This program is for students 18 years old and above.
- All students must begin at Fundamentals regardless of prior experience and training.
- Each class is either conducted ONLINE, IN-PERSON, or BOTH (Hybrid).
- The maximum number of students per class is 10 only to ensure the quality of the training that each student receives.
- Each cycle is equivalent to 8 sessions (1 session per week for both Online & In-Person, 3 hours per session).
- Each cycle of classes is launched on a monthly basis. The enrollment period starts a month before the next cycle begins.
On-Going Sign-Ups
There are currently no on-going sign-ups for the Meisner Core Program. Please check back later.
