Meisner Technique Activities

OK, so you’re taking a Meisner Technique class and the guy or the lady teaching goes into Meisner Technique Activities, Meisner Technique Activities and now you have to bring one in next week. You think you understand Meisner Technique Activities, how hard can it be, right? You just have to do something really boring like write a letter or something…There’s more to it, and I hate to say it, but very few Meisner Technique teachers actually understand activities. In the first place, Meisner Technique Activities have 3 requirements. They have to be Meaningful, Urgent, and Difficult. Let’s take an example of an activity that would get shot down. “Writing an email to AT&T because they overcharged me.” Let’s see, does it pass the Meisner Technique Activities acid test?

Meaningful – Kind of, but we’re not sure how much it means to you…
Urgent – Unless there’s more to it, not much urgency here.
Difficult – Not really.

What are good Meisner Technique Activities? How about this? You have to leave for an audition in 5 minutes. The part will require you to juggle 3 balls with great expertise. You just got the call an hour ago. You’ve been trying to learn to do this because the part is perfect for you and it would be your first guest star on TV. Your agent has been getting ready to drop you and you are out of money. If you don’t get this part, you have to leave Los Angeles and maybe never come back, at least not as an actor. Do you see the difference?

Meaningful – Yes, you want to act and stay in Los Angeles.
Urgent – You have 5 minutes to learn.
Difficult – Juggling is HARD TO LEARN.
It takes a while to come up with great activities, just keep trying and keep applying the MUD test above. Meaningful, Urgent, and Difficult!!! And above all, have fun with it all!