NEW DELHI,March 3, 2013
‘Lucky, I did not go to acting school’
PHEROZE L. VINCENT
David Zinder, avant-garde Israeli dramatist and sought after acting coach, talks about his method and the magic of the stage
You may read about David Zinder — his childhood in Israel, years as a conscript, his work in Manchester, his writings and his productions in Romania. Or you could watch him, listen and learn to imagine the workings of his mind. Characters in most proscenium plays you see today are developed using the former approach. Zinder is a practitioner of the latter.
“Whatever works,” he says, plucking out a couple of sugar cubes, glistening in the sunlight, and dropping them in his espresso. He wanted a double espresso but India International Centre only serves single ones. Whatever works.
Zinder, an Israeli with an active engagement in Romania, is in the Capital to talk to students of the National School of Drama about his method called Imagework. His method trains actors to use the Michael Chekov technique which uses imagination as the foremost tool for an actor to get into his character. Gestures and the body take primacy over the script.
After his mandatory tour of duty in the Israeli Defence Forces, Zinder says he joined Tel Aviv University’s Theatre Department in the early ’60s.
“After my time in the army, my parents, like all other Israeli parents, sat me down and asked what I wanted to do with my life. I had acted in plays in school and had even won a prize for a mime. So, theatre.”