If you have come to this website, chances are incredibly strong that you are familiar with the man himself: Terry Schreiber. Terry has been teaching and directing professionally in New York for over four decades now. That is more than 40 years of teaching and being active in a field that is ever changing. and has evolved immensely due to new technology that has created new platforms to produce content: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Vimeo, and more. Yet, amongst this loud and often head-spinning industry, it is vital now more than ever to keep in mind that it is still about the work. Below are a few of my personal favorite sentiments from Terry, a champion of creating a space for actors to work. These quotes regard the responsibility of the acting teacher and of course the craft itself.
A safe atmosphere in class makes it easier for the actor to open up, explore, and go much deeper and more personally into the work. An actor must know in their mind and heart that they have the privilege to fail and it is safe to do so.
In our work, we attempt to understand the acting blocks that stop the actor from opening up feelings and emotional responses that they would have to access to fulfill the roles they might have the potential to be cast in. For any of us: actors, directors, writers, teachers, painters, musicians, these blocks are not just confined to the arts, ‘the life blocks in an individual are also the creative blocks.’ It is these “blocks” to which a teacher must be very sensitive. We must create a safe atmosphere that is encouraging and supportive for an actor tackling some of their own blocks, as we try to help them open up the range of talent that might be within them. We must, as teachers, be sure not to push or force, but to create a safe and trusting atmosphere where a breakthrough might happen.
The more an actor understands, intellectually and emotionally, what makes up the total of their being – their thinking, feeling, emotional responses – the more energy sources they can free in their instrument.
Good actors to great ones reach out and touch us by what they give from themselves, their availability to themselves, to other actors in the scene, and the material. They fill us with feelings and responses because they have so generously and honestly connected and given of their own rich instrument.
Call the studio or email info@tschreiber.org to sign up for Terry’s upcoming Script Analysis class starting October 13th.