Strasberg at the Actors Studio: Tape-Recorded Sessions

Rating:
Summary: A misguided teacher-Strasberg
Review: Even though Strasberg tried to justify his system, the Method has done more harm than good in the acting world. It has created an acting army that is more interested in obessesing about emotions and past experiences than creativity. For those that are truly objective and can look at the Strasberg Method intelligently they will see that it is a highly flawed system and there is a valid reason why he was not well accepted in the acting community of his peers. He was not the genius people made him out to be. He was quite an ego maniac that was obsessed about creating a system that was not even well rounded effective in order to promote himself. It's all in the books if you do the research.
The whole method is very crippling for actors due to how 'heavy handed' it is. Strasberg was a bit of a dark soul himself and that is how his training is-dark and angst ridden. You would walk into a method class and feel like it was a mortuary, not a place where art is taking place, where there is creativity, self expression, love for the craft, you know, all the stuff that makes acting exciting and fun! No, the Strasberg trained people are lost in trying to dig up all their lost unconscious agony. You become obsessed with emotion, your past, your pain etc. That might be OK for a theraputic environment, but not an acting class. The result is that you carry that attitude with your wherever you go and you become way too serious about yourself and acting. You start to leave behind the simple idea of'make believe' and trade it in for your Strasbergian process something deadly serious and agonizing! In that process you lose touch with that inspired, fun side of it and your joy for the process dimishes more and more as time go on. Not to mention that you don't exactly leave a great impression at auditions. (Method actors are usually way too serious at auditions and come across heavy handed). The training is not at all well rounded. It puts almost all the emphasis on your emotional states and how in touch with your feelings you are during a scene and puts very little emphasis on imagination and good scene analysis. Two very important things!!
If you do your research you will find out that Strasberg was not a very well accepted man in the acting community-at all. Many of his respected peers had an actual disdain for him and his system -Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Marlon Brando, his own son John Strasberg who worked with him for years wrote a book pointing out the Methods flaws and many theatre critics that were bored to tears when they watched a Strasberg production. The main reason he rose to power was because he was good at promoting himself through the Actors Studio. Basically what he did was invite many famous people to the Studio and he tried to take credit for their success. That is basically how Strasberg become a celebrity. These are FACTS, not some gossip I'm inventing. Overall, his system does not work, it mainly hinders actors. Find a well rounded teacher instead that emphasizes imagination and creativity and yes even employs some exercises to help you tune into your here and now sense of being but not this emotional based stuff. It's a bore to watch (and agony to execute).
My intention is not to bash Lee Strasberg. We ALL have our flaws, including this reviewer. It's just that I've seen the negative effects it has on actors and I would love to be able to help you save years of confusion!! Even if some of you will disregard this outline, at least it'll make some of you real pro-Strasberg method people think so that you can now develop some awareness of what I'm saying. Good Luck and God Bless!!!

