I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of The Antichrist, even though I’m not a believer in God or in Christ as his son.  The teachings of Christ however I think are amazing, beautiful, loving, and wise, and our planet (certainly our country, or what’s left of it) would be better off if more of those who come in Christ’s name had any clue as to what he actually meant by “love”.  

The Antichrist is of course the sworn enemy of those teachings (or he will be when he finally arrives).  The Antichrist comes to spread hate, ignorance, fear.  All the things that are the polar opposite of the things Christ taught.  The AC is evil to the core.  What’s fascinating about him though is not that he’s evil, it’s that he comes disguised as The Christ.  And what makes him really scary, what makes him such a genuine threat to goodness and Christ’s message of love, is that he’s very, very, very good at fooling people into thinking that he’s The Original, and not The Evil Doppelganger.  If folks could see right through him, then he wouldn’t be dangerous at all.  We’d all have a good laugh at the silliness and arrogance of his poor impersonation of one of the greatest human beings who ever lived.   

But we want to believe so badly, because the struggle is so tough, so genuinely tough, that we don’t always see what’s in front of us.  Denial isn’t no river in Egypt.  Or ain’t, either. 

Acting teachers are not un-like those who devote themselves to spreading the word of God.  A few are genuine, most are clueless, and some are intentionally deceptive and after your money.  But instead of advocating Love we acting teachers advocate Truth.  And like the AC, many of us come in disguise as the very thing we seek to destroy.  Does it matter if we are deluded creatures who think we really believe in Truth, or if we know ourselves to be deceivers?   

Does it matter if George W. Bush knew he was a moron, a liar, and a war criminal (read: murderer)?  It sure doesn’t matter to the lives of those who were deceived by him.  Or made homeless.  Or killed.  His intent became moot.  He made the rich richer, the poor poorer, and killed (both literally and economically) thousands upon thousands of people in the name of Goodness, Rightness, Democracy, and Freedom. 

Beware, Actor, Beware!  Beware the Anti-Acting Teacher! You must be the guardian of your own sense of Truth.  No one will do that for you. I repeat—NO ONE will do that for you.  I’m sorry to be the Unpopular Prophet of an Inconvenient Truth. (Actually that’s a lie, I relish playing this role as you might have guessed by now.)  

Three Tell-Tale Signs of the Anti-Acting Class  OR  How To Spot The Teeny-Weeny Peeny Under The Emperor’s Invisible Clothes: 

One:  If you are not working in EVERY class, the Emperor is almost certainly naked.  (If you pay only for the classes in which you work, he may be wearing pastel boxers.)  Acting is physical and you can’t learn or grow by watching.  Can you learn to surf by watching someone else do it?  Sure, a tiny bit.  There’s some value in a good analysis, but it will never be a substitute for doing. You have to get ON the board and ride the wave, fall off, get back on etc, in every class.  Would you take a surfing class where you get in the water one in every two, three, four classes? 

Two:  If the class consists mainly of the presentation of prepared material (and if the teacher didn’t even help you choose it that’s a sign that she/he doesn’t know who you are or how to choose material to challenge your weaknesses and bolster your strengths), and she/he comments on it, talks about it, and that’s pretty much it, even if the actors “run” it again, then it’s an Anti-Class.  

Three:  Regardless of what kind of a class it is, (whether you’re working with a scene partner or with another actor on an improvisatory exercise), if you don’t feel your awareness of the other person is growing from class to class, then your attention is too inwardly focused, and it’s an A-C.  How and why you are encouraged to look outside of yourself and focus on another person is a crucial indicator of the value of the teacher’s values.  If you are not regularly surprised by the quality and depth of the communication with the other person being fostered by the class or the instructor, you’re missing the opportunity to learn the secret of how to stay on the board, or the real joy of being an actor. 

The two best teachers I ever had seemed to me back then to be complete opposites.  (All the others but those two were idiots or well-intentioned know-nothings)  

When I look back now, I see that Number One Real Deal was Meisner all the way--listen and respond, and Number Two Real Deal was a classically trained Champion of the Character, the Play, and the Playwright.  But both were absolutely focused on getting me to listen to the behavior of the other, and to communicate honestly in the service of what they considered to be the priorities of great work.  Because what both of them ultimately valued was authenticity and a desire to help me learn to fool an audience into believing that what they were watching me do was really happening.  As a result, I saw growth in myself first as a person, and then I noticed that my acting was improving too.