Learning Lines & Notes.

  22.04.2014

 When learning my lines, I have talked to people in the group about their techniques in doing so. With not long left till the performance we should all really know our lines and be comfortable with them. I did some research into the different ways of learning lines for the play, and also discussed it in class with others. My best tips are:

1.) Look - Cover - Write

  I really liked this technique, it works well for me to remember lines and is very successful. It helps me remember the line more too as I go over them, the way this works is that it is a repetitive task and requires you to keep going over lines which puts it in your head a lot more. This technique helped me a lot.

2.) Reading lines into a mirror

  This also works really well for me because when you watch yourself read out the lines, it looks like a different person and you hear them out loud which some how helps for each line to stick in your head.

3.) Read lines before bed

  This technique helps if you do it correctly. You have to literally read your lines, then sleep. I say this because most people would then watch TV, play a game, etc. but for this technique to work you have to go straight to sleep after reading over your lines. This allows the brain to only think about the lines and nothing else, while you sleep you will be solely going over the lines in your head. This is an overall great technique, it allows the lines to sink into your head more so you should not only remember the lines, but also very clearly and confidently. I have not yet tried out this method but I do plan to this week (this will be a target.)

4.) Rehearsing with partner (not necessarily in the play)

  This could be practising with a parent, a friend, or even better a person who is also in the play. This is not only a great memory technique, but it also helps to know when you come in with your line. This will keep the rehearsals at a steady pace and not slow them down with gaps and pauses because of people not knowing when it's their turn to say their line. We have not yet gone over this technique properly in class, but we have individually that I have noticed. I have gone over my whole scene with Dan (Sir Whilloughby) numerous times with and without script so I know that this is a great way of learning lines for me because this scene is now engraved in my brain!

5.) Writing my lines & key lines in

  For this, I basically wrote on a sized piece of blank paper the end of the line before mine, then my line. This really worked for me amazingly because it shown me very clearly exactly where I came in and what my line is. I also wrote my lines the biggest so it was obvious that they were mine and because I reconized the hand writing some how it made it easier for me to remember them. This was one of my favourite techniques to use because it worked so fast and well.

6.) Taking notes

  When rehearsing, I usually write down key points on my page of either what action to take or how to feel at that moment. This helps in remembering lines because you then remember what happened in the rehearsals and it some how brings back the memory and you remember the line easier. For example, on page 43 I wrote next to 'the cheese alphabet', "Zoe with board, 'SMACK!', --> laugh" which makes sense to me as 'Zoe starts it off, she flips the whiteboard around as Mrs Brisket does too and it stage smacks her in the face, that's when I laugh (and get shouted at later)'. All of the notes that I have wrote on the pages really help me not only remember each line (because of the remembrance from rehearsals) but also how I should be feeling and how I should react from what works best.

Overall I would say that my best technique is probably 'Look - Cover - Write' and also 'rehearsing with partner'. They have both really helped me in the whole learning my lines process and now I know all of my lines and more or less when I come in too! For this last rehearsal week before the show I hope that it all goes smoothly and we all remember and deliver our lines confidently too!