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Summary: The Reality of Doing is just that, the reality of doing.
Review: I would have to say that this is one of the best books on acting around. Although I am too young to have ever studied with Meisner, I am a student of his technique, and I think that this book helps give you a brief insight into what this extraordinary man had in mind. He professes a no nonsense approach to acting, "The reality of doing," that will truly benefit an aspiring artist. Meisner's belief of actually feeling something as opposed to faking something seems self evident, but was revolutionary for his time. Why substitute a response, when you can actually experience the emotion. If you are supposed to be angry actually get angry, don't fake angry. I do however have to agree with the other reviewers in saying that a book is no substitute to actually finding a good teacher with a good core group of students to work through the technique. You come to acting through feeling it, not intellectualizing it. In that you need to actually do it to feel it. It takes a long time, a lot of discipline and perserverance, but it is an extremely rewarding pursuit. The book helps as a guide post, but it is by no means that road that you will need to travel to develop your art.As with any great teacher, Meisner's lessons can be applied to more than just the subject material. There are several Life's Lessons in this book, and I would even recommend it to people who are not actors or students of theater.
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Summary: Hey. It's better than Uta Hagen.
Review: i've been studying the Meisner Technique for two years now, and without this book I would be lost. Sandford Meisner's appraoch to acting has taken the craft in an entirely new and powerful direction. I recommend that every acting student get a hold of this book. It will change the way you look at acting forever.
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Summary: Meisner's technique is not right for everyone.
Review: Of course, no single acting technique can be right for every aspiring performer, but I must say that I personally found Meisner's book to be condescending and ineffective. The author seems to subtract the most essential aspects of art from the process of creating a character: imagination, creativity, and humanity. These are the trademarks of my "technique." Like any art, performing is 2% inspiration and 98% perspiration. I am a good actor, but not because of this book. Hard work, dedication, practice, and sheer will power make an actor believable.
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Summary: Living Truthfully Moment by Moment. Outstanding!
Review: Sanford Meisner brings every actor who genuinely wants to stretch and bring stellar performances the wisdom to do so in this profound book.
The definition of acting is "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances" which I learned from this book, along with top training at Playhouse West in North Hollywood, CA, where this book was required reading.
Emotional preparation is crucial, BEING the character, and taking all focus off of you, while you react genuinely to the other person's movements, words, gestures, and actions moment by moment.
If you are serious about your acting career, this is the one book that will provide solid ground, which must accompany solid training and steady practice.
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Summary: well worth the money
Review: sanford meisner on acting was recommended to me by my first meisner teacher five years ago. I had done a lot of local theatre before and wanted to improve my technique. This book not only enhanced my study of the technique but has become an often used, well worn reference guide. The technique not only made me a better actor, but i have become a much more effective communicator in my "real" life. It is a wonderful thing to feel as if you are truly "present" and "in the moment" when you are onstage. Meisner teaches better than anyone else that "acting is reacting". A great read for anyone (not just actors) wanting to increase their communication skills.
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Summary: Someone who actually studied with Sandy Meisner comments
Review: Since I studied with Sandy for two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse and continued to study with him in his private class after I graduated from the Playhouse, I believe that I can speak with some authority. The book that Dennis Longwell has edited does an admirable job of describing the organic process of learning to act. Please note that reading is not a substitute for "the reality of doing." Sandy was an extraordinary pragmatist and a man of deep sensitivity. However, he was unsentimental; astringent; and gifted with a wonderfully mordaunt sense of humor. He once said, "I like to think that I prepare artists to survive in a world that doesn't always want them." In a way, he was preparing his students for battle. If he was tough, he did so only in order to be kind. Personally, I really liked him and I always think of him with real affection. Learning from him personally was a privilege and an honor. All in all, he was one of the most extraordinary people whom I have ever known, as well as one of the most influential. In a field all too often occupied by charlatans, he took a stand against pseudo-intellectuality and some self syled amateur psychiatrists posing as men and women of the theatre. His close friends included Harold Clurman and Stella Adler, whose influence he never failed to credit. Sandy didn't live in an ivory tower, or teach in some backwater college. He was truly a man of the theatre, with more than 30 Broadway credits. In fact, he was a very good actor. You can see for yourself in the 1958 movie THE STORY ON PAGE ONE, written and directed by his close friend, Clifford Odets. If you aspire to be an actor, you can get an idea from this book of what is involved in learning the Meisner Technique. Sandy had no "b.s." He cut right to the heart of the matter. There is no technique that will give you acting talent if nature has failed to provide it. On the other hand, if you have talent it will take dedication and hard work in order to learn how to use it well. If you are an American, forget about reading Stanislavski. The Hapgood translations are terrible. They leave out nearly half of what he wrote. Furthermore, Stanislavski belonged to a time and culture so remote from our own lives that you can waste years trying to understand him. Instead, read Sandy Meisner, Stella Adler, Robert Lewis, and Harold Clurman. There's no "b.s." in it. Then you will actually need to study. Hopefully, you will find someone whom Sandy actually trained as an actor and teacher!
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Summary: Invaluable for anyone interested in acting
Review: These are a collection of different classroom settings from Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre of New York and shed light on his "method" to acting. By reading this book, one may extract the tools to enhance his/her craft in acting even if the reader disagrees with what is being said. Strasbergian actors or those who believe they stick true to the early Stanislavskian method can extrapolate a great amount from this book. Superbly written and constructed.
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Summary: Meisner is one a kind.
Review: This book is a very good introduction to Meisner's work. As one of the other reviewers said it would be best to do this while studying in a class setting (can you imagine doing the word repition game by yourself?). The thing that's always impressed me about Meisner's work is that you won't find anything like it anywhere else. Strasberg was influenced by mainly by Stanislavsky's early work and Adler was influenced by his later work. Meisner took influences from everywhere (Michael Chekhov, Duse, etc.) and synthesized them into something all his own. This is one, I believe,of only four books on his approach to acting so this is as close to the source as you're going to get!(Meisner passed away in 1996). Buy the book!
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Summary: hard to comprehend w/out meisner training
Review: this is a good book with some good points to make. if one has any experience with the meisner technique it might even be very helpful. unfortunatly, i have never had any training in meisner and found the book hard to follow and uninteresting. there were some good basic lessons and anecdotes sprinkled throughout, but with out knowing first hand about the exercises i got very little out of reading about the experiences and exercises of the students. i would not recommend this to actors who have not taken at least some basic meisner classes.
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Summary: meisner on acting
Review: this is an extremely helpful and insightful book, especially if you've already been exposed to meisner's technique. I don't know how helpful it would be if you haven't been in some meisner technique classes. But, as acting books go, this is one of the best I've ever read. It has detailed examinations of scene work by Meisner himself and includes some telling conversations with his assistant. If you want to see Meisner act you can rent the movie "Mikey and Nicky" starring John Cassavetes and Peter Falk. Meisner has a couple of scenes and, although he doesn't have much to do in the picture, it's fun to see these legendary teachers on film. If you read this and want some more exposure to this technique, Larry Silverberg has a series of books on the Meisner Technique. They're extremely in depth and informative with lots of exercises.
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