AUGUST WILL BE SUMMER VACATION, THERE WILL BE NO CLASSES. In-person classes will resume in October, no specific start date has been set yet.
There are no In-person classes in Thousand Oaks. An Online Meisner class will begin in October, if you’d like to attend that class please email me. Info@Westlakeactingstudio.com
Meisner Technique Professional Training now in London
We “Live truthfully under the imaginary circumstance.”
Our First year Meisner Technique class is on Wednesdays 6-9pm (in-person only).
The Meisner technique is a course of study, it is not a drop-in/ drop-out type of class. This will be taught as such. The 9 month class may have to go online at some point due to circumstances, but the course will take 9 months and you should plan accordingly. If you are looking for a 4-6 week tester class, this is not the class for you. This is not to say people who simply want the training to improve their communication and listening skills aren’t welcome, you certainly are. This technique is cumulative and needs the overlaying of the exercises to make sense.
Students who want the technique in a shorter time frame or hope to drop in during a section of the technique that intrigues them would only be confused by doing so. That’s why it’s taught the way it is, the way Mr. Meisner designed it. Read more about the Meisner technique.
First Year students need no prior training to join. Students with some previous Meisner training who would like to join but wonder about where they fit in, can also join, how you fit in will be sorted when we speak on the phone about class. There is also a Thursday night class for those who do have some training, see below.
(All classes are paid for at the beginning of each month and are the same cost regardless of the number of weeks in that month. Over the course of the year it averages out to 4 weeks a month of class, this includes holiday breaks. There are no credits given for missed classes, credit is only given if a class is canceled.)
Contact us with any question about class.
Meisner Finishing Class (London)
A class for anyone who has some Meisner training is now enrolling. Thursdays- 6-9pm (in person only).
This class is for anyone who has some Meisner training and wants to continue without having to start over with First year. We will be sorting out where each student is in their progress and then finding a starting point and doing the appropriate next exercises until we have completed Second Year. If this sounds like a fit please email so we can have an initial conversation about how to proceed.
(All classes are paid for at the beginning of each month and are the same cost regardless of the number of weeks in that month. Over the course of the year it averages out to 4 weeks a month of class, this includes holiday breaks. There are no credits given for missed classes, credit is only given if a class is canceled.)
Master Class in person- Mondays 3-6pm
This class is in session but new people can always join and pick up a scene. Class is for any actor who wants a place to stay fresh with weekly practice, it’s not just for Meisner trained actors. Though you may join at any time, the only rule is that if you start a scene, you stay in class long enough to finish the scene, so it’s not a traditional drop-in type of class. We will also practice auditioning, do improv exercises and work on monolgues. Class is £130/mth. Please email if this appeals.
(All classes are paid for at the beginning of each month and are the same cost regardless of the number of weeks in that month. Over the course of the year it averages out to 4 weeks a month of class, this includes holiday breaks. There are no credits given for missed classes, credit is only given if a class is canceled.)
Online Master Class
Online Master Class is now enrolling. Classes held online only Thursdays 9am-11am PST.
This is for those who cannot be in London, we will do scenes, auditions etc. This will be for anyone who cannot be in class in London.
About the Instructor
After teaching at another Meisner studio Markus Flanagan created the Westlake Acting Studio in Westlake Village, Ca. in 2008 with the goal of passing on Mr. Meisner’s work from someone who learned it in the classroom from Mr. Meisner and has used it to great benefit as a working actor. There is a book and there is a video but the technique can’t really be learned by reading about it, it must be introduced, practiced, and reinforced properly in a class. The technique is not check boxes and chapters, it is doing the exercises until their intended skills become habits.
Mr. Meisner said, “the seed to the root of acting, is the reality of doing”, acting is doing, with truth and reality. This is only an idea until it becomes your behavior. Technique isn’t something you think about, it’s something you work at until you have married your authentic, truthful, spontaneous behavior with the writer’s words. That’s living truthfully under the imaginary circumstance.
