How do you memorize a part in a script or play?

Answer 1

To learn lines for a play, there are several tips you can use:

1. Know your character - learn how they act and what their motivation is, so that the lines make sense to you. It's harder to memorize something that doesn't make sense.
2. Use the Index Card Method. Write each prompt (the line that signals your line will be next) onto one side of a card, and write your line onto the back of the card. Carry these cards everywhere. Whenever you have a free minute, take out the cards and work on your lines. Look at the top card and see if you can recite the line correctly - if you can recite that line, turn that card over and put it at the very end of the stack - if you can't remember the whole line, study that card and repeat the line a few times to yourself. Then, put that card back into the middle of the stack without turning it over, so that you will see it again. Once all the cards are turned over, you will have learned all your lines.
3. Practice with someone. Have a friend or another actor from the play give you your prompts, and keep going over it until you get it right. If you cannot do that, make a recording of the whole play, either leaving your lines out, or in, whichever works better for you. Say your lines along with the recording.
4. You need to know not only your own lines but also the other actors'. If one of them makes a mistake and misses your cue line, you need to know where the scene is going in order to recover.
5. The trick to learning any long passage is to do it a little at a time. Learn one phrase or sentence, then the next, then practise both together. Learn the third line, practise it with the second, and then do the first three together. Some people work from the end of the speech to the beginning; that's ok too.
6. Do it with blocking. Some people learn their lines better if they say it with the motions and actions they are going to make. The feeling of the movement can help stimulate your memory.
7. Some people can memorize by copying out the script; the act of writing helps them remember.