"Growth as an actor and as a human being are synonymous"

To Stella Adler, the impulse to act was a sacred and important one, but she was not dogmatic about any singular approach or method. Rather, her “system” centered on providing budding actors with the tools, training, and discipline to grow and to employ the limitless human imagination in their task of studying and bringing a script to life. The beliefs Stella held about actors and acting formed the framework for how the tools, training, and discipline were delivered, and these were — and are still — found in five basic principles which are present across all the classes at the Studio.

These basic principles include:

The development of independent actors.

Stella Adler, herself a fiercely independent theatre artist, understood that acting becomes vital, exciting, and alive when actors do their own thinking and bring a point of view or a sense of mission to their work. One of her most frequently quoted statements is, “Your talent is in your choice.” At the Studio, the aim is to develop actors who think for themselves, respect their own ideas and ideals, and use the theatre as a means to share those ideas and ideals. Such independent actors are fully resolved to train their minds, bodies, voices, and spirits to achieve that end.

The power of the imagination.

Actors’ imaginations are the most powerful source for them to draw on. To bring alive a mimetic narrative — a story that happens as it is told — an actor must be able to create not just a replication of the actual, but a transforming, living experience. To create such an experience, Adler Studio actors are asked to use their imagination to locate the fullest range of motivational force, rather than depending solely on observation and emotional memory.

The importance of action.

Drama depends on doing, not feeling; feeling is a by-product of doing. The Adler Technique depends on actors connecting strongly to each other by way of actions, and creating dramatic events that take place between “I and thou,” not between “me and myself.” These actions include the subtle, creative, onstage choices to which actors commit.

Informed script interpretation.

A text, once the author has surrendered it, is an object in itself with its own life, its own meaningful possibilities, and its own potential for impact. Another Stella Adler quote still used at the Studio is, “The play is not in the words, it’s in you!” It is the actor’s responsibility to respect the script and to be willing to read deeply and with a fertile imagination. This respect involves an understanding of where the playwright is leading the character, including understanding the character’s environment and investigating the full setting of the play.

The cultivation of a rich humanity.

The actor’s instrument is the actor’s own body and brain; however, if the dramatic arts are to avoid shrinking to a self-referential, self-enclosed, detached, and isolated unit of a larger world, then the psyche upon which the actor calls must not be the actor’s own, but the character’s. Therefore, an actor needs to develop resources of information and experience that connect with the rest of the world — socially, culturally, historically, and politically — thereby enriching the actor’s instrument that is required to perform.

Each of these principles permeates all of the Studio’s courses as the general teaching philosophy at the Adler Studio.

Tom Oppenheim, the Artistic Director of the Studio and grandson of Stella Adler, illustrates how the Studio embodies these principles in a letter to his deceased grandmother:

 “Dear Stella, I'm afraid the world today has wandered farther away from the ideas, ideals and standards you, your father and Harold Clurman so valiantly fought for. Art and culture are overlooked, educationally and governmentally, and as a society we plunge headlong into commercialism. Young people, more than ever, suffer from historical amnesia and their reference to acting and theater art is increasingly formed by the medium of television. Stella, I am afraid that we live in a time which is increasingly corrosive to the human spirit. But amidst these difficulties there is hope. The artistic revolution begun by Jacob Adler who sought to uplift himself and his community of Jewish immigrants through the production of great plays, continued by Harold Clurman who injected the same spirit and goals into the Group Theater, carried forward by you who created a technique based on the insight that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous … that revolution is still alive!

Stella, Rest in Peace.

Among the many lessons you left behind is this one: that no matter how bad things get, do not surrender to despair.

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is still informed and guided by that spirit. After you died, rather than cave into what was a devastating loss, we set out to grow, and grow we have. In addition to our commitment to actor training which, thanks to our world class faculty is absolute, in order to combat the trends of commercialism, we have created a plethora of extracurricular programs including lectures, poetry readings, concerts, and our own professional theater company, all in the name of Harold Clurman. In response to unspeakable fiscal inequities which abound and out of a desire to engender in our students the kind of social awareness and engagement that animated the work of the Group Theater, we have created The Stella Adler Outreach Program, which brings free actor training to lower-income youth. We endeavor to be a beacon of light in a world of despair.

Rest in peace, dear Stella, all is well.

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is alive and fighting the good fight, to nurture the human spirit through art, to cultivate humanity, and to celebrate life.

Rest in peace, Stella, the message of your life, of your father's life, of Harold's life continues.

L' Chaim!!!

- Tom Oppenheim President and Artistic Director”

The Studio offers a wide range of professional programs in order to include actors in any situation.

In addition to our extensive relationship with New York University, we also have a full-time 2.5 Year Conservatory, a full-time Evening Conservatory, an array of seasonal workshops, an Outreach Program (free to NYC public high school students), and summer programs including Shakespeare and Chekhov intensives, a summer day program, a new Physical Theatre intensive, an evening introductory program, and a teenage program.

For more information, please visit our website at www.stellaadler.com.