How many time have those of you who are professional actors been on stage and someone has forgotten their lines? Or maybe that person was you and for the next 2 minutes, they or you stood in front of an audience like a deer in headlights, a total blank. Secretly wanting to run off stage, never to be seen again??? It's happened to the best of us, but I have discovered a secret... as actors, if we go beyond what is required of us, we can fortify any script. What do I mean?
"Learn all of the lines in your scene, not just your own lines."
I know, I know, crazy talk, right? Nope. It's a practice of having everyones back, not just your own. It's working as an ensemble, and not a one woman or one man show, its community. Sure it takes more effort. And yes, I know the director hasn't required this of you, but when lines are dropped and your fellow scene partner looks like they are about to throw up from embarrassment, you helping them on stage can literally save the day.
I can recall so many times when I had to jump in and say the lines of a fellow cast member, just to jump start their brains back into acting action. I also can recall the times when words got jumbled and stuck between my head and mouth but never came out. Its like they were shy or something. I stood on stage, in front of hundreds of people and my lines were doing backflips, away from my mouth. They wouldn't come out at all. But my scene partner knew them and said them without breaking a sweat. And I was able to jump back in and continue like nothing ever happened. It was life saving and the best part, the audience had no idea that I was the rightful owner of those lines.
So, on this theater tip Thursday, actors, its okay to memorize every line, even the ones not your own. First, it keeps you on your feet. Helps you stay mentally fit. And most of all, it shows your fellow cast members that you have their back. You're a team! The director will love you for it and the playwright, will walk away with tears of joy welling up in their eyes.
P.S. Only say the lines of another actor when they have forgotten them and give you that look, you know the "what's next. I'm having a brain fart" look.
Visit my online school:
propheticdirecting.com & Act On!!!! This is Theater Tip Thursday! God Bless!!
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