THE WORK BEGINS

To say that the process of memorizing a whole play seems daunting is...well...an understatement. I have, personally, never liked memorization, but maybe that's because I remember having to memorize things like "the Gettysburg Address," "the Preamble of the Constitution," and "The Raven." Not that these aren't worthy of my time and memory, but I don't remember them as fun.

Joe says there are some techniques to aid in memory work, but the cold hard truth is that you have to do the work. Reading. Over and over and over again...out loud. Then still, more reading. Some actors make audio recordings. Some might do their own lines, and speak them back with the recording. Others record everyones' lines except their own. they leave a spot, or pause, for their lines and say them using the other actor's cues.

Still others use that period just before sound sleep comes to rehearse their lines. Using a recording of a rehearsal and reciting one's own lines as you're drifting off to sleep is another effective tool. In my personal experience, that time in which the body and mind are preparing for sleep is a time when the creative part of our brains is very active. It makes sense that it would be a good time for working on memorizing lines.

For most actors the time between notification that they have been cast in a role and the first read-through, is spent reading with a fair amount of memory work. Some actors, however, either because their learning style is connected to movement, or because their physical activity on stage gives them clues, choose to wait until rehearsals begin.

There are many clues to the dialog when blocking begins. Blocking is when the director instructs an actor to move as he's speaking, or to move to a certain spot before delivering his next line. These things are written in the margins, in pencil, in the "book." The "book" is what you and I would know as the script.

Next, more about...I forgot...oh yes, memory work. We'll discover the specific ways in which Joe goes about learning his lines.