MEISNER TECHNIQUE with SIMON FURNESS

1 year training
£400.00 per term. Payable in full in advance.
5 July 2022-16 May 2023. Tuesday evenings only 6-10pm.
acceptance onto course by interview only, email Simon: Simon Furness simonfurness@googlemail.com

1 Year Training Programme/Meisner Technique for Actors/
Tutor: Simon Furness

COURSE AIMS:
The aims of the course are to train students to:

● respond in acting terms as themselves, instinctively, to whatever is said or done to them.
● create and live within powerful and justified imaginary circumstances of their own choosing
● work with simple objectives and expectations whilst maintaining a relaxed
responsiveness to another actor.
● improvise with a learnt text.
● alter their emotional state at will prior to the first moment of any encounter
with another in the context of a scene or improvisation.

Term 1: Repetition, The Reality of Doing and Imaginary Circumstances (Independent Activities)
Term 2: Who’s there? The Knock on The Door and Criminal Action Problems
Term 3: Simple Scenes, Beyond Repetition (impulsive responding) and Simple Relationships
Term 4: More Complex Relationships. Emotional Preparation
Term 5: Complex Improvisations and Final Scenes

Length of Course
5 terms, each of 8 Tuesday night sessions 6-10pm - one week's break between terms.

Entry on to the Course
Interview only. (ALL students must have attended a reputable Introduction week in the Meisner Technique at AE or elsewhere)

Progress and Attendance
Each term leads sequentially to the next.
A student’s continued participation on the course is determined by their progress and the teacher’s discretion.
NB: If a student misses 2 or more sessions in a 6 week term for whatever reason, then their continued attendance on the course will be a matter of private review and discussion between teacher and student. These are NOT ‘drop in’ sessions. Failure to attend regularly and rehearse as required compromises an individual’s progress and the progress of the group as a whole.

Rehearsals
It is expected that students meet to rehearse and prepare outside class for the class ahead as for any other acting commitment.
This is mandatory and non-negotiable.

Cost and Payment
The cost will be 400.00 per term max 8 people.
Payment is in advance of each term on a non-refundable basis but clearly if there are emergencies or difficulties we can discuss these.

Teacher Absence
Should I for any reason be unable to make a class (eg paid professional acting commitments such as auditions, rehearsal or public appearances, filming, or an emergency) then I will:

either make up the class personally at an appropriate time
appoint a personally chosen and reputable teacher to deputise for me,
or as a last resort refund any money owing as a result of the missed session.


Numbers on Course
If fewer than 8 enrol I will run the course anyway (min 4) assuming that my own professional acting commitments permit this.

Teacher Statement
It is my intention to offer what I did at the Actors' Temple for over 20 years before it closed and what I have devoted my teaching life since 1999 to doing: training actors in the Meisner Technique as it was taught to me by a direct student of Sanford Meisner’s (Tom Radcliffe).

Preparation for the Course
Students are advised to attend Repetition drop in sessions (mine are Weds 630pm) at AE or one if its associated venues in the meantime and before the training starts, so that they are prepared.


Yours sincerely

Simon Furness
(1st Year Meisner Programme Acting Tutor)