Dutch actors relive emotional childhood memories during Shelley Mitchell's Method Acting Masterclass #tf2010

"We are artists. Acting is a vocation. Not everyone understands that. Sometimes it's a lonely existence." Understanding, almost motherly, Shelley Mitchell addresses a group of Dutch actors at De Balie. The American actress and founder of The Actors Centre of San Francisco introduces them to 'method acting' during a three-day master class. Not pretending, but becoming one with your character. A way of acting that has won many famous actors an Oscar. Think of Robert De Niro, Juilette Binoche, Al Pacino and Kate Winslet.

Before Mitchell puts her new students to work, she talks to them about the acting profession at a time when reality TV, talent shows and Facebook reign supreme. "Like McDonald's, new drama schools are sprouting up. They see money in insecure teenagers who want to become famous. I find that very bad." She urges actors that there is a job for them here: "You have the creativity, the talent. You can keep it real." How? "By staying close to yourself and finding a balance between your left and right brain. That right hemisphere houses your creativity, your emotions, your intuition and contact with your body." So these are the things Mitchell wants to bring out in her master class. For this, the actors have to turn off the mind - as far as possible.

During the first exercise, the American has an actress sit in a chair. She lets her quietly make contact with her insides, exploring the blockages in her body, as well as the emotions that are released. Later, she whispers an assignment to her. She asks her to relive a childhood memory. A vulnerable, sad, angry, yet funny monologue follows. A story that enters everyone's mind, because the emotions are far from played. "Sense memory is what I call it," Mitchell later explains. "Not just remembering events and feelings, but reliving them. Without embarrassment, without criticising yourself. Being in the moment. If you can do that, your mask is off. You are yourself. You are real. This is the basis of method acting: using your own emotions and experiences to make your play as realistic as possible. This is particularly useful in film acting, when you often have little time to prepare."

Also in her own play Talking with Angels Mitchell tries to play 'without a mask'. More than two hundred times she has been on stage with this performance, yet it remains a challenge. "Like everyone else, I take myself, as I am that day. But I know how to evoke the feelings I need before I go on," she says. "There is no single method for that, even though the name 'method acting' suggests otherwise. Everyone does it in their own way. This is how actor and ex-alcoholic Russell Brand for his new role as a drunk before every scene to a glass of whisky. If that helps him, why not?"

Tomorrow and Monday, Mitchell will continue to guide her Dutch pupils on how to 'become' a character. She hopes to give master classes in the Netherlands more often. "I am in love with talent and since this week also with Amsterdam. Good reasons to come back again."

Public presentationMasterclass: Monday 6 September, 16.00, De Balie