“YOUR AMBITION IS KILLING YOU.”  I first heard this phrase spoken by Sanford Meisner.  It was addressed to a young acting student during a class.  The phrase was spoken by Sanford Meisner at the conclusion of the young student (let’s call him Sam) completing an exercise.  

Sam was a very ‘good’ student.  He worked hard.  He did his homework.  He practiced at every opportunity.  Sam wanted to become not just a good actor but he wanted to become a great actor.  All Sam’s efforts were focused on achieving his goal.  Nothing was going to get in Sam’s way in pursuit of his goal.  Every time Sam got up in his acting class to work, his aim was to be the best in his class.  He wanted Sanford Meisner and the class to acknowledge his work more than anything else.  It was obvious by watching Sam in class that he truly was a dedicated actor and probably worked harder than any of his fellow students.  Sam was a model student.  So why did Sanford Meisner, acknowledged, for sixty years, as one of the great acting teachers of the twentieth century, say: “Sam, your ambition is killing you?”

Sam’s desire, to get acknowledgement from Sandford Meisner and his fellow acting students, became so magnified and all important that it undermined and sabotaged his work.  Sam’s need to be acknowledged, dare I say ‘liked’, by his peers frustrated and hindered his work in acting class.  Sam’s intense ambition to be validated and to be liked crippled him. 
His ambition was killing him.

An acting class can be seen as a microcosm of society where individuals, organizations ambitiously strive.  Strive to compete, to be better, to achieve, to accomplish, to get ahead, to win, to produce results.  This excessive focus on a desired outcome, a desired ‘result’, is fuelled by our need to be validated by some ‘other’ some authority figure.   We need somebody else to tell us how good we are.

We all want approval.  We all want to be acknowledged.  But when this becomes our main reason/intention for doing something, we stand to lose.   What is it exactly we stand to lose?  The joy of being fully present in what we are doing, unencumbered by the desire for some specific outcome, some specific result. 

I am reminded of a quote by the Australian writer Thomas Keneally where he says:
“It is only when you abandon your ambitions that they become possible.”   

Viktor E. Frankl  states in:  "Man's Search for Meaning."

“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it."

IS YOUR AMBITION KILLING YOU? 

<RETURN TO NEWSLETTER>

The audition process selects for the most blatant (and not even the most attractive) of the supplicants. As a hiring tool, it is geared to reject all but the hackneyed, the stock, the predictable—in short, the counterfeit.  The producers are not interested in discovering the new. Who in their right mind would bet twenty million dollars on an untried actor? cont… They want the old - and if they cannot have it, they want its facsimile.  These gatekeepers understand their job to be this: to supply the appropriate, predictable actor for the part. They base their choice on the actor’s appearance, credits, and quote—as if they were hiring a plumber. 

Teachers of “audition technique” counsel actors to consider the audition itself the performance, and to gear all one’s hopes and aspirations not toward the actual practice of one’s craft (which takes place in from of an audience or a camera), but toward the possibility of appealing to some functionary. What could be more awful?

For much of the beauty of the theatre, and much of the happiness, is in a communion with the audience. The audience comes to the show prepared to respond as a communal unit. They come prepared (and expecting) to be surprised and delighted. They are not only willing, but disposed to endorse the unusual, the honest, the piquant. Everything the audition process discards.

I knew a man who went to Hollywood and languished jobless for a period of years. A talented actor. And he got no work. He came back at the end of the period and lamented, “I would have been all right if they’d just sat me down on day one and explained the rules.”  Well, so would we all. But who are “they”? And what are the rules? There is no “they,” and there are no rules. He posited the existence of a rational hierarchal group acting in a reasonable manner.  But show business is and has always been a depraved carnival. Just as it attracts the dedicated, it attracts the rapacious and exploitative, and these parasites can never be pleased, they can only be submitted to. But why would one want to submit to them?

The audience, on the other hand, can be pleased. They come to the show to be leased, and they will be pleased by the honest, the straightforward, the unusual, the intuitive—all those things, in short, which dismay both the teacher and the casting agent.

Keep your wits about you. It is not necessary to barter your talent, your self-esteem, and you youth for the chance of pleasing your inferiors. It is more frightening but it is not less productive to go your own way, to form your own theatre company, to write and stage your own plays, to make your own films. You have an enormously greater chance of eventually presenting yourself to, and eventually appealing to, an audience by striking out on your own, by making your own plays and films.

But how will you act when you, whether occasionally or frequently, come up against the gatekeepers?  Why not do the best you can, see them as, if you will, an inevitable and preexisting condition, like ants at a picnic, and shrug and enjoy yourself in spite of them.

Do not internalize the industrial model. You are not one of the myriad of interchangeable pieces but a unique human being and if you’ve got something to say, say it, and think well of yourself while you’re learning to say it better.   … David Mamet

*RETURN TO NEWSLETTER

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: 
“I was bartending for a long time and going on auditions and was constantly being rebuffed." … Mark Ruffalo

1 VACANCY LEFT FOR CLASS STARTING THURSDAY 29 MARCH!

*For further information regarding enrolment contact Sophie Sardi: 
9432-3062  0419 539030  or  email: acting@peter-sardi.com.au

ACTORS AUDITIONS                  James Dean & Paul Newman early audition!

The audition process for the actor can at times be a harrowing experience.  If you are an actor and have been auditioned in the past for various roles, whether successful or not, you will find David Mamet's thoughts on the audition process interesting and maybe even comforting.

