Stella Adler on Ibsen

Introductory class in text analysis, which leads into first lecture on Ibsen. From the mid-seventies

[@Monkhead]

Very informative and helpful, thank you for posting. As for some cynical comments here, I understand the knee-jerk reaction if you swear by another teacher. I trained as Meisner actor for years and found it enormously helpful. But to judge and compare teachings works against you. There's valuable knowledge here to gain that can help you as an artist if you are open to it. And she did train Brando, De Niro, Beniciio Del Toro, and Christoph Waltz - all of whom swear by her. So show respect.

[@garrison6863]

She was a brilliant teacher. Really wants you to understand the text.

[@legatofancier]

@Monkhead - Precisely! Just as Stella was the right teacher for Brando, Sandy Meisner was the right teacher for Robert Duvall (and me, for that matter0. I only wish I could have afforded to continue to study with Stella, too! Those who studied with both of them gained immeasurably from it. Stella & Sandy were titans, and we should be grateful for their legacy!

[@legatofancier]

@therealplease - Honestly, I have no idea who the best teachers now. Stella Adler was unique. She was American theater royalty. Her father was the great Jacob Adler; her mother was the remarkable Sara Adler; her brother was the superb Luther Adler. She was the only American born acting teacher who actually studied with Stanislavski. Sandy Meisner loved her personally and always said he learned a lot from her. Where are the likes of Stella & Sandy today? How I wish I knew.

[@Alireza666]

I got it from you today, Astella you are my Godly connection ;) R.I.P Thank you

[@michaelk.9948]

Thank you for uploading this @MiltonJustice

[@lemaxmas]

@legatofancier Well said. Stella was a great actress and teacher.

[@legatofancier]

@lemaxmas - Bill was Sandy's senior assistant when I studied at The Neighborhood Playhouse for two years. Bill Alderson & the late Fred Kareman were Sandy's other teaching assistants at that time. Fred was a remarkable teacher. However, I only had one class with Bill Alderson when he substituted for Bill Esper one day. Bill knows what he's doing, but he's gotten a reputation for harshness that doesn't do him credit. So, I'm cautious about recommending any teacher these days.

[@lemaxmas]

@legatofancier Meisner and Stella Adler were one of a kind. But there are some fine acting teachers around that are perhaps close to the level of genius that these two people were. William Esper is one that I had personal experience with while studying with Sandy Meisner. I'd trust any teacher that was personally trained by him and who taught with him.

[@lemaxmas]

@legatofancier Sorry to hear that about Bill. He could be tough, but I'd never experienced him as harsh. That's a shame if he's changed. I was there too studying with the same people except for Fred Kareman, whom I'd heard great things about.

[@joannerondell5099]

"I think we finally have to get to know what the hell is realism." Yes, indeed, but I doubt we ever will.

[@CharlesMatheny]

An Ibsen character enters and says "I came from the north". Stella explained that coming from the north was immensely dangerous and a risk of one's life. She added that too many students would think that line was just boring exposition.

[@legatofancier]

@greenrate - Marlon Brando would have set you straight on that score. Robert DeNiro could set you straight today. My teacher, Sandy Meisner loved Stella and said that he learned a lot from her. Together, they had an enormously positive effect on acting in America. Gary Oldman (no slouch!) called her "the great Stella Adler." If you learn what you're talking about, it has a way of also teaching you some humility. Educate yourself in both cases and you won't sound so foolish.

[@michaeloxavier]

Damn I wish this broad was still alive.

[@conewells]

I wish she had seen Kristin Scott Thomas' amazing performance in the sea gull back on Bwy in 2008. She would have been bowled over.

[@marcuscameron8274]

The Seagull was Chekhov tho, not Ibsen

[@TheGreatZurEnRaah]

@AtLastOnTheGround A fan of the wonderful genius known as Meisner are you? Me to. Sometimes Stella can get to rapt up in the great idea of the play and the actor needing to rise to the level of that great idea in order to bring it to life. Some of the ways she looks at things are very valueable to the actor and others in my opinion are just not necessary. One of them being needing to know the bio of the writer,

[@therealplease]

@legatofancier so... who is the "Stella Adler" of today?

[@miltonjustice]

@coolioto There was a period when all theatre actors had something of an affected way of speaking. If you can get past your attitude about how someone speaks, you might pick up something about acting.

[@catstaffo]

@therealplease Betsy Parrish.

[@tkiranmenon]

I have no idea why, since nobody else seems to have a problem, but i can't hear a word of what she's saying... The soundtrack is garbled and even then - extremely faint

[@AtLastOnTheGround]

Stella's acting is too intellectual. It's great to know about the playwright's life, and why he might have written the play, but the actor's job is not to comment on what the playwright's message. Rather, it is the actor's job to live truthfully, as the character, under the imaginary circumstances of the play. That's acting from the heart, with spontaneous reactions and real emotion. Not acting from the mind, with mechanical preconceptions.

[@simonbailey8814]

Ms Adler had a great passion for the theatre. But her manner in class was more about her than her students. She hoped to force actors to act well but that can never be. Relaxation is basic to the Stanislavski System Stella espoused.