The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook (A Career Development Book) [Paperback]

Larry Silverberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1880399776 | ISBN-13: 978-1880399774 | Publication Date: October 1, 1994 | Edition: 1st

You can now experience the same training studied by some of out finest actors, including: Robert Duvall, Joanne Woodward, Diane Keaton, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Steenburgen, Gregory Peck, Jon Voight, Eli Wallach and many others.

With a foreword by Academy Award Winner and theatre legend, Horton Foote, this inspiring new book will strengthen in you the most essential and vital skills of great acting! It will lead you to a very personal way of working, as an actor who is absolutely authentic and tremendously simple - so rare in today's theatre.

The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actor's Workbook Volume I is appropriate for any actor, from beginning student to working professional. As you experience the joy of discovery offered in each lesson, the Workbook will awaken within you a profound passion to create and a hunger to express yourself as an artist of the theatre, An Actor!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The term Meisner Technique is known to almost any current student of acting. Sanford Meisner, one of the founding members of The Group Theater in 1931, found fault with the internalized Stanislavsky approach that prevailed at the time. Meisner believed that by reacting to the other people on stage, an actor's performance would be more honest and, therefore, more interesting for the audience. Here, Silverberg, who was a student of the master teacher, presents a workbook for actors that will prove useful, regardless of how familiar the reader is with Meisner's methods. Silverberg's writing is concise and insightful throughout and makes the technique accessible to any committed student. However, his unbridled enthusiasm and 12 step-type rhetoric may distract some readers. Also, it should be noted that the exercises in this book are for three or more people and will hence find their best use in acting workshops. Still, given the lack of materials focusing on this important technique, this work is recommended for large theater collections in public and academic libraries.?Douglas McClemont, New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Founding member of the famed Group Theater and friend, colleague, and later rival to Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner spent his life teaching a variation of the Stanislavsky-based Method acting that brought Strasberg so much fame. In this clearly written introduction to Meisner's techniques, Silverberg, himself a graduate of Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater, outlines a 15-week program of exercises designed by Meisner to help actors approach each performance with the playful spontaneity and excitement of an opening night. Despite the book's subtitle, this is no mere actor's workbook; rather, it is an ongoing discussion, periodically interrupted by acting exercises, of the great acting teacher's philosophy and worldview. Which means that those with more interest in Meisner and his place in the history of American theatrical acting will find the book at least as fascinating as will actors hoping to master Meisner's particular take on Stanislavsky-style naturalism. Jack Helbig

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus; 1st edition (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880399776
• ISBN-13: 978-1880399774
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Visit Larry at:

http://www.trueactinginstitute.com

Larry Silverberg is one of the world's foremost authorities on the Sanford Meisner technique of acting through his internationally acclaimed four volume series, "The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook," and his book, "Loving To Audition." Larry's first book for teen actors, "The 7 Simple Truths of Acting for the Teen Actor" was released last year.

Larry's newest book is now available! It is called "Meisner For Teens: A Life of True Acting" and is published by Smith and Kraus Publishers.

Larry is a graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre where he studied with legendary acting teacher, Sanford Meisner. Since then, Larry has worked professionally as an actor and director across the United States and in Canada. Most recently, he received high praise from the New York Times for his performance as "Don" in Athol Fugard's "People Are Living There" at The Signature Theater in New York City, and he won the Seattle Critic's Association "Stellar Acting Award" for his portrayal of "Teach" in the Belltown Theatre Center production of "American Buffalo".

Larry is Founder and Director of The True Acting Institute at Eckerd College where he offers his "Teaching The Meisner Approach Certificate Program" for acting teachers and his "College Actor Master Class." Learn more about these programs at this link:

http://www.trueactinginstitute.com

Larry has been very busy touring Europe, Canada, South America and the US, teaching acting in his renowned professional actors training program, "The Meisner Master Class" which he brings to universities, colleges and professional acting studios around the globe. Larry has also been teaching his "Teen Actor Master Class" at high schools all across the United States.

Larry is available to lead symposiums and key note lectures on the Meisner technique and the craft of acting. The photograph on this page is Larry leading a symposium to more than 500 Brazilian actors, film directors and screenwriters, at renowned FAAP University in Sao Paulo Brazil, where Larry was brought in to introduce the country of Brazil to the Meisner Approach. And Larry just returned from Berlin where he trained 45 professional actors from all around Europe as well as leading two public symposiums on the Meisner Approach and The Art of Directing. Larry is also happy to lead symposiums and master classes at the wonderful TETA conference in Texas and many thespian conferences around the United States.

