Huh! That's my experience of performing, for sure, but Meisner wasn't presented to me that way. One of the teachers of a workshop I was in had studied with Meis

Huh! That's my experience of performing, for sure, but Meisner wasn't presented to me that way. One of the teachers of a workshop I was in had studied with Meisner, and had led (I think?) the London Meisner Institute, so I figured I was getting it straight. She approached repetition exercises more like intuitive textual analysis - finding the subtext, as you (or someone else) said up-thread. I've never had trouble supplying more subtext than anyone could ever want, so that bit didn't do anything much for me. Neither did the crying and the yelling. I did too, just so as not to be left out (crying and yelling is always good fun), but they all took it so damn seriously that I wasn't sure where the line was between useful work and self-indulgence. Oh, and also I think a professional actor ought to be able to drop in without having to drag someone else through ten minutes of repeating the first three words of their lines back and forth until the syllables are drained of all meaning. True story! I was as good a sport about it as I could be, but gosh... It was drizzling, and the lighting guy fucked off for tea, and I sure wished I could too. I know more direct ways to get students to drop their inhibitions and tune into each other than repetitions. (Oh, and the audience! Everything I've seen of Meisner neglects the audience, and I think being aware of them is really important for stage work. Camera, same, for screen acting.) Anyway, I'm sure I'm just missing something, and being grumpy. Like I say, I've seen positive results for some actors (though not the chick in the rain), so it's doing something, and I'm glad it works for you.