“On the recommendation of a friend of mine, a student of acting, I registered for the first time in 2012 for Bettina Lohmeyer’s workshop “Creating a Character on Camera” to get to know the Susan Batson method. In the meantime, I have participated a second time and am more enthusiastic than ever.
So far I have never experienced a method that offers so many possibilities to explore a character so deeply through various exercises. In this work I have experienced how I have not only understood the specific components of a figure, but how I have internalized them, and how I have finally been able to truly embody this person with all his or her longings and contradictions. Each exercise opens up the possibility of exploring a specific part of the biography, a particular trait, a person important to the figure and/or the physicality. One does not only know about it, one has experienced it. The actor no longer carries the figure in front of him, but can bring it to life in any situation because he has internalized its specific behavioral patterns. This makes you very flexible in front of the camera and in rehearsal work, because you can implement every instruction in a character-specific way, and thus every action of the character in front of the camera or on stage becomes completely organic, comprehensible and unobtrusive.
Bettina Lohmeyer’s work is always about bringing people on stage or in front of the camera to life, and she was just as human in her dealings with my colleagues and me. I was able to fully engage with the method and devote myself to the work. I always had the feeling that I was in good hands.
Since then, as an actor, I have been able to draw on the valuable experience gained in these workshops in every work I do. They can be combined very well with other working methods, and I can also fall back on individual exercises as needed.
I can only recommend this work or workshop to others. The experiences one makes in it are priceless. If the opportunity arises, I will definitely participate again.