Learn Your Lines!

Many people find learning lines difficult. During Oedipus and The Winter's Tale, I've found that starting sooner rather than later helps. I've learned speeches in half an hour simply by taking the time to sit down and do it. It requires discipline.

We are now at the stage where we have worked out the text we'll be using, so it's down to the actors to learn it. Here's some good advice from director Richard Spaul about learning lines:

"LEARNING LINES:
The way to make the most progress at this stage is for everyone to have learnt their lines if possible by the restart - or as near to that goal as possible. if that can be done, we can move forward very quickly - if not, things will be slowed down. So I think that should be aimed
at.

Some tips on learning lines:

1. do it regularly. Could everyone spare 20 focussed minutes a day? That's the best way of doing it and is much better than making desperate efforts to learn lots of lines suddenly. So that's what I'd recommend.

2. when I'm learning lines I make sure I understand everything and can see how one thing leads to another - if I can see how it all connects I can learn it more easily. With Shakespeare there's often a rhythm to the verse and if you can hear that it can help you to fit the words in (as people learn the words of songs along with the tune).

3. It's helpful to identify key points in a speech or scene. Once you've got those in your mind, you can start stringing stuff together.

4. Some people find it helpful to write their lines out or to make a recording of it.

5. I think it's always better to say it aloud and to act it out properly - to speak it with feeling rather than to parrot it mechanically. Preferably to a real person who's listening, if you have anyone to perform such a service for you. The most obvious people are other people in the cast, so why not collaborate on a spare evening some time? This will all help to make it stick.

But the main thing is diligence. Most people who complain of not being able to learn lines don't put enough time into it and end up rushing."

I might add Jerry Seinfeld's productivity technique - should be unbeatable..!