The Sanford Meisner technique is based on the “reality of doing.” Instead of focusing on emotions, he focused on truthful behavior that was the product of “doing”, not “thinking.” To provide actors with a way to achieve truthful behavior, he created what he called “repetition” exercises. First of all, these exercises teach the actors to really listen to each other. The first stage of your exercises is known as “first thing”. By “working” with each other and listening without adding anything artificial to the exercise, the actors begin to understand what it means to respond from their sincere selves. In order to illuminate the value of listening when it comes to instincts, Meisner provided his students with 3 rules:

Rule 1. “Don’t do anything until something happens that forces you to do it.” By learning the value of “being left alone,” the actor begins to understand that fabricated responses have no meaning. To achieve the sense of truth by which we live in our work, the actor must learn to focus his full attention on an “object” outside of himself. In doing so, the actor no longer looks at himself. This is the basis for listening to the other person.

Rule 2. “What you do is not up to you, it is up to the other person.” This is most easily understood in stage 3 of the “repetition” exercise, commonly known as the “point of view” exercise. At this stage, students are introduced to what Meisner called the “pinch” for the “ouch.” The actors involved in the “point of view” exercise are now moving into “repetition. They must now respond to the other person from their own truthful” point of view. Actors cannot “think” a response or pause to consider the effect that their partner’s “pinching” has had on them. Now they should respond spontaneously from their truthful “point of view.” If your partner says something that angers you, you should stay on the “repeat” and Respond from your instinct This is the stage in which the actor begins to understand what it means to remove the “filter” and eliminate the “pleasant routine” of his work. Thought blocks the instincts, so the actors work tirelessly to achieve our their “. heads “and find meaningful behavior through” pinch. “Ergo Meisner said,” If I “pinch” you, you’ll say “ow.”

Rule 3. “The quality of your work depends on how fully you do what you do.” This is one of the hardest things for an actor to master. Working hard refers to your ability to react to the “pinch” from a personal location. This is essential for script work, as there are no casual moments in the drama. By definition, “No conflict = no drama.” The actor’s work must be imbued with meaning from beginning to end. Marlon Brando speaks briefly in Brando’s latest documentary, “Listen To Me Marlon,” about the importance and difficulty of finding the “truth of the moment.”

Meisner went on to provide his students with “independent physical activity” to provide the actor with a means to develop focus and concentration. The actor is now in a place where he must perform an activity that is purely physical and extremely difficult. Once again the importance of putting your full attention on the “object of your behavior” is reinforced.

As actors move from one stage of “replay” to the next, the stakes increase, providing the means by which we create urgency.

In total there are approximately 12-13 stages of “repetition” exercises. At each stage, the actor must continue to learn to “listen” through the “knock on the door”, independent physical activity, and finally the “related” stage of the exercises.

As a young actor, he was always in my head and I had no idea how to get out. There were times when my instincts surfaced, but most of the time I was thinking rather than reacting to the “pinch.” Fortunately I came across the Meisner Technique early in my training. As an actor, teacher and director, I would be lost without it.