Learning lines?
Mon, 18 May 2009, 01:12 pmLee Sheppard26 posts in thread
Learning lines?
Mon, 18 May 2009, 01:12 pmSo - I find myself in the current situation of having to learn a large number of lines for an upcoming production, something I haven't had to do for a few years now.
I suppose I'm doing it the usual way (for me, at least) - reading and re-reading, starting at the beginning and learning a few pages at a time, going back and constantly testing myself, sitting at home or on the train with the script and a bookmark to cover up my lines etc. Seems to be working so far.
Just wondering how you other thespians go about learning your lines? Do you learn key scenes first? Use voice recorders? Have them tattooed on your body? Maybe there's a technique out there we can all benefit from...
Cheers
Lee Sheppard
- Keeping it strictly amateur -
Terry Hackett taught me a good way to work on text
Fri, 22 May 2009, 12:11 pmTerry Hackett taught me a good way to work on text, which I have remembered as I work on this one: Go through the script & underline the most important words in each line, ie) this from Chekhov's "The Boor":
SMIRNOV: I don't understand how to behave in the company of ladies. Madam, in the course of my life I have seen more women than you have sparrows. Three times have I fought duels for women, twelve I jilted and nine jilted me. There was a time when I played the fool, used honeyed language, bowed and scraped. I loved, suffered, sighed to the moon, melted in love's torments. I loved passionately, I loved to madness, loved in every key, chattered like a magpie on emancipation, sacrificed half my fortune in the tender passion, until now the devil knows I've had enough of it. Your obedient servant will let you lead him around by the nose no more. Enough!
Without knowing the script, that's my rough example. Now read only the underlined bits, and try to ignore that you sound like a neanderthal... what you are expressing is the heart of the line - the key elements.
Not really about memorising, but still useful interpretation work I think. Thanks, Terry, for the technique.