Green Shirt Studio is excited to announce the launch of its new Accelerated Meisner Program, an intensive, three-day-a-week course that will take actors through the entire Meisner acting program in just 10 weeks.

Designed for actors who wish to deepen their craft in an immersive and comprehensive training experience, this class will teach you how to hone your attention, unlock your imagination, get out of your head and into the moment, tap into your innate courage and more. In addition to working through the Meisner exercises, the class will also include scene studies and monologue work and will culminate in a final scene showing to showcase your work for invited guests.

Curious about how this new program will work and how it might benefit you? We sat down with Green Shirt co-founder Andrew Gallant to ask him more about how the Accelerated Meisner Program works and what you can expect to get out of it.

Q: Why did you decide to offer the Accelerated Meisner Program? A: We put the Accelerated Meisner Program together in order to give students another way to dive into the work of bettering themselves as actors and people. Not everyone learns the same way. Having a class once a week is all some people can do and that is absolutely great. But we’ve been hearing for a while now from other students who love what we do but want to have a more immersive experience. The Accelerated Program is exactly that.

Q: How will the class work and who will be teaching them? A: The Accelerated Meisner program will be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. from Oct. 2 through Dec. 15. I am teaching all of the classes, though we will have some special guests dropping in periodically to lend their expertise. Everyone at the studio is excited as hell for this program, so we will definitely have some of our other instructors coming to check things out and join in the fun.

Q: What are some of the benefits of taking the Accelerated Meisner program as compared to taking one level at a time? A: With three days a week of class, smaller class sizes and longer class periods, we have created a curriculum and class structure that will foster dynamic growth quickly. There is more time to incorporate physical and vocal work into our sessions and get students out of their own limiting habits. And because I’m seeing you three times a week, I will have a stronger sense of the arc of your growth and a keener awareness of just when and how to push through to new territory in your work. But the most important aspect to all of this has to do with the mindset of students enrolling in the program. There is a level of devotion required to enroll in a program like this. If you are willing to put in this kind of time, to make this kind of investment, you are committed to your artistic development. And I am going to hold you to that commitment.

Q: Meisner can be pretty intense work. Do you think it will be difficult to have that emotional intensity three days a week? A: Yes, Meisner work is intense. It is also transcendent. And it is joyful. One of the things I love most about this training is that it is deeply, utterly human. Actors get to experience the highest highs and lowest lows of human experience, often within the same two hour play. I say “get to” because I think it’s a privilege and a joy. Actors are Olympians of the human experience, and we need to train like Olympians! Sure, there will be frustration and pain, but there will also be triumph. I am interested in training actors to celebrate as they do the difficult things that need doing. This program is the perfect place to learn how.

Q: What do you love about teaching Meisner and why are you excited to teach this class? A: I love the Meisner technique because it is a superb tool for training actors to step out of their fear and the ways they’ve been socialized, and to step into the fullness of their experience and the truth of the moments they share with others. It is a transformative experience. The best acting I have ever watched has happened in the classroom. There is nothing I love more than watching students let go and find the kind of expression and freedom they didn’t know themselves capable of. This work is full of those moments and I am ecstatic to have the privilege to be there sharing in it.

Sign up for the Accelerated Meisner Program today!