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Meisner's approach relies on and nurtures the actor's imagination to put him or herself into the appropriate emotional state for the imaginary circumstances of the drama. In my opinion, Lee Strasberg's indefatigable attachment to "Emotional" or "Affective Memory", a technique that Stanisklavski later disregarded as unusable, has done more to harm the training of an actor than it did good. Both Sandy Meisner and Stella Adler knew that Strasberg got it wrong. While "The Method" might sometimes work for the camera, it doesn't work for the rigor demanded of the stage. Great work, Larry. This was partly the reason for the rift in The Group Theatre.
It is a workbook, not a textbook. This misconception was the basis for "The Method". Silverberg's book is practical and essential. Sandy knew from his experience as an actor, that using memory to re-create emotion on stage would disconnect the actor from his environment, and done night after night, would lead the poor fellow to madness or a nervous breakdown. Dustin Hoffmann's performance in "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway are living proof. It contains practical exercises, frank anecdotes and the underlying theory behind the exercises.
I am certain that Sandy would be very proud of his star pupil.
Meisner's approach is in the "now" and works in the fertile field of the actor's imagination. Larry Silverberg clarifies his mentor's theories and provides us with a systematic, effective approach to acting's emotional component. Gone are the exercises dealing with the actor's personal emotional trauma--no more teacher as therapist. With practice it works every time. Larry Silverberg has crafted a treasure.
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