The Spolin Technique

This will make you a better leader and leadership more fun
Robin G. Brpwn

At the root of these lessons are the advanced Spolin exercises. With them everything the player learns is through experience. They provide the advanced actor with an improvisational environment to practice playing what is beyond the words. What’s Beyond and Changing Emotions help an actor to recognize the transitions in the scenes and arc them accordingly. It teaches them to see what is beyond the words. Actors who go through this type of training are much less likely to fall into playing the words. They are more able to deal with the constantly changing demands of the real work place, are more comfortable with their creative instruments, and as a result have discoveries in performance that help them book jobs. They are having fun and that is always contagious.

Breaking down a side and putting it on tape for a submission takes about three hours; over a day or so. It requires repetition, that means reading it with someone. If you work with me we will read it together on FaceTime or Zoom. After an hour of reading it-and digesting it, we will figure out the through-line and what the character’s objective is. Then you will need to work on recalling it. I recommend closing your eyes, and remembering the scene. Trust me after an hour of repetition with me it will be easy to remember most scenes. The fear of learning the lines will be lost.

Then we’ll come back for an hour and do the scene off-book, running through it; playing the objective. Of course there will be moments where the lines are lost.

So, finally, I recommend that you take a day off and when you go to sleep recall the scene, and do the same when you wake up.

The next day we will tape it.

I can’t stress enough how much this incubation is important. It is very hard to get a side and try and memorize it and show up the same day. Good casting agents will give you several days. This is important. That’s why you need someone to work with.

I am very good at breaking down sides. I’ve been teaching this at AFTRA and AAU for over twenty years. My résumé is enclosed. I’ve done this hundreds of times with many working actors. Let’s book it.

About the Instructor
Robin G Brown has a masters degree in acting from the University of Southern California and was a student at the Second City Training Center, and later the Improv Olympic in Chicago where he studied with Del Close.

After graduating from USC he work-shopped with Stella Adler in her master class and later taught Improvisation for the Theater at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting, West. His long-form improvisation company, Theatre Extempore, has had extended runs in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Robin is currently doing what he always wanted, creating work for actors. He is an accomplished filmmaker/screenwriter whose independent film “Submission” had its premier at the market at The Cannes Film festival May 2006.