Living Truthfully Under Imaginary Circumstances (Kirschner and Panos, 2011)
HD, 33min, sound
Three young actors are engaged in improvisation exercises devised by the influential American acting coach Sanford Meisner. Their acting lesson is juxtaposed with excerpts from a late interview with Meisner and silent clips of famous Meisner-trained movie stars. Meisner, whose formative years in
the Group Theatre coincided with the Great Depression, famously defined acting as "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances." His method left a distinct mark on American cinema and remains a testimony to the seduction of authentic emotional performance.