No Acting Please: The Eric Morris, Laurice Guillen and Gina Alajar Encounter

"No Acting Please" were words pasted in the four walls of the workshop room where I was to experience my first taste of the Eric Morris system of -- get this- "Acting". Now why were there posters screaming "No Acting Please" ??!? This intrigued me and only added to stress of having two of the Philippines' formidable and respected film and stage actor-directors as trainers of the class - Laurice Guillen and Gina Alajar. Who wouldn't be intimidated anyway?

There I was a nervous, insecure, wreck trying to look calm and collected amidst a group of seemingly confident stage and film actors who were to be my classmates in the Being Workshop of the Actor's Workshop Foundation in Manila. To say I felt like a lost "probinsiyana" (from the province) was an understatement, after all I just flew in from Cebu to try my luck in Manila, but  more than that though, I felt like all the things I learned about acting became null and void after undergoing just a few simple exercises. I was actually "jerked" into the Eric Morris system of "No Acting Please".

Its essence came in the form of BEING, of TRUTH, of ACCEPTANCE, of RESPONDING, and of EXPRESSING. Laurice and Gina spared no one from cleaning up the obstacles that prevented us from becoming better actors and better individuals through the instrumental therapy sessions.

There was no room for "acting". There was only room for "truth" expressed in a moment to moment basis. I finally began to understand the presence of  the "No Acting Please" signage and embraced its essence after four days  of training. It was a major turning point in my life and I will forever be grateful for Laurice and Gina for pushing me beyond my comfort zone to reveal the dragons that blocked my way to success. Passing the training after all, paved the way for me to become part of  the Actor's Workshop Foundation's training team. The workshop was apparently, my "baptism of fire" , as they teasingly called it.

Putting the icing on the cake, was the foundation's decision to bring in Eric Morris to train professional actors in Manila. This came a few months after I joined them and I was elated. I felt truly blessed being able to interact and witness how Eric conducted the instrumental therapy sessions. Spending many hours and days watching and experiencing his craftsmanship was simply heavenly, I ended up buying his books and gorged on them, some of which are featured here:


Now, 25 years after the first "No Acting Please" encounter, I have kept using all the principles of BEING in all my training programs and in fact have called my behavioral workshops the BEING Series Workshops.


The exercises contained in the various books helped me heal many areas of my life and have allowed me to become a more confident, self-assured, and empowered individual. To give you a glimpse of  how I use some of Eric Morris' instrumental therapy exercises in my various courses here's an article called INVENTORY SYSTEM: Feel Fully, Express Totally

Now, what does "No Acting Please" have to do anything with creativity training. Well, it IS in itself  Creativity Training with Therapeutic Proportions.