It’s time to re-examine how we look at acting.
It’s not 1980 anymore (although, Tony, sometimes that hairstyle makes me think it is!) and acting classes that are still teaching from the idea that there is only one “Method” (all derived from either Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, Hagen, etc.) are actually in opposition to the natural laws governing the Universe.
Einstein said it: Everything is constantly evolving, expanding, transforming – from ideas to intelligence, from people to planets.
So why are we still looking at acting (and teaching it!) as if nothing has changed in the last 70 years?
At Anthony Meindl’s Actor’s Workshop, the long-held illusions that continue to keep actors in the dark about their creative process are being shattered.
Some people call it revolutionary!
Why?
Because it reminds you of what you always knew acting could be: fun, accessible, easy, empowering.
Sort of what you want your life to be like, right?
So how do you get there?
Maybe it’s easier to explain how you won’t get there:
At our acting studio, it won’t be through substitutions, sense memory, becoming an animal (meow!) that represents your character (“I think I’m a dog. No, I think I’m a snake!”). It won’t be through repetition exercises or eight hours of scene rehearsals with your partner who most of the time would rather be at the beach anyway. It won’t be through memorization, memorization, memorization (“Learn those lines, dammit!”) or drilling objectives and imbuing your objects with personal meaning (“This coffee cup reminds me of my pet toy Binky”). It won’t be through pretending or “as if’s” or playing your “thru-line” or writing pages and pages about your character’s history (“Dear Diary, today I learned that my character hates brussel sprouts”).
How you will get there is by Risk. By stepping into the Unknown. By learning how to become comfortable being Uncomfortable and embracing the Potential and true Creativity that the Uncertainty of each moment of existence brings us.
Wow.
You’ll have your hands full just with that. But it will completely and irrevocably change your life.
So much so that you will begin to realize…this isn’t an acting class…it’s Life.
But don’t take my word for it. Check out these testimonials from working actors.
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"Tony's passionate commitment to the
process of acting is insightful
and practical."
Olympia Dukakis
Academy Award Winning Actress
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