"Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances." So taught Sanford Meisner (1905-1997), usually known as Sandy. Sandy was one of the major creative adaptors of Stanislavski method acting to American stage and screen in the last century. He developed his own "Meisner Technique". To be a true actor one has to be profoundly rooted in being a true human being. Both involve "living truthfully" – the former involves living truthfully under imaginary circumstances; the latter involves living truthfully under real circumstances.
This understanding of the art form of acting so grasped me and struck such a deep chord in my heart, that as I began my sabbatical I knew I had to pursue further this Meisner approach to acting.
Perhaps a little background will help. It was when I was in high school that I first became attracted to acting. While all my friends were playing sports, I was acting in high school and eventually university plays. Human drama – real or in theatre – has always drawn the interest and commitment of my mind and heart. Perhaps that has something to do with why I eventually became a Jesuit priest. The liturgy of the Church is human drama working itself out in the mystery of its ultimate meaning, the death and resurrection of Jesus.
As a Jesuit, acting got put aside in pursuit of higher studies in theology. For the past 22 years I have been teaching theology at the diocesan seminary in Toronto. About a year ago I began to experience a felt need for a sabbatical. This felt need involved spending some time developing some underdeveloped aspect of my personality. My instincts immediately turned to an early love – acting. I discovered Sandy's own book "On Acting". After reading it I thought: "Wouldn't it have been great to have learned acting from him." His book led me to the books by Larry Silverberg on the Meisner Approach. Larry had studied acting with Sandy and he is one of the foremost world authorities on the Meisner technique. After reading his books I thought: "Wouldn't it be great to learn acting with Larry as a coach". Then I found out I could!
Among the various ways Larry teaches the Meisner Approach, one is a four week True Acting Institute in the summer. I simply had to find out if I could take this course. Now this is no Acting 101 course. This is a top-of-the-line series of intensive training sessions – with lots of practical exercises – for professional actors, directors and teachers of acting. So I contacted Larry, explained my situation to him as well as my burning desire to take his course. By the end of our conversation, he said it sounded like I was ready for the summer Institute. This past summer in the Institute there were 25 participants from North America and Europe. Like most of them, I opted to do the first two weeks this summer, and the remaining two weeks next summer.
How significant was this course for me? Without a doubt I can say: second only to the "Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius Loyola, these two weeks were the most exciting and at the same time the most personally challenging of my life. The seeds of the personal transformation planted during those weeks still continue to grow and bear fruit.
Never before have I been so closely connected with such a wonderful group of creative people – and actors, no less! I participated with them in every acting exercise. I was deeply inspired by how hard and faithfully they worked to develop their craft as True Actors. Not only did they easily welcome me into their group, but every one encouraged me and offered helpful advice to improve my acting. Above all, of course, Larry's own insightful and always helpful and positive feedback enabled me at least to begin to move away from the impoverished kind of acting I had been trained in. The underlying assumption of that earlier kind of acting was that acting is "making it look like something is happening when it really isn't", or acting is "pretending something is happening when it really isn't".
No, true acting is "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances". Anything else is a lie, as Larry kept repeating; just as pretence is also a lie when we live out our lives under real circumstances. You can see why I was so deeply convinced that I had to do this Institute. In a second entry I will describe some specific experiences.
If anything I said here strikes a chord in your own heart you can contact Larry at: trueactinginstitue@aol.com.