Learning lines...

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It's a beautiful autumnal morning full of golden light on turning trees, continuous cups of tea and a day with space in it stretching out in front of me...the temptation to spend this blog waxing lyrical cliches in homage to seasonal Sunday loveliness is ever so tempting but I have a more practical purpose...

I'm going to try and help with the whole line learning business - it's that time in the Autumn term when the Christmas plays need you to confidently and clearly have your lines committed to memory.  It's tricky but it's eminently achievable and the sooner it's done the better the play will be...so here goes...5 top things to remember about learning lines...

1.  Learning lines takes time - you need to set a part lots of short pockets of it - not huge swathes of it - regular 15 minutes of ring feed time - a number of daily fixes - also be strategic - don't try and do the whole play at once - break it down into scenes - sections of scenes - get one of those done and then move on...making sure you revisit to consolidate - but remember it's not going to happen on it's it takes practice - a lot of it!
2.  Learning lines takes action - sitting reading lines in your head is a waste of your time - say        them out loud, walk as you say them - pace, gesture be active and engaged - make it physical as well as cerebral
3.  Learning lines is better in company - find someone to help you - doesn't matter who as long as they are patient and positive - they'll make the whole process so much more effective - they'll also make sure you learn them accurately and not that horrid paraphrasing things actors do so often that make writers weep... also it makes sure you learn your cues as well as your lines...which brings me to...
4.  Learning lines is not all about you - the amount of times I hear - I know my lines I just don't know when they come - and I have to keep a furious growl from becoming audible - your lines are a part of a thought, a feeling, a story, relationships, a whole - you need to learn them in context for what they mean and say as well as the words they are made up of...
5.  Learning lines takes lots of your brain - so if you're struggling record them and listen to them, write them out, say them out loud and in your head, record a rehearsal and listen to it back, make a series of visual cues...be inventive and persistent


Hope some of this helps but as a last thought if you're struggling with lines keep your eyes on the prize - once those lines are in your head you get to concentrate on the good stuff - making your character live on stage, in a world that has truth and authenticity...all your energy can go into the realisation of your character and not on trying to remember what to say...

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