#acting technique

RADA, 1974

“The teacher Elizabeth Pursey made ‘RADA Mouths’ on standard 8mm film* which focused on the mouths of first year students. She then revisited those students at the end of their training to see how the tension around their mouths and their diction had altered. Although Acting is about instinct it is underpinned by technique and discipline, this exercise highlights that. Students mouths on this film include Imelda Staunton and Alan Rickman.

In her semi-retirement, Elizabeth continued to work at RADA, giving precise advice to students. Alan Rickman remembered one such time:

“A group of second-year students had prepared pieces by Dylan Thomas. Elizabeth stood in front of them: upright, elegant and smiling…The students were busy writing down every timeless word she said. Finally, it was their turn. As the first volunteer walked to the front….she turned and, still smiling, lobbed a grenade: ‘And just remember – it’s not about you.’” […] On the mezzanine between the first and second floor of the RADA building, there are several faded cream wooden boards marking the Bancroft Gold, Silver, Bronze and Vanbrugh Awards, the Kendal, Special and Principal’s Prize and the Liverpool Playhouse Award. The awards began in 1905 and stopped in 1985.

One of the recipients of the Bancroft Gold Award, RADA’s highest award, was Alan Rickman, who received it in 1974, the year he graduated.”

(‘RADA.aс.uk’)

* The original 8mm film have not been digitize and are stored in the RADA archive.

Full credit to the original Instagram post by @alan__rickman__ for research, text, and photo sourcing.

Nick Moseley, ‘Acting and Reacting’.

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michael David Simms (@mds_actors) Justin Theroux on communicating feelings to the audience. I could listen and watch stuff like this for hours.

[Image description: a reply from @idontreallyfuckwithcheese : “I studied meisner and i feel like that’s why i’m so good at improv. I absolutely love bouncing off scene partners and listening and reacting.

Students always wanted to know about emotional recall and my meisner teacher always discouraged because he said it didn’t really work or it was too much and i kind of agreed. Just being in the moment gets you where you need to be most of the time, but to each his own. Unless you’re pulling a leto and being an absolute ass.”]

ykw, yes. now that you point it out, all of the people i know who are Meisner trained are really good at improv, and are some of my favorite scene partners. The openness and receptivity there is amazing.

And yeah, emotional recall as a tool is really good; like i mentioned, i struggle with emotional availability, so i occasionally have to use emotional recall in certain moments to basically get the fire lit inside, and then i use vocal breathing techniques to carry me the rest of the way. but as a straight on approach? no way bruh.

Ron, my technique teacher, used to describe memory as like...the ashes. And the experience of the moment is the fire. You're going to struggle building a fire from ashes, and you're never going to be satisfied with what you have in the moment if you're trying to recreate a bonfire from yesterday. So the only thing you can do is honor what you're experiencing in the moment and move with what you have.

And of course, if you like...need to consistently be really upset, you can do that without emotional recall; my Voice & Speech teachers taught me that basically making the shape in/with your body creates emotion. So you never need to try to cry or smth. Tricking your body into believing it's about to cry will do it.