No Acting Please

A reviewer

I love this book and recommend it to anyone studying acting...give it a chance and read it through!

A reviewer

This no-nonsense book put acting into perspective for me. Whenever I am in trouble in a scene, I come back to the exercises and they pull me through. What's more, the techniques don't only improve the quality or life of your performance onstage in the world of make-believe, it helps you become a more well-rounded person offstage in the real world as well.

Acting that makes sense...

I¿ll admit that at first glance Eric Morris¿s System can seem scary and misaligned. But I believe it to be a very misunderstood system. I too was skeptical in the beginning, but after studying this technique (with Eric, but mostly with Anthony Vincent Bova in NYC, Eric¿s protégé), and after seeing the difference from 'acting' and what this Work creates, there's no way I'd ever go back to the 'acting' form. Eric Morris teaches the actor how to react honestly and in the moment, including everything that¿s going on inside and out¿the other actor, the props, the imagined objects that one might be working for¿that impels you to ¿do¿ whatever the character is required to ¿do¿, but out of a real reaction, not just because you¿re doing it. I've studied Adler, Strasberg, Meisner, and with Robert Lewis. I've hashed through the process of verbs, actions, objectives, obstacles, and onward and they're all good and dandy for figuring out what's going on in a script, what the characters are doing and why but other than that, these techniques never helped me figure out HOW to make it real to ME... How to get to a place where I'm actually functioning from a real, organic, truthful state ... How to get to the point where I am 'doing' all the script tells me to do, fulfilling the 'actions,' out of an honest REACTION to what¿s going on¿. Not just ¿playing¿ as if I am how, in essence, to create the realities of the character¿. No matter where you go, all the great teachers (and actors) say the same thing, 'Acting is reacting.' Even the most used and cherished word in the actor¿s language, LISTENING, is about focusing outside of yourself and REACTING to what is there. This Work trains the actor to create the stimuli that will fulfill the demands of the piece, specifically, wholly, and with Truth. For the most part, plays and movies are imagined circumstances, and we as actors, have to create stimuli to react from, so we¿re not just faking, or indicating our performance. I'd rather watch two people have a relationship on film or on stage, than two actors reciting words, no matter how well they 'act' it. If they don¿t believe it, I won¿t. This System trains you to create those stimuli and REACT to them honestly, fully and truthfully. A crucial part of Eric's System is based on Instrumental Work, which is the process of identifying blocks and fears and tensions to expression and, one-by-one, through the use of hundreds of exercises, eliminating them. It's really about self-awareness¿learning about yourself and how you function, so you can ¿get out of your way¿ and function truthfully on stage or film and get to where you need to get to in a scene. I think this is the aim of every method, but I feel that this System is the only one to address the issues of the actor on a personal level. If I'm tense and depressed (in real life me the actor), I'm not going to be able to REACT truthfully in a scene where the character has just won the lottery and is jumping with joy. If I push for the emotion, I'll be faking and will 'act' that I'm joyful. If this is enough for you, then Eric's work is definitely not your thing. But if you're looking for creating reality and REACTING with truth, nothing surpasses this Work. I know that Meryl Streep, Brando, Ed Norton, Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and a handful of other amazing actors don't fake it, don't just indicate the realities of the character and the circumstances. They create them. Be it imagined stimuli they are creating, or through the available stimulus around them, they open themselves up and REACT truthfully to everything ¿the other actors, the set, the space, the props, the object or person via Sense Memory, etc. I KNOW they do this for a fact! They¿ve talked about it for years. Eric helps you get to the place that they do¿where you can function truthfully, where your instrument is accessible and available, where you are open and are willing to

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