The Meisner technique has a clear system of exercises that train the actor from the ground up. The goal is to learn to "live truthfully under imaginary circumstances." Here, we will go over exercise number three in the Meisner Technique, called Relationships. (If you haven’t read about the previous exercises yet, you can do so here: The Repetition Exercise - the first exercise in the Meisner Technique and Independent Activities - the second exercise in the Meisner Technique).
What is the Relationships exercise?
Relationships are a key element in creating authenticity and presence on stage or in front of a camera. A relationship involves more than just a title (such as "parent," "sibling," "partner," "neighbor," "stranger," "colleague," etc.). It’s about how the other person makes you feel and how you interact with and treat that person. It’s important to have a specific relationship with all the characters who are in the scene with you, and with all the characters mentioned in the scene (since the relationship affects your tone when talking about them and how you react when someone else talks about them).
Specifying Your Relationships as an Actor
The more specific your choices are, the better your acting will become. If you don’t make clear, specific choices, your acting will become flat.
There are two ways in which you can specify relationships when acting:
1. Substitution
"Substitution" means you pretend that you are talking to or about someone you know in real life. If you know someone in your real life with whom you share a similar emotional relationship, you can simply visualize that person when you look at your scene partner or when you talk about the character.
2. Historia
If you don’t know someone with a similar relationship in your real life, you’ll need to use your imagination to create a story about what has happened between you in the past. In most cases, how you feel about someone stems from your past experiences with them.
Why would someone for example be your "best friend"? For example, it could be because "when I was in the hospital, he was the only one who visited me every day." Why do you think your neighbor is annoying? Perhaps because "they always play loud music at night." Build a history that you can clearly imagine, where you invent what has happened between you, such as past conflicts or special moments. If you want, you can even write down what you come up with.
Love/affection
Another key to creating an interesting and nuanced relationship when acting is to ask yourself: Where is the love in this relationship? Even if you’re arguing right now, do you actually care about each other? Is the relationship about a lack of love or a desire for love that you cannot give?
This material explains the Relationships exercise but cannot replace practice together with a skilled Meisner teacher. To develop in the right direction, you need coaching from a teacher experienced in coaching specifically in the Meisner Technique, who can see your inner life and guide you in the right direction. The exercise may appear simple, but there are many nuances in your performance that will emerge in the exercise, and a skilled Meisner teacher can see exactly what you need to fine-tune your instrument further. However, this text can be used as support and to make notes when you practice between your Meisner lessons.
If you are a Meisner teacher and want to use this text in your teaching, please feel free to do so, but you must either link to the blog or download the PDF. You are not allowed to remove the Elin Hilläng Studios logo, the text about Elin Hilläng Studios, or Elin Hilläng’s name.
Would you like to learn or develop in the Meisner Technique? At Elin Hilläng Studios, we offer Meisner Technique (Level 1), Meisner Technique (Level 2), and Meisner Technique (Level 3). We always work in a small group of a maximum of 6 students to receive plenty of individual feedback and truly develop as an actor. Click on the links below to learn more!
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