BWW Blog: Casey McGuire - Memorize!

Memorization is what makes theatre; we memorize lines and cue and put everything together to tell a story, but in many cases, it is why a person doesn't do theatre. The big "M" word scares them away. Memorization can be tricky but you shouldn't be afraid of it because everything always seems to work out (at least in all my experiences they have). Here are some tips to help you memorize your lines faster.

1. Stay on task!-Take breaks to refresh you mind but for the most part try to stay on task and keep working at the lines.

2. Record yourself- It sounds weird and most of us hate listening to our own voice but trust me it helps! Record you saying all the lines; you saying just your lines, you saying other people's lines with pauses for your lines, RECORD, RECORD, RECORD!!!

3. Write your lines- for some reason things tend to stick when we write them down, so copy your lines down on paper over and over and OVER!

4. Read with people- whether it be your parents, your friends, or people in your cast, read lines with people as much as you can!

5. Use every second you can!-in some cases we end up wasting time at rehearsals because we don't look at our scripts when were not in the scene and we just sit there. Use all the time you can at rehearsals, at lunch, at home, in the car, basically bring your script everywhere with you because you never know when you'll have an extra 5 minutes!

These are just a few of the ways to memorizes lines faster. Everyone has different ways of memorizing lines so don't be discourage if some don't work for you! Off book day is one of the most stressful days ever, so make sure you are prepared! Encourage people who are scared to do theatre or are new to the theatre world to do theatre and help them out with their lines! I would love to hear how you memorize your lines in the comments section!

Sincerely

Casey McGuire