Actors: The Truth About Rehearsal
Laziness and excuses won’t make you a better actor
I am still surprised at actors who keep using the excuse that “it’s part of my process to learn my lines during the rehearsal period.” I have heard this same narrative in different ways over my tenure in the professional theatre as a badge of honour or a proven process of success. Not only that, but I must say I have rarely witnessed it play out well in my acting company or with my students. What I do see is an actor frustrating their peers (who are already off-book) and who don’t have a true partner to spar with or a partner that has any deep understanding of the thoughts and words because they have left it so late to learn them. If you cannot act with your colleagues in rehearsal without actively listening to them and looking them in the eyes, or if you are still calling for lines in your previews, then you haven’t earned the right to be up there, in my opinion. If it’s a living writer or playwright with you in the room, they are going to be even more annoyed. It’s rather simple, isn’t it, when you break down things quite simply? Rehearsal. Say it again. Rehearsal. Now, mine the text, which is one of our other basic duties as a servant to the script. Here we go, re-HEAR-sal.
Quite simple, right? The hint of strong work and great acting is already given to us in the word. To re-hear.
If you want to be a great actor, and you want to be respected by your peers (actors, directors, writers, etc.), you need to do everything you can to get off-book as soon as possible. The longer you live with the words and the thoughts, the deeper the connection will be to those words. The easier it will be to hear things like sound versus sense, the switch in an argument, the words the character is coining, the rhythm of the language, etc.
A deep connection with the words and thoughts comes from saying them out loud over and over and over again. You must re-hear them constantly (this includes the other character’s words and thoughts too — just as important!). This deep connection will minimize pushing in the acting and annihilate the dreaded playing of a state or emotion (the killer of all great acting!). This, combined with the nuance and detail you will find, will catapult you into the upper echelon of great actors immediately. So many actors train with acting teachers and acting gurus, hoping to gain the skills and tools needed to excel in their craft. I am indeed a big believer in this. I just think not enough actors are told the simple foundational rule known by all great actors about getting off-book as soon as possible. This doesn’t mean learning the lines in your head at home mind you. You must speak them out loud often until the words and thoughts are a part of you. And this is before you get to the first preview or opening night. Heck, I would recommend it before the first day of rehearsal. You and your fellow actors need to see each other’s eyes, and you need to be actively listening in the moment. This is the simplest and easiest way to guarantee a level of acting over those who start learning their lines the first week. They can only ever dream of reaching these heights.
Re-hear-sal. Audio. Audi-ence. Audi-torium. Audi-tion. Notice anything?
