About

Meisner Institute Ireland was founded in Dublin in 2023 out of a desire to create a space where actors of all experience levels could develop their artistic practice in a safe, novel, and creative environment. The aim of the institute is simple: to access the individual actor's most free, authentic and expansive self, and to take them on that process in the most direct, simple and effective way possible.

The first and only training programme of its kind in the country, Meisner Institute Ireland offers a fresh, instinct-driven approach to acting technique that is suitable for actors, directors, writers, improv artists and all manner of drama practitioner, providing them with distinct, practicable skills to achieve the greatest ease, freedom and authenticity in their work; all the while deepening their connection with their instincts, their own unique sense of truth as a person and artist, and with the people and material they’ll encounter throughout their careers. The result is acting that is more spontaneous, less cerebral, thrilling to do and watch, and utterly unique and original to the individual actor.

About the Director

Leonard Buckley is a RADA-trained professional actor and acting coach from Dublin. As an actor, Leonard has worked extensively with some of the industry’s biggest names, appearing in films and TV series that include Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-winning film Belfast, Hulu’s The Great opposite Elle Fanning, Julian Fellowes’ Belgravia: The Next Chapter, and most recently alongside Maxine Peake and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor in the hit FX series Say Nothing.

On stage, Leonard has appeared in some of Ireland’s most prominent theatrical events in recent years, including Translations at the Abbey and Lyric Belfast, Nancy Harris’ The Beacon at The Everyman, and the world premier of Mark O’Rowe’s Reunion, which premiered at The Galway International Arts Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival 2024 before transferring to The Kiln in 2025. Leonard also originated the role of Robert Goodwin in the world premier of Andrea Levy’s The Long Song at Chichester Festival Theatre.

An associate of the The Meisner Institute in Los Angeles, Leonard is part of the 5th generation of teachers taught by Sanford Meisner to carry on the tradition of his unique approach to acting technique. As such, he is the sole provider of Meisner training in Ireland that's both in keeping with the full breadth of the original training and approved by the Meisner estate.