Drama Term Tuesday #41

Memorising

The act of committing a text to memory so that an actor can deliver the story fully and accurately every performance. Almost always actors need to memorise their lines and moves in a play. They do so in a range of ways.

  • learning the ideas and their interconnectedness, the story of the lines;

  • saying the lines aloud rather than in the head associating the line with the specific movements of the action;

  • associating and remembering the feelings that the words and images create, not just the words; actioning the words

  • seeing all of the lines in a scene as one whole with its beginning section, middle section, and concluding section and its dramatic progression;

  • figuring out what the character is actually saying when he/she says what he/she says;

  • using mnemonic devices to help remember lists, such as anagrams, rhymes, silly sentences etc;

  • making a tape of the lines that can be listened to repeatedly.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.

Drama Term Tuesday 34

Meisner (Sanford Meisner)

Meisner approach to acting

Sanford Meisner (1905 - 1997) developed a form of actor training - Meisner Technique - derived from Method acting and the Stanislavski tradition. Meisner believed that the seeds of the craft of acting is the reality of doing. His approach focused on acting that is rooted in the body of the actor responding authentically to the specific moment of the play. The Meisner technique is often described as ‘living truthfully under imaginary circumstances”. Influenced other acting teachers such as David Mamet.

Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts. Continue the conversation on facebook and twitter.