Theater News

Controversial Acting Teacher Eric Morris to Visit NYC

Eric Morris
Eric Morris

On Friday, April 30 at 5pm, acting teacher Eric Morris will give a free lecture followed by a book signing at The Drama Book Shop (250 West 40th Street). He will explain some of the aspects of his Method-based system, which he has refined over the last 43 years. “Eric’s insights into human behavior are unparalleled,” says Anthony Vincent Bova, the exclusive New York-based instructor of Morris’s system, who is helping to organize the event.

According to Bova, “Eric has been controversial since he began teaching.” Morris has identified a missing link in Method-based training and has worked to free the actor from what Bova describes as “the obstacles, emotional blocks, dependencies, fears, tensions, inhibitions, and damage that we all experience growing up in this society.”

Morris himself states, “The fear of most of the ‘old line’ master teachers is that if they crossed that line from what they considered acting to psychotherapy, it would become a professional taboo.” While both Bova and Morris are quick to point out that they are not practicing psychotherapy, the system that Morris advocates does involve intense emotional work that some consider inappropriate to a classroom environment. Nevertheless, Morris has received high praise from numerous actors including Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, and Sally Kirkland for helping them learn to achieve the kind of truthful emotional states necessary to create realistic portrayals.

Morris is the author of the books No Acting Please, Being & Doing, Irreverent Acting, Acting from the Ultimate Consciousness, and Imaging, Acting and the Unconscious. His lecture at the Drama Book Shop will include a Q&A session; seating is limited and reservations are required.

In addition, Morris will offer a two-day workshop in his actor training system on Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2, sponsored by the Bova Actors Workshop. “There are actors coming in from all over the country and even Canada,” says Bova. “Regardless of the level of the actor, I expect the workshop to be highly challenging, inspiring, creative, and educational for anyone interested in a truth-based, reality-based acting approach.”

For more information and/or to register for the lecture and book signing as well as the acting workshop, visit www.bovaactorsworkshop.com or call 212-726-8380.