Berks Barrister Winter 2018 - 28

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From My Perspective
Continued from page 27
the others in the scene, all the while, of
course, using the same lines in the same
script for each performance. The ultimate
truth, of course, must come from the four
corners of the script, which does not vary
from performance to performance, and
from the direction given to the actors by
the director. Mr. Terruso advised that a
repetition exercise is the foundation of
instruction of the Meisner Technique. In
one form of this exercise, two actors deliver
to each other repetitively the same line in
an attempt to discern emotional variation
in each delivery.
My intention in speaking to my
cousin about the Meisner Technique was
to determine if the Technique might be
useful to a litigator in the trying of a case.
While I would not speak for my cousin
in this regard, I would state that I do find
the Technique to be useful in trying a
case. The need to listen and to adapt to
the testimony of any witness, while that
testimony is being taken, is crucial to the

overall presentation of the case. Merely
going through a checklist of questions on
direct examination or cross-examination,
without observing the witness during the
response to one's question, and without
listening closely to that response so as
to determine the next question, would
appear to be counter-productive. Potential
testimonial "gems" can be missed if one's
approach is too rigid, self-absorbed, and
robotic. While the actor's truth ultimately
comes from the script, and while the
attorney's truth ultimately must be based
upon the facts and opinions of the case
as developed through the discovery and
investigative processes, both actor and
attorney must be adaptive so as to react
spontaneously, and to adjust, to the "lines"
as they are spoken in the crucial and
essential effort to present the truth to
the audience, whether it be comprised of
theatre-goers or a judge and/or jury.
If a definition of acting is living
truthfully under imaginary circumstances,

as Meisner said, perhaps a definition
of litigation might be presenting a case
as effectively as possible under real
circumstances. Every storyteller wants to
tell the story as effectively as possible to an
engaged audience whose attention is keen
and focused on both the story and its teller.
Every good storyteller is adept at
relating and listening. Every litigator
who tries a case is, in essence, a storyteller.
Applying the principles of the Meisner
Technique just might make a litigator into
a more effective storyteller, and perhaps,
into a desired guest at a dinner party.
Mr. Duffy, a
Philadelphia
lawyer, writes on
cultural topics for
The Barrister, at
the request of the
BCBA Executive
Director.

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Berks Barrister Winter 2018

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