"You will fail. That's great. Here's a secret for you - that's the only way you can learn. Learning has to cost you something. If you fail but learn something from your failure, you will grow." - Stella Adler
What is the Adler Technique?
The Adler technique focuses on imagining the character’s world rather than the commonly taught technique of conjuring details from personal memory or emotion. Adler believed that over-reliance on personal, emotional memories limited an actor’s range.
Actors training in the Adler technique learn about the conditions of the character they’re portraying: what their life might be like, what their profession entailed, and so forth. To build the fictional role, the actor must incorporate imagination, research, and creative actions.
Adler’s technique requires actors to observe everyday life, enabling them to conjure detailed and realistic mental images when acting. When those mental images are nuanced, actors can authentically express this imagery to the audience.
Imagination – “Anything that goes through your imagination has a right to live.”
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Script analysis – “The actor’s most important need is to interpret the play.”
Building character – “When you work on a part, it is important to think through how a character lives in their social situation.”
Actions – “Every action takes place in a world.”
Justifications – “The creative part of your work is your justifications.”
“Don’t be afraid, she said you have a right to be who you are, where you are and how you are” – Marlon Brando
Engage Javiar
Stella Adler Technique – Group Workshops
For Professional Actors & Actors in Training
Rooted in the transformative principles of the Stella Adler technique, these group workshops are designed for those who take the craft of acting seriously, whether they’re working professionally, in formal training, or seeking to deepen their connection to the work.
With extensive experience teaching Adler’s approach, Javiar brings clarity, precision, and inspiration to each session. His workshops offer actors the opportunity to reconnect with their artistic instincts, challenge habitual choices, and develop the imagination as a powerful tool for truthful storytelling.
Stella Adler’s technique champions a bold, text-driven practice that empowers actors to move beyond imitation and emotional recall, and into expansive, imaginative work that is grounded, courageous, and alive.
Participants will explore:
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A rigorous, text-based approach to character and storytelling
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Imagination as the actor’s most vital instrument
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The role of action, circumstance, and given text as creative foundations
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Deep artistic exploration through intellectual and emotional curiosity
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Techniques that support authentic, sustainable, and compelling performance
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Javiar creates a focused, collaborative space where actors can challenge themselves, connect deeply with material, and grow artistically—both individually and as an ensemble.
Interested in Booking a Workshop?
If you're part of a training program, theatre company, or acting group interested in bringing this work to your ensemble, please provide the following details to help us tailor the experience to your needs:
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1. Proposed dates and times for the workshop
2. Location and city (UK only)
3. Estimated number of participants
4. Primary objectives or focus areas for the session
5. Whether your group consists of professional actors or actors in training looking to expand their craft and performance skills
Once we receive your information, we’ll be in touch to discuss availability, workshop structure, and how Javiar can best support your group’s creative development.
Private coaching
Stella Adler’s technique encourages actors to move beyond imitation and into bold, imaginative choices. Rooted in the power of action, circumstance, and clear intention, her approach empowers actors to build rich inner worlds grounded in the text, rather than relying on personal memory or emotional recall.
This technique fosters:
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A deep connection to character through text analysis and imaginative engagement
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A focus on circumstances and actions over emotional display
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The development of strong choices that serve the story and elevate performance
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Intellectual curiosity and artistic expansion
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Work that is emotionally resonant, yet safe, sustainable, and grounded in craft
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Online 1-to-1 sessions (minimum 1 hour) are available for actors who wish to:
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Explore and deepen their understanding of Adler’s technique
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Prepare for a drama school audition
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Work on an upcoming role
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Keep up to date with their craft and stay creatively engaged
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Refine their approach to text, character, and performance
These personalised sessions offer a supportive, focused space to engage with the technique and unlock more truthful, dynamic work—wherever you are in your journey.
Who Was Stella Adler?
Stella (1901 - 1992), the youngest daughter of famed theatre actors Sara and Jacob Adler, began her career on her father’s stage at four. She spent her young adult life performing throughout the United States, Europe and South America, appearing in more than 100 plays in vaudeville and the Yiddish theatre. Following her Broadway debut, she joined the American Laboratory headed by Richard Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya, both former members of the Moscow Art Theatre. In 1931, when Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford created The Group Theatre, Stella was invited to join as a founding member.
“Acting requires a creative and compassionate attitude. It must aim to lift life up to a higher level of meaning and not tear it down or demean it. The actor's search is a generous quest for that larger meaning. That's why acting is never to be done passively.”
― Stella Adler
Taking a brief leave of absence in 1934 to travel to Russia, she stopped in Paris, where she met and studied for five weeks with Konstantin Stanislavski. Stella Adler is the only American actor to have studied with him through intense, private training. When she returned to The Group Theatre with a new understanding of his work, she began giving acting classes to other members, including Sanford Meisner, Elia Kazan, and Robert Lewis, whom all became notable theatrical directors and acting teachers.
Stella worked in Hollywood as an associate producer at MGM for six years and played several roles. She returned to New York and London to direct and act in many plays, among them the London premiere of Manhattan Nocturne, the Off-Broadway revival of the Paul Green/Kurt Weil anti-war play Johnny Johnson, as well as Sons and Soldiers, Pretty Little Parlor, and He Who Gets Slapped. Her last stage appearance was in the critically controversial production of Arthur Kopit’s Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet, and I’m Feeling So Sad (1959).
In the early 1940s, Stella began teaching at the Erwin Piscator Workshop at the New School for Social Research. She left the faculty in 1949 to establish her own studio, the Stella Adler Theatre Studio (later renamed the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and finally the Stella Adler Studio of Acting). She went on to teach some of the most prolific stage and film actors of the 20th Century.