Larry also leads ongoing master classes at The International Institute for the Performing Arts in Paris, European Act which takes place in London, Paris and Berlin and at the Munich Film Academy.

Learn more about Larry's many international programs at this link:

http://www.trueactinginstitute.com

Larry's has also been busy leading his newest workshop, "The Way Back Out" an empowering and transformational seminar aimed at freeing the authentic expression of people in all fields. Please visit the website to learn more about this exciting event. The link is:

http://www.thewaybackout.com

Larry has also recently launched "College Acting Programs.Com", his website devoted to helping high school actors find the best college acting programs. The website address is:

http://www.collegeactingprograms.com.

Larry can be contacted through his own web site address, http://www.trueactinginstitute.com or emailed at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Meisner student comments, October 26, 2001

By 

"meisnerveteran" (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook (A Career Development Book) (Paperback)

Speaking as another graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse who actually studied with Sandy (as well as continuing to study with him in his private class after graduation), I had some reservations about Larry Silverberg's book. Acting is experiential, not intellectual. Larry Silverberg implies that Sandy's technique can be learned from a book and practiced by amateurs. That was never Sandy's intention. Learning the Meisner Technique is an organic process that requires the guidance of a trained teacher. Preferably, this should be someone whom Sandy actually trained as an actor and as a teacher.

The problem with expressing "the reality of the doing" in writing seems almost self defeating. To put it bluntly, you've got to do the work. Sandy once said, "You know those books, AN ACTOR PREPARES and ACTING: THE FIRST SIX LESSONS? Tell you what, you learn to act and then read those books to see if they knew how to act." Read Larry Silverberg's book and SANFORD MEISNER ON ACTING to see if this is the Meisner Technique seems to suit you. Then you will need to make the commitment to study and learn first hand. Be warned, it requires talent and hard work.

The vital issue is to acquire a viable technique to be able to work on a professional level. Sandy's technique is time proven, providing you learn from the right teacher. Above all, Sandy knew that acting can be painful at times and the actor's life is a hard one. However, he wanted acting to be a healthy process. "Acting is fun," he used to say, "don't let that get around." It becomes fun when you begin to know what you're doing.

Just remember, that reading about the process is not the same thing as doing the work itself.

For the record, Sandy Meisner was the greatest teacher of any subject that I ever encountered in my life. He was truly one of a kind.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Silverberg distills Meisner's Technique to its Essence, November 10, 2008

By 

Dean F. Lundquist - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook (A Career Development Book) (Paperback)

Any study of the craft of acting will invariably lead you back to Stanislavski. The big three acting teachers (Meisner, Adler and Strasberg) were all attempting to make the grandfather of naturalistic acting accessible to the American actor, and by extension, the American theatre. The difficulty in Stanislavski's books (An Actor Prepares, Building a Character & Creating a Role) is that they are written from the first person perspective or they present what is essentially a transcript of the classroom. Similarly, "Sanford Meisner on Acting" by Sanford Meisner and Dennis Longwell takes a similar approach. Even in the Sanford Meisner Master Class DVD, the format is one very much like a documentary with some great commentary from Mary Barter. In all of the above texts one must infer the objectives and process to Sandy's exercises. Meisner evolved Stanislavski's principles. Silverberg has broken them down with precision and made them accessible. It is not a book one reads "to know" how to act. It is a workbook where one must "do" the exercises. When one does them with a partner (and hopefully with a teacher to guide them) they have a palpable result and give the actor a technique (an organic habit) that they no longer think aout but do instinctually. Thank you, Larry, for sharing Sandy's life work with the rest of the world.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These books are an excellent resource., September 13, 2011

By 

Kristi L. Rau (Myrtle Beach, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook (A Career Development Book) (Paperback)

I have personally worked with Larry Silverberg, and before that used his books both to learn and teach the Meisner Technique. I have an MFA in Acting, work professionally as an actress, and teach acting as well, and I have tried many approaches to acting, only to keep coming back to Larry's workbooks. These books are clear, succinct, and incredibly easy to work with, and they include many examples for clarification. Larry is the most nurturing acting teacher, and I cannot recommend him highly enough.