Learning lines?

I find that thinking of the script as ´lines´ makes the process so much harder than it needs to be. It makes it sound like too much hard work. Every morning when I set out for work, and every evening when I come home, I walk with the script in my hand and read a scene at a time. Then I start reciting my part of the conversation, and listen in my head to the words spoken by other actors on the stage. Then I start doing having the conversation without the script. It´s learning by repetition, and I tend to work in the pace and order set by rehearsals. I speak my conversation in the character´s voice, as if I´m speaking it on stage. If something doesn´t sound right, then I keep repeating that section until it does. (I probably look a little bit silly when I walk along carrying out a one-sided conversation, but try not to think too much about that...) The advantage of this method is that I´m learning the dialogue as a conversation rather than as a collection of words. It helps me to interpret the dialogue better, to pick up on cues, and to think about the pace of delivery. It also helps me to build my character early on in the rehearsal process, which gives me more time to fine tune as opening night approaches. The disadvantage of my method is that I sometimes need to relearn the script if my interpretation of the character, or of a particular scene, is different to the director´s. My experience (similar to that expressed by Labrug above) is that it´s easier to learn a script when I have large amounts of dialogue. I find it much harder when I only have a few sporadic lines in a play. When that happens I have to learn them as individual lines, and I can´t feel comfortable with cues until after a few full runs of the play, which is usually far too close to opening night for comfort. The lessen is - don´t get too daunted by a large script!