Rating:
Summary: The "Method"??
Review: I am in complete agreement with the reviewer below who wrote the very well written and intelligent review of Strasberg's Method and how paralyzing it is for actors. I would like to add some more thoughts on the matter so that the argument is very clearly and outlined and does not just seem like an unfair attack on the Method, but instead a detailed outline of its many flaws and onesidedness as a technique.
-The Method since it is primarily focused on generating feelings through either past experiences or sensory experiences does create an unhealthy obsession on inner emotional states and not nearly enough on just going deep into understanding the characters situation. Method actors tend to be so focused on their own emotional states that the scene gets lost due to some futile inner, self indulgent technique. Strasberg was very confused in thinking that a: Personal Object, Sense Memory , Affective Memory, or Place could be more important than going deep into the writing and cultivating your talent through creative choices. If one has acting talent and has a good understanding of the characters circumstances (objective, needs, relationship to other characters, character traits etc.)then that in and of itself is the main thing an actor needs....to do the analytical work and then really trust their talent-moment to moment. None of this Method inner manipulation. Method actors become almost morose about generating feelings all the time instead of learning to free themselves up and become spontanous, they just bring themselves down and become self-absorbed.
-The Method does not work or speak much of styles of acting. All the work they do at Straberg's Studio is usually something that is a heavy drama, like :Checkov, Tenessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, and Ibsen--those heavy, dramatic plays mainly. Try to get a Method actor to work on high comedy, farce, avant-garde pieces and they have no grasp at all of the material. They're always too busy trying to be "real" by generating "real emotion" that they don't develop a sense of different styles needed for acting. It's not all Marlon Brando roles out there!!! (not a method actor by the way).
-What could be more unhealthy psychologically than using past hurts over and over to generate emotions for a scene? Most people are learning to learn to heal the past, to let it go, accept what happened and live in the NOW, the Present. When you generate painful emotions and constantly search for how to "cash in" on past angst, it implies that you can't let go of all these experiences. Wouldn't it be far healthier to learn to let go of your scars once and for all and move on, not to "cash in" on them as some misguided "artistic expression". Yes, it may not be easy to let go, but trying to use a past experience as fuel for a scene is absurd. Pain is a signal to "let go" and live in the NOW, it's not some acting tool! When I went to Strasberg, there was always this very angst ridden energy in the school. People thinking that they are being sensitive artists, because they cry all the time during sensory excercises. I fully accept that we all have past hurts that will trigger pain in us and that it isn't always easy to just transend our hurts, but it should be explored in a more spiritual, therapeutic setting, not as fuel for a scene. This warped perspective creates the subconscious idea that "the external world caused my pain" instead of "my lack of deeper Awareness caused my pain and I am suffering due to MY lack of Awareness and learning to develop deeper Awareness". I don't mean to oversimplify, but that's what it leads to in the end and understanding that is part of the purpose of life. Your dad doesn't solely cause your present pain really, YOU mainly do, due to your lack of inner Awareness and learning to rise above memories of the past and let go. How can someone base an acting technique on those misguided perspectives??? Imagine how damaging that is to actors.
I suggest people avoid this type of technique and seek out a well rounded school that offers thorough scene analysis and encourages being a balanced, smart actor, not just an emotional based actor and to handle there self-awareness issues in the proper environment: counceling, a spiritual setting etc.
I can't tell you how many people I've met (casting directors, directors, actors) over the years that have commented on the poor quality of acting they see at auditions from Method actors. There lack of understanding a character and the difficulty in working with most of them. I've even met directors who have said they will NOT even call in an actor that is a Strasberg trained actor because they expect the poor quality from them. It is a complete myth that Method actors are great actors--a myth. I've just expained why. Learn instead to free up your spontaneity and break down scenes intelligently, use your unlimited imagination, have fun, be in the moment and learn to function organically again by trusting your talent.

Rating:
Summary: Enough said about the method.
Review: This book in my view puts to rest the decades long debate about what " method acting " is. IN HIS OWN WORDS, Strasberg explains that these are not the be all and end all for acting, but exercises for unlocking the creative abilities of the INDIVIDUAL ACTOR ! Absorb what you need from it and put the rest on the shelf for later.

Rating:
Summary: Enough said about the method.
Review: This book in my view puts to rest the decades long debate about what " method acting " is. IN HIS OWN WORDS, Strasberg explains that these are not the be all and end all for acting, but exercises for unlocking the creative abilities of the INDIVIDUAL ACTOR ! Absorb what you need from it and put the rest on the shelf for later.

Rating:
Summary: Review the Item please
Review: Yeah I just wanted to say that the below reviews are NOT REVIEWS and therefore NOT HELPFUL. Someone can preach all they want about the weakness of the method (although it is obvious from the reviews that the authors have an incredible misunderstanding of it) but that has nothing to do with the quality of this product. I read the costomers' reviews to find out if it is a quality product, not to hear an extended rant on one persons misguided idea of acting style. Anybody considering this product probably realizes that it is a comentary based in the method, and also probably has their own opinions on the acting style which are probably not so misinformed as those expressed below.

The product can be illumitaing to actors whether method or not, and while Strasberg does have his flaws (by the way, when Stasberg was first working only ONE of Stanislavski's THREE books was transleated into English), he also has many brilliant and useful insights.