Alan Gordon Studio

Rehearsal provides actors with the opportunity to find out what works by finding out what doesn’t work. It’s a time to take risks, to make mistakes and to learn from them.  We find by doing, not thinking. Some friendly advice: refrain from doing your homework during rehearsals, directing your partners or taking time to discuss how you arrived at your choices.  Use your time wisely.

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“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

To succeed in any profession you must believe in yourself. There will always be naysayers. There will always be people who delight in taking you down, putting you down. But their word is not law and you will not take what they say to heart unless they strike the voice of validation. The voice living inside you that has already confirmed how you feel about yourself.

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The actors job is to connect with the other person via listening. Thought has nothing to do with it ie you are not thinking about what you could or should feel. You are reacting to the “pinch.” No pinch = No ouch

“Between thinking and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out. -Iris Murdoch

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As many of you who have been studying for a while have probably learned, subtext is the meaning beneath the meaning. Sometimes, “I love you too,“ can mean. “Get away from me.” Tone, intention, body language, alters the meaning of the written word. We may disagree on interpretation, but your choices still have to reflect information provided by the writer.

Take your time. Don’t be in a rush to act the scene. Be a seeker of truth. Your homework puts you in a position to let go and fly. Check your ego at the door. Ego can be and most often is a cruel master. Forget right and wrong. Make effective choices. Work from impulse, not thought. Bring yourselves to the work. Open the door to your imagination. It has no fences. Only the constraints place on it.

“An actor’s imagination is far more powerful than relying on personal memories or real life trauma.” - Stella Adler

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Don’t make acting more difficult than it is. Don’t overcomplicate your homework by creating perplexing mental mazes. Distill your choices down to the doable. Free your instincts by eliminating thought. Observe how people behave in a variety of situations. You are defined by your actions, not your thoughts.

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If you remain open you will learn. People who shut down and convince themselves there’s nothing left to learn are not teachable.

At crunch time your craft is what you have, to fall back on.

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I have watched students over the many years that I’ve been teaching, stop dead in their tracks when they make a mistake. Mistakes are part of being human. So when you act, be human. Make the most of the mistake. Stay in the moment and deal with it as you would in life. After all your job is to “live truthfully in the imaginary circumstances.” Don’t fear mistakes. Embrace them. Sometimes they’re your best friend.

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Meisner’s first rule: “Don’t do anything until something happens to make you do it.”

This is the beginning of stillness. Don’t try to make anything happen. React without thought when you feel the pinch.

Sometimes nothing is a whole lot of something.

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The actor’s job is to experience the world from the point of view of the characters they portray. That requires empathy. It is a tool that cannot be overlooked. It is one of the most valuable qualities you can possess.

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When the need to act is strong it will keep you on your path. Most of the artists I’ve read about are compelled to do what they do. It’s as if they have no choice in the matter. One writer I read about was asked if he loved to write. Said the writer, “I don’t love to write. I have to write.”

“Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out.” -Iris Murdoch

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