I would certainly NEVER advocate BANNING cheat sheets or having a script backstage.  Talk about creating a bunch of unnecessary tension!  I'm just saying that a director and/or stage manager should ENCOURAGE actors to not rely on having their script backstage.  It's no different really than the time honored habit of making sure your props are where they are supposed to be backstage WELL BEFORE your scene - of course its the fault of the crew/stage manager/props person if the prop is not there but in the end, who cares?  You're the one who looks like a fool on stage if you have to go on without it!  Same for the script - it may be there one night, it may not.  And if you get rattled because it's not there, who looks like the fool?  Community theater is made up of amateurs - no offense intended, just saying we're not paid professionals! - but one thing that amateurs can always do is learn...learn how to become better at what you do.  And I truly believe that trusting yourself will make you a better actor.  In my humble opinion...

Look i am in Blue remembered hill on tues, i hav the main part (most of dialect) and i no NO lines im f**kED!!!

thought id browse the net for sum hints, but as i can see im f**ked

cheers!

I've been acting in community theatre for most of my life, and I've never experienced difficulty with lines until now.  We are putting on a musical in 5 weeks.  The director wanted us off book in a week.  The queen in "Once Upon A Mattress" rambles on and on ... to the tune of 274 lines of text.  (My daughter counted them.)  To make matters worse, the director, sits on the script correcting every preposition, every paraphrased syllable (for example, do I call the prince dear, darling, sweetheart or..."the princess went to bed or got into bed, or does the prince say, "please mama" or "mama, please")  I know that getting the script word for word is important, but that will come with continued practice.  The result is that rehearsals are nothing but stress.  I know the lines, but I know the director (only 9 days before showtime) is sitting on the book waiting to interrupt the flow of the scene and correct me if I miss one of Queen Aggravain's over-abundant adjectives, so I find myself freezing up a lot.  This has completely undermined my ability to develop my character or get a feel for pacing, because we're interrupted constantly.

I disagree with those who say that you can't start to work on character until lines are fluent.  I use the blocking and the characterization to learn my lines.  Maybe that's why I've never had any problem.  I'm afraid I'm never going to be cast by this director again, because I've snapped back a few times "Please let me get through this in character! or Can we please get through this scene without interruption unless serious problem arises?"  I know my outbursts are inexcusable, but as some earlier posts have pointed out... this is community theatre.  Most of us work 8-11 hour days, then go straight to rehearsal, then get home and go to bed.  At some point we all snap - especially when the cast is constantly berated because of small details, when there have been far more important problems.  We just got a music director yesterday!  Up until now we've been singing to a cd with the vocals on it!

Sorry - I had to vent.  But do other directors value the accuracy of lines over the flow, cohesion and pacing of the show?

 

Nyria is absolutely correct in her suggested approach. Frankly, to me it sounds like you don't have a director... you have a bookholder. I worked with a director like that... once. Several years later, he was directing a show and I heard from cast members that he was doing it again. I went in, took his script, and suggested that he let the bookholder do their job and he worry more about character and the production. I may or may not have been right, but it helped the show.

However, none of that helps your situation... you seem to be stuck wth this one... take Nyria's advice and try to explain to the director the problem you're having. The director should know how much concentration is required and give you the opportunity to work through the process. I've found over the years that talking with people directly can smooth over the problems and prevent misunderstandings.

This year I'm having a dreadful time getting my actors off book.  I kept asking every single day--how you doing?  I was hoodwinked, because I kept seeing them running lines with their fellow actors in between classes, etc.  But it wasn't getting through--because they would say the two lines they know and then chat.

I had to discipline them.  I'm making each actor write their lines for each scene 3 times while they're not on stage.  Then they have to take the papers to the stage managers and get cleared as being off book once they've said lines perfectly. The stage manager will then sign off the scene.  If they can't do it, they owe us another 3 sets of written scene.  I feel one way or another they'll learn their lines before I strangle them-but this has been the worst.