This week concluded my first year of teaching at Graduate and Post-Graduate level, having been invited to write and teach Meisner for BRICTT and the University of Chichester. It also sees the confirmation for my second year at UofC with increased hours, and other exciting teaching opportunities that I am unable to talk about just yet. Finally, this year has seen me undertake a PGCERT to become a Fellow of the Higher Education Association, with another year left until completion.

So, I thought it would be good for me to write this blog about my experiences.

Although I have been teaching Meisner for over 10 years, my experience of teaching in a formal institution has been limited to short courses and one-off workshops, so, it was a quite an exciting prospect to write and teach an entire course. Several, in fact. And it hasn’t been limited to Meisner, I have taught the History of Screen Acting, The Factual Actor, and at Post Grad - Analysis, Practice and Technique.

The learning curve has been steep, but the knowledge and skills developed on the PGCERT have helped me develop these courses and instruct the students. The first lecture I delivered was nerve wracking, but not as scary as the first night of a play. Once I realised that, I became much more confident in my ability to deliver the course material.

The theory that I have been studying on the PGCERT, and the ethos of self-reflection and experimentation with teaching styles, have been truly exciting and given me lots of ideas on new ways to deliver Meisner content and assist students with blocks that they may encounter.

One particular concept - the idea of framing has led to me introducing additional steps in the Script Reading process, something that has often been a big block in Meisner actors’ progress in developing their technique. The needs of my students vary enormously from the drama school students, university students, and the adult learners in my drop in classes. This has been interesting to explore, and discoveries in one set of students, has led to improvements in my teaching of others. My drop-ins, as always are my labs where I am able to be most radical in my approaches. I often trial an approach first in these classes, which I hope make them exciting to attend, and so I hope you can appreciate that we are all on a journey of discovering the technique, and I am getting as much out of the classes as you.

It's a new year, the dark yawning gulf of January is upon us, we have plenty of time and an urge to get started with things. The trick is to find the balance between pushing ourselves and holding firm with our ambitions for the new year, but also remaining kind to ourselves in the process. 

Our Meisner practice is similar - we want to improve our practice and stretch our emotional boundaries into deeper territory, but we also need to keep ourselves both safe, and open to all possibilities. I suppose my only answer to the dilemma is to go into my work determined to be as open as I can be, to give into my impulses as much as I can, and be ready for unexpected and the uncomfortable. And a good place to start is to feel both the fear and the excitement of the exercise from the moment I step up there.

So, if you feel like getting some work done in this new year, why not come along to one of our weekly Meisner Workouts that run every Tuesday from 7-9pm at BRICTT, New England Street, Brighton.