The Power of Process

Last night I finished teaching a Level 1 acting class, and Alison wrapped up a Level 2.

On the drive home, we were talking about the process students go through from Levels 1–2 in our Meisner Acting Program: 16 weeks of intense work that asks students to challenge the everyday way they interact with each other, become more comfortable with their own emotions, trust their instincts, and ultimately step into a world that is “more real than real life.”

Alison was saying how excited she was because her students were so alive, so connected to one another, and genuinely affected by what was happening in their scenes. They brought an authenticity to their work that really struck her. She said, “So many moments felt like happy accidents, in a way the scenes hadn’t gone before, they were just so alive.” All of the 40 hours of classwork and everything they had taken away from Levels 1–2 was infused into that one scene. In the last class of my Level 1, the students went into the extreme for the first time, and they did so with so much courage. While Level 1 starts very simply, practicing what it means to be present and trying not to plan ahead, it ends with this very important step of taking all that simplicity they’ve built over the first seven weeks and bringing it into a set of extreme circumstances, where their scene work will eventually live in Level 2.

While some acting classes in Chicago will just give you a scene on day 1 and say, “Okay, you’re a cop and she’s your suspect. Go for it,” I love how our program really gives students a step-by-step process to tackle a script. The work gets spread out over time in a way that allows them to not get overwhelmed, really absorb what they’re learning, and then put those lessons into practice. We don’t just give our students notes - we give them a process that they can take away from class and tackle a script. While this makes our Level 1 class a perfect acting class for beginners, slowing down and getting back to the basic truly challenges expert actors as well who might have developed habits around performing instead of "living truthfully."

It’s so, so satisfying as an instructor to see your students take in the baby steps, have the patience to build their skills, and then apply those skills to their work and succeed with flying colors.

Cheers to the process, and to the students who have the patience and dedication to show up week after week and put in the work!