ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® is dedicated to the ideals, values, and vision of Lee Strasberg’s innovative work, known throughout the world as The Method. Through actor training, outreach, and the preservation of archival materials, The Institute works to further the legacy of Lee Strasberg®, train the world’s greatest actors, and maintain Lee’s place as a seminal figure in the great American theatre tradition.
THE LEE STRASBERG THEATRE & FILM INSTITUTE®
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® was established in 1969 to provide a home for actors seeking to train in Lee Strasberg’s work.
Today the Institute celebrates over 50 years of actor training and is the only school that teaches Lee Strasberg’s work in its complete and authentic form. Teachers conducting classes have been selected for their comprehensive knowledge of Strasberg’s work and their ability to apply it to the problems of the actor. The curriculum, designed by Lee, provides the actor with opportunities to pursue their work systematically and to gain firsthand knowledge of the fundamental concepts of Lee Strasberg’s Method™. Through classwork, seminars, exercises, scene work, and discussions, professionals and non-professionals are encouraged toward the development of their art and themselves.
The goal of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® is to provide students with a craft that will help them create a reality and respond truthfully in imaginary circumstances, regardless of the style or form of material being used. At the Institute, actors learn to express powerful emotions and are encouraged to leave behind conventional, superficial, and clichéd expressions in search of their own unique artistic voices. The Method™ trains actors to use their physical, mental, and emotional selves in the creation of the play’s characters, and stresses the way in which personal experience can fire the actor’s imagination. This is the spark that turns an accomplished technician into an inspired artist and what makes Strasberg’s Method™ a vital technique for actor training.
Lee Strasberg’s students have won more awards than those of any other teacher, and the Institute is proud to continue that legacy today, with award-winning alumni from around the world working as writers, directors, and actors in all mediums.
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® has built its outstanding reputation on the enduring value of Lee Strasberg’s teachings, the achievements of our students, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. We challenge our students to be bold in their choices, original in their ideas, and passionate in their pursuit of creative individuality.
ACCREDITATION
The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® is an institutionally accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), an association of approximately 188 schools of theatre, primarily at the collegiate level. It is the accrediting agency for theatre and theatre-related disciplines and establishes national standards for degrees and other credentials.
THE LEE STRASBERG CREATIVE CENTER®
The Lee Strasberg Creative Center® offers support to the artistic goals of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute® and its community and maintains the legacy and vision of Lee Strasberg and his innovative work, known as Lee Strasberg Method Acting™.
As part of its commitment to nurturing aspiring actors and the future of American theater, film and performance media, The Lee Strasberg Creative Center® sponsors various programs. It offers a scholarship program for students to The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Through The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission, it sponsors opportunities for emerging young playwrights, directors and actors and promotes the creation of new theater works. It features events for artistic development at The Institute, including the StrasbergTALKS lecture series, seminars, community outreach, cultural exchanges and international collaborations. It continually seeks opportunities to engage with the greater community and contribute to the theater and performing arts.
The Creative Center also conserves and maintains Lee Strasberg’s archives, which include videos of his acting classes and lectures. It is preserving these important, educational videos and making them available for students to view.
The Lee Strasberg Creative Center® accepts contributions to support scholarships and its other programs. It is a 501(c)(3) organization, and contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law. Contributions may be sent to The Lee Strasberg Creative Center, 115 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003.
THE LEE STRASBERG CREATIVE CENTER® ADVISORY BOARD
Al Pacino • Arthur Cohn • Donna L. Corbat • Michele Etienne • Rick Friedberg • Dr. Vartan Gregorian • Lyle Kessler • Francine LeFrak • Jonathan Marder • James L. Nederlander, Jr. • Aaron Schroeder • Pat Kerr Tigrett
The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission
The Clifford Odets Ensemble Play Commission is an annual playwriting commission sponsored by The Lee Strasberg Creative Center®. This commission invites emerging playwrights to write original works for an ensemble of actors at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. It partners playwrights, directors and actors trained in Lee Strasberg Method Acting™ to foster the synergy of great acting with the development of new works for the theater. Its goal is to provide an incubating space for developing true ensemble plays in New York City and cultivating the next generation of collaborating artists.
This commission is named in honor of Clifford Odets, a noted playwright and member of The Group Theatre, a historic, ensemble theater company co-founded by Lee Strasberg, Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford to create a new vision for American theater. The commission seeks to expand the legacy of The Group Theatre to produce vibrant, relevant, contemporary theater.