Some background about this technique and how it came about
During the 1930´s Sanford Meisner founded and developed the Meisner Technique at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Inspired by Stanislavsky, he was looking for real and truthful acting. His motto was “”Acting is to live truthfully under a given imaginary circumstance”. He wanted the focus to be on the action on stage and less on the actors own emotions. “”Acting is Doing.”
Meisner was looking for a technique in which the actors could be trained to simply listen and answer to each other and being in the moment. In the Repetition Game, Meisner found what he was looking for. By simply repeating each others words, the actors practice moment to moment responding. The Repetition Game is the foundation of the Meisner Technique.