One Act Play

Memorization is hard. It is grunt work, and because we're all still working on it, I thought I'd share some Tips to Take the Fear out of Memorizing Huge Gobs of Words. It doesn't matter whether you are just starting to learn something, are in the frustrating throes of almost having it, or whether you know it pretty well and just have the occasional glitch – these things help.

Above all, don't panic. This is deadly methodical. You must not rush this; give yourself plenty of time.

Do this first: Sit down and learn the first sentence. Learn it exactly. Once you can say it perfectly three times, learn the next sentence. Once you can say that perfectly three times, go back to the top and say them both. You may have to repeat, but once you get it right, learn the third sentence. Then go back to the top and say it all. And so on. Keep adding on. That's how you get it in your head.

Then, do these three things every day, at least once.

1. Read your script out loud. Take your time with this and do not take your eyes off the page. You should not hurry. Read every word. Do not think about acting or character. Just make it make sense. If you want to backtrack and read a sentence again to make it mean more, do it; linger over a word or phrase if you want, but mainly move forward through the material so you can experience how it flows. In general, don't worry about acting, but if the character's voice comes into your head, speak it. When you're first learning, this will help you process; after you know it better, it will help you correct those things everyone tends to do, like transposing words, substituting words, or generally paraphrasing.
2. Say your lines out loud with someone else holding the script and correcting you when you mess up.At first, ask them to just correct you on the important words or when you skip something. As you get better, ask them to get more picky until you get as close as you can to the exact wording. This helps you get comfortable saying your words in front of another human being.
3. Do a speed run. Say the thing, start to finish, as fast as you can. Seriously, from the first word to the last, sprint to the end. Throw all acting out the window and just spit out the words. When you trip up or slow down, which you inevitably will, make yourself pick it up again and run. Do it as fast as you can, and still make sense. This will teach you to connect the thoughts, show you which words are important, and make clear where your problems are and thus where you need to work.

ETC ION Tutorials

Tutorials for the light board.