Table of Contents

CONTENTS

PART ONE: TECHNIQUE

1. INTRODUCTION
2. SIMPLE TECHNIQUE PERFECTLY
3. FEAR
4. WORKING ‘WITH’
5. ACTING IS DOING
6. LISTENING
7. BEYOND LANGUAGE
8. THE PINCH AND THE OUCH
9. IMAGINARY CIRCUMSTANCES
10.WHO’S THAT KNOCKING?
11.MAD SAD GLAD
12.NO SUCH THING AS A MONOLOGUE
13.TAKING IT PERSONALLY
14.IT’S JUST AN ILLUSION
15.IN SEARCH OF THE CHARACTER
16.A DIRECTOR PREPARES
17.MAPPING OUT REHEARSALS
18.TAKING SIDES
19.LAUNCHING THE CANOE
20.THE NITTY-GRITTY
21.APPLYING THE ‘AS-IF’
22.DIGGING DEEPER
23.STRIVING FOR THE SUMMIT
24.THE REAL WORLD

PART TWO: PERSPECTIVES

25.WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
26.PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS
27.BITS NOT BEATS
28.INDICATING
29.LIQUIFIED TROUBLE
30.CAST THE ACTOR NOT THE CHARACTER
31.UNBLOCKING THE WRITER
32.EVERYONE CAN ACT
33.FAKING IT
34.THE CASE AGAINST ACTIONING
35.SUBTEXT
36.SILENCE IS GOLDEN
37.CLIPS
38.MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
39.THE CASE FOR REALISM
GLOSSARY
INDEX

Promotional Information

This book offers a well-articulated formulation of the Meisner Technique that is easy for directors and actors to use in a stage or screen context.

About the Author

Stephen Bayly is a respected director and producer with film credits including Coming Up Roses (1986), Just Ask for Diamond (1986), Richard III (1995) and Mrs Dalloway (1997). He was Director of the National Film and Television School UK from 1998 - 2003. He alternates his teaching at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión in Cuba with travelling extensively to give workshops in other countries, under the auspices of Directing Arts (www.directingarts.com).

Reviews

This an exciting read, especially for actors like me who have not previously had the good fortune to discover the Meisner Technique of rehearsing a script. Stephen Bayly gently, authoritatively leads us through the method, mapping unknown territory until the way is clear. If you don’t know of the Meisner Technique, this book explains it all, clearly and without fuss. Directors and actors, professional and amateur, now have a bible to believe in.
*Sir Ian McKellen*

An incredibly useful guide for directors and actors to using Meisner’s principles in theatre, film, or TV projects, even those who are new to the technique. Eminently useable, it leads the reader through the ‘nitty-gritty’ of applying the Meisner Technique to real projects while providing a useful context and background to its principles.
*James McLaughlin, Lecturer in Drama at the University of Greenwich, UK*