‘A Taste of Impulse’ in Melbourne – Meisner training for the 21st Century Actor

Scott Williams, one of London’s foremost and longest standing Meisner Technique teachers, is heading to Melbourne for his 3 day ‘Taste of Impulse Workshop’ from the 23-25th of August at Feat In Space Theatre, Preston.

American born Williams is an international director and teacher and is currently the Artistic Director of the UK-based Impulse Company. After training with Sanford Meisner at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, he enjoyed a career as a teacher, director and artistic director in the USA before relocating to London in the mid-1990s. After his move to London and the founding of The Impulse Company, Williams continued his multi-dimensional schedule of teaching and directing around the world.

Scott has been teaching the Meisner technique to actors across the globe for 35 years, with the ethos to develop practitioners who can be proud, courageous, creative, flexible, considerate and courteous – an ethos he says is “just as important as the techniques he teaches.”

Combining the inspiration of his own mentors, William Ball and Sanford Meisner, and with his own multi-pronged interests, Scott and The Impulse Company aim to create a combined conservatory and repertory performance company for the new century. He has trained actors throughout the UK at Actors centres across the country and now teaches and directs internationally from Paris, across the USA, Hong Kong and Australia. He shares his vision and commitment to helping actors become the best they can be with thousands of practitioners all over the world.

His approach to actor training has been described as transformative and ever-supportive – and his students include Jaime Murray (Dexter, Hustle, and Defiance) Vincent Elbaz (The Assault, Absolutely Fabulous, and The Four Musketeers) Lee Williams (The Tudors, Teachers, and The Forsythe Saga) Hilary Bell (The White Divers of Broome, Wolf Lullaby, and The Splinter) and Australia’s Adam Garcia (Camp, Coyote Ugly, Bootmen).

With so many A-List names amongst his students, Scott adamantly and humbly stands down from any ‘guru’ type accolade, and simply asks that the value of the work speak for itself. His motto and approach to the work is summed up in the statement “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

His teaching ethos resounds with positivity, enabling actors to say ‘yes’ to new ideas, try different approaches and offering praise for work well done.

During the 3 Day workshop in Melbourne, participants will work on a series of simple, practical exercises which give a taste of how the technique allows actors to connect to emotional truth, living moment to moment on stage and screen and access the impulses that this type of work creates.

Get ready to feel the freedom of living truthfully under a given set of circumstances and discover what else is possible for you in your acting!

Workshop details:

DAY 1 & 2:
Introduction to Impulse

Saturday August 23 and Sunday August 24
9.30am to 5.30pm
$250

DAY 3:
Advancing Impulse
Monday, August 25
9.30am to 5.30pm
$135/$100 if enrolled at the same time as Introduction to Impulse. This day is also suitable for people who have worked with Scott previously and want to go deeper.

WHERE:

Feat In Space Theatre
Unit 12, 62-64 Oakover Rd
Preston 3072

CLICK HERE for venue information.

If you would like to book for the Melbourne workshop or want more information on Impulse Company Australia, please email [email protected]

Scott Williams has also recently completed a book on the subject – “After Meisner. A 21st Century Acting Technique”, which will be published in September this year through Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. More details can be found here.