Theatre department faculty member Adam Conrad wants to tell the truth. To Conrad, 25, an Orange native who recently completed his master’s degree in theatre at Lamar University, truth lies at the heart of great acting.
When he begins teaching at Lamar this fall as a lecturer, Conrad wants to instill this fact in his students. To that end, he will join other experienced industry professionals, such as actors, directors and college professors, this summer in attending a small, exclusive workshop in Florida. The two-week session immerses participants in the Meisner technique and shares best practices for teaching this renowned system to students.
Sanford Meisner is considered by acting professionals to be one of the most influential acting teachers of the last 100 years. Meisner grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and joined the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre faculty in 1935. At the Neighborhood Playhouse, Meisner further developed his interpretation of Russian acting mentor Konstantin Stanislavsky’s method for an American audience.
Meisner is quoted as saying the aim of his technique is to “live truthfully under given imaginary circumstances." Conrad elaborates, “The Meisner technique is about how you can achieve emotional truth and honesty within acting. This brings a reality to theatre that resonates with the audience and can inform their everyday lives.”
The “Teaching the Meisner Approach” workshop (July 6-20) will be conducted by Larry Silverberg at his True Acting Institute located at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Attendees hail from France, Austria, Romania, Canada and Brazil, as well as the United States. The intensive practicum will run from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. and will consist of workshops, rehearsals and classroom time. The course is taught over two summers, so Conrad will return for another two weeks in 2009, at the end of which he will be certified to teach the Meisner technique.
Silverberg is a widely published actor and acting teacher and the author of a four volume series, “The Sanford Meisner Approach: An Actors Workbook.” He has written two other acting textbooks, “Loving To Audition,” and “The 7 Simple Truths of Acting for the Teen Actor.”
A graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre where he studied with Meisner, Silverberg 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. He also won the Seattle Critic’s Association Stellar Acting Award for his portrayal of “Teach” in the Belltown Theatre Center production of “American Buffalo.”
Silverberg has taught the Meisner approach since 1987. “This approach demands that the actor bring his or her humanity to every moment,” he said. “Through the actor’s authentic experience, their work reaches the audience where they live.”
Conrad respects the Meisner system and is excited for the opportunity to gain an in-depth exposure to the technique. He views it as one of the many vehicles an actor can use to inhabit a role. “It’s important as a theatre artist to get as much knowledge as you can so you have all the necessary tools to choose from. When that wall comes in creating a character, you have something to break it down.”