MAMET: "The audition process selects for the most blatant (and not even the most attractive) of the supplicants.  As a hiring tool, it is geared to reject all but the hackneyed, the stock, the predictable-in short, the counterfeit.  The casting agent, and, to the largest extent, the talent agent are unacknowledged adjuncts of the production companies and studios. They reason, and in their place you or I might reason similarly, that the actors come and go but the producers go on forever.  The producers are not interested in discovering the new.  Who in their right mind would bet twenty million dollars on an untried actor?  They want the old – cont…
View full article-> Some thoughts on the actor's audition process by David Mamet

TO VIEW ABOVE SCENES IN FULL - Click on images below.        

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: 
“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.” … Susan Sontag

_{NOW ENROLLING FOR TERM 1 – 2012}

A FEW VACANCIES LEFT FOR NEW TERM STARTING IN MARCH

It's not too late to enrol for Term 1 classes beginning in March.
*For further information regarding enrolment contact Sophie Sardi: 
9432-3062  0419 539030  or  email: acting@peter-sardi.com.au 

Hear what Jerzy Grotowski has to say about HUMAN CONTACT in Video below:

Please read this BEFORE you view Video on Left. The video on the left is a 'demonstration' of the 'playing for contact exercise' developed over an 18 year period at our school.  To some people viewing this video all they will see is two adults clowning around and making a lot of noise.  Some actors, who have the ability to look closely and really observe the exchange happening between these two actors, will see how this simple exercise is everything to do with ACTING.  When you watch two good actors performing a 'scene' together, if you look closely 'behind the veil of the scene', you will see/feel the elements of PRESENCE/CONNECTION that must exist between two actors on stage.  This ability of actors to create and bring about these elements is the foundation of an actor's craft.

To View Past Student Performances just click on any image below:

Can Acting be taught?

Many years ago I would have answered "NO". I once believed that you either had it or you didn't have it. But in my experience of being an actor for twenty five years, and working with actors for nearly as long, I believe this not to be the truth. The truth is Acting can be taught. The essential qualities that one needs are 'passion', 'determination' and 'perserverence'.

So what is this IT – that quality, that thing, that magic which makes an actor a good actor? To address this question we must ask the same question of "Theatre". 'What is the essential quality/thing which makes theatre – Good Theatre?'

"The Immediacy of the Present Moment"

All good Acting aspires to this Principle. Regardless of the play's content, style or direction, the only individual who can apply this Principle is The Actor. The actor's ability to execute this Principle is independent of the written material. The Immediacy of the Present Moment can only come from the Actor. This ability to be in the Present Moment I believe is the – IT – That quality that makes for good Acting and this ability can be taught.

To quote Jerzy Grotowski (The famous Polish teacher/director)

"Theatre is a place where one man comes out to meet another, without playing any role….He is what he is, complete in himself…He only wants to meet."

It's in this MEETING between 2 people where an actor encounters The Present Moment.

If you can learn to be in the present moment, you can learn to act.

Return to LATEST NEWS!

*Peter-Sardi's School Of Acting.  A Melbourne based drama school where Acting classes are taught in a safe creative environment.

^{QUOTE OF THE MONTH: New Year's Resolution - “To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time."… James Agate}

_{NOW ENROLLING FOR TERM 1 – 2012}

REMINDER:    DEPOSIT PAYMENT OF $220.00 IS DUE ON JANUARY 19th

^{Please forward your deposit payment/enrolment form to us by the deposit due date above.  
We are happy to post an application form to you on request, alternatively you can download our enrolment forms directly from our website -click here:  
<DOWNLOAD ENROLMENT FORMS>
*For more information regarding all classes please contact – Sophie Sardi: 
9432-3062  0419 539030  or  email: acting@peter-sardi.com.au}

TESTIMONIALS – New!

WRITTEN TESTIMONIAL: You are without doubt a fabulous teacher and this is largely because you so passionately believe in what you do and your method of teaching. It is a formula that works! I know you've spent years perfecting it. I feel honoured to have been able to benefit from all your years of experience. Every time I've enrolled I have often thought I get from you far  more than my monies worth. … Janine

End Of Year Performance Videos!

View brief clips of scenes above:

TO VIEW FULL SCENES   Click on images below.        

Can You Learn To Act?

View ARTICLE HERE!

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Christmas is here – again.  This time last year we were busy running around in an attempt to complete all those things that need to be completed before Christmas.  Here we are again – running around in the hustle and bustle that is Christmas.  There are lists we need to make. Gifts we need to buy.  Friends we need to catch up with. House work we need to do.  Calls we need to make. Emails we need to write and a zillion other things we need to complete – all before Christmas. But it's not over. There’s the post Christmas sales! So we run around in pursuit of that bargain we have to have. That special we mustn't miss out on. Then, when all the "craziness" is over and New Year's Day finally dawns – for most of us around noon – and our hangover settles, we finally STOP. We reflect on the year that was.  The battles won, and the battles lost. The friends we made, and the friends we lost……….As we reflect on these things and as we look back on the year that was and assess our performance: where we succeeded and where we failed.  I feel it’s important we ask the questions: “What is success?  What is failure?”  Someone once said: “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.”  In our western society success is usually gauged by our material gain.  What we ‘get’ for our work. ……..For the actor, success is: “I got the part!”  Failure is: “I didn’t get the part.”  But if you are a true artist/actor, your “success” will not be measured solely on whether you get the part or don’t get the part.  Your success will be measured by the joy you experience in doing your work.  If you are a true artist and your painting sells and you make a lot of money – that will just be a bi-product of what it is you do.  The material gain/money is a bonus. ……..So as you reflect on the year that was and you ask yourself: “Was this a successful year for me?  Think not only about what you got for all your efforts, but think also on what you became. How much you have grown as a human being.  What you know now that you didn’t know then.  What you learned, not only from your successes but more importantly, what you learned from your mistakes. 

A VERY JOYOUS XMAS …and a SUCCESSFUL 2012          Peter & Sophie Sardi