Ten days of workshops, conferences and debate focused on the profession of acting. A face-to-face encounter between the most well-known acting methods.
This conference has been conceived as a confrontation between prominent trainers of the world's most well-known acting methods, providing an arena for theoretical and empirical exchange of technique.
Workshops are open to professional actors, acting students, acting coaches, directors and writers.
Strasberg method
Lee Strasberg's acting technique is a development of Stanislavsky's method and teaching. Strasberg placed special focus on the practice of sense memory and emotional sensitivity to the action on stage. Strasberg's exercises and improvisations give the actor ample autonomy for expression by connecting the actor's real emotions to the imagined relationships produced on stage.
Michael Chechov method
As a student of Stanislavsky and a successful actor in the Art Theater of Moscow, Michael Chechov developed his technique following his arrival to the United States. His method, heavily influenced by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, promotes a more physical and poetic approach to the interpretation of character by stimulating the actor's imagination to derive the fullest use of the available material.
Adler Method
As an actress in the Group Theater, Stella Adler created her own acting technique which contrasted Strasberg's teachings. She based her method on Stanislavskij's technique, and developed it through her personal contact with the Russian master himself. The Adler method focuses on the development of imagination and the mental reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding the text: The atmosphere, physical objects, and the conventions of the historical background which pertain to the text or the actions. The method, common among American coaches, provides a rational approach that sees its results in the profound interaction between actors.
Viola Spolin method
Viola Spolin (November 7, 1906 - November 22, 1994) was an American drama teacher and author. She is considered by many to be the American Grandmother of Improvisation. She influenced the first generation of improvisational actors at the Second City in Chicago in the late 1950s, through her son, Paul Sills, who was one of Second City's co-founders. Spolin developed new games that focused upon creativity, adapting and focusing the concept of play to unlock the individual's capacity for creative self-expression. Viola Spolin's use of recreational games in theatre came from her background with the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression where she studied with Neva Boyd. Spolin is the author of a number of texts on improvisation, her most famous being published by Northwestern University Press, which has since become the "bible of the movement."
David Kaplan- Five Approacehs to Acting
Kaplan studied at both Clark University and the Yale School of Drama. He has taught acting, from both theoretical and experimental points of view since 1980. He has taught at several famous universities in the United States, including Clark University, New York University, Colombia University, and Rutgers Univesity, as well as the Siberian Academy of Fine Arts and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. Kaplan has directed many major productions internationally. Formerly, Kaplan worked as the art director of the Tennessee Williams Festival of Provincetown, Massachusetts. He is the author of Five Approaches to Acting.
Sanford Meisner method
A former actor of Stanislavsky's prominent "Group Theater" laboratory, Sanford Meisner later perfected his acting technique by teaching classes for over fifty years. The technique is based on on-stage relationships and the use of verbal actions. Meisner's technique has proved itself as one of the most effective methods of acting in the world. His "repetition" exercise is considered to be one of the clearest techniques for realizing the place of dialogue exchanges as a part of each scene's actions.
