Who was Sanford Meisner?

Sanford Meisner, or Sandy as his students always called him, was one of the most influential figures in the history of American theater. He spent his early career as an actor and founding member of the legendary Group Theatre where he worked with greats like Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan, Stella Adler, Lee J. Cobb, Lee Strasberg, and many others. Later in life, Meisner developed a systematic approach to actor training and taught it to thousands of students. Among those who studied with Meisner include David Mamet, James Caan, Jeff Goldblum, Sydney Pollack, Grace Kelly, Peter Falk, Steve, McQueen, Tony Randall, John Voight, Bob Fosse, Diane Keaton and Arthur Miller.

Who is the Meisner work for?

Meisner trained everyone from seasoned performers to absolute newcomers. As long as a student is dedicated and diligent, the gifts of this work can be tremendous.

I've heard that Meisner training is all about crying and throwing chairs. Why would I want to be around that?

There are a lot of horror stories out there about Meisner work and, frankly, a lot of teachers who perpetuate these myths. Unlike many other approaches, this training does NOT encourage students to recall traumatic events or anything else that could be potentially harmful to the student. We work hard to foster a supportive, nurturing and fun environment and have no agenda beyond helping fellow performers grow artistically. We believe that an acting class must not be a therapy session and your training with us will not be one.

I'm primarily an improviser. Is Meisner training useful to me?

The Meisner approach is improvisational in nature so it serves as a perfect bridge between improv and script based performance. This technique is also excellent at fostering true spontaneity, getting performers to trust their impulses, getting performers out of their heads and many other skills that are essential to improvisers. Simply put: Meisner training will help your Improv. Additionally, sketch writers and playwrights will gain a huge amount of insight into dramatic structure and the kind of elements that make a good scene as they participate in and watch the exercises.

Do I have to start at Level 1 or can I just take the classes I want?

If you’ve never had Meisner training, than you must start at the beginning. Because of the progressive nature of the work, not learning the early steps would leave you stranded in the higher level classes. If you have studied Meisner before, it is possible for you to skip the first level as long as you can demonstrate sufficient knowledge and ability. The Meisner Monologue class is open to anyone.

There are other Meisner teachers around, so why should I study with you?

We are passionate about this work and are the recipients of Meisner Teaching certifications through master teacher Larry Silverberg. We are two of only three certified Meisner instructors in the Chicago area, and the third is a dear friend and colleague. In addition to that unique credential, studying with us will give you the benefit of having two highly trained professionals working in tandem to guide you through the training. We're also an inexpensive alternative to a lot of the other training programs in town.

Why is a place that specializes in the Meisner Approach to Acting called "Green Shirt Studio?"

We know, we get this a lot. Short answer: It's an inside joke about the training. Long answer: In the first stages of Meisner training, the exercise revolves around making simple, truthful, physical observations about your scene partner such as, 'you’re wearing a GREEN SHIRT' etc. It must be a REAL observation and it must be SIMPLE. At the end of the day, we believe that is precisely what great acting is: honest and specific. So, we decided to call ourselves GREEN SHIRT STUDIO as an homage to that critical lesson we learn at the very beginning of the work.

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