In session 4, our topic was Emotional Preparation.
In Meisner work, your emotional life comes from your unfolding connection with your partners in a scene. But what about your first moment on stage? The script might call for you arrive on stage in an elevated emotional state. Emotional Preparation is the Meisner approach to arriving on the stage with the emotional power and depth that the scene calls for.
Importantly, the circumstances of your daydream may or may not have anything to do with the imaginary circumstances of the scene. You must find what works for you, understanding that the same daydream might not do anything for someone else.
But don’t be precious about your preparation. Have the daydream, enter the scene with that energy, but then immediately start deriving your emotional life from the unfolding of your interaction with your partner(s) in the scene. As that shift happens, let go of your preparation; that moment is over.
It’s actually quite simple. It just takes a few years to learn
– Sanford Meisner