The Method Gun

The Method Gun is inspired by the life and tragic death of Stella Burden, the actress and actor-training guru who created "The Approach." "The Approach" is a suite of actor training exercises made popular in the late Sixties and early Seventies that fused Western naturalistic techniques with exercises that Ms. Burden gleaned from all over the globe. These exercises were physically-based and often very dangerous. One exercise in particular – The Method Gun – was extremely dangerous and, in fact, was the eventual cause of Stella Burden’s death. Whether her death was an accident, a suicide, or murder at the hands of one or more of her students is a matter of conjecture, innuendo, and debate. Stella asked prospective students one question: Truth or Beauty? From 1964-1984 Stella took only students who answered Truth. Then in 1985 for some unknown reason, she switched and took her first class of students who answered Beauty. In 1986 Stella was dead after participating in a round of The Method Gun. Our performance will culminate in a live re-enactment of the very exercise that took Ms. Burden’s life.