How can I memorize lines?

Question:I need help memorizing lines for a play by FRIDAY! I know I should have been practicing all along but I forgot and now I really need help. It is only 10 lines but some of them are a bit long and I don't have anyone to practice with. I need help!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I need help memorizing lines for a play by FRIDAY! I know I should have been practicing all along but I forgot and now I really need help. It is only 10 lines but some of them are a bit long and I don't have anyone to practice with. I need help!

I used to just do repetition in order to memorize lines, but I found a new method that seems to work really well. It requires a little bit of focus, but I memorized 2 1/2 pages of dialogue in about 10 - 15 minutes last weekend - and I've retained it.

First, I would suggest reading the full scene you want to memorize a couple of times, just to familiarize yourself with what is happening in the scene and the state of mind of your character.

When you're ready to start memorizing your lines...

Instead of just trying to memorize your lines, because you need to have your lines memorized and just repeating the words of your line over and over until you know them - try thinking about them in context.

It has helped so much to read the line before and see what it is in that line that triggers your character's response.

For Example:

BILLY: When is it you're going, so, Helen, to the filming?

HELEN: The morning-tide tomorrow we're going.

BARTLEY: I can't wait to go acting in the film.

HELEN: You, are you picking or are you talking?

BARTLEY: I'm picking and talking.

HELEN: You'll be picking, talking and having your bollocks kicked for ya if ya back-talk me again.

~*~
In the above scene, Billy asks Helen a question and the word that triggers her response is "when."

She answers with when she is going.

Bartley enters the conversation - responding to both the filming and the thought of time - because he can't wait.

Helen's next line is more of a response to Bartley entering the conversation at all - as opposed to anything he specifically says. He had been trying to pick out some sweets to buy. So she asks him if he's picking or talking.

Bartley responds to the two choices in her question and answers with both.

Helen then responds to the fact that he answered with both choices and she adds on from there.

So, when you look at this little scene, you can see why the conversation happens the way it does. They're all responding to something in the previous line. If you can listen to what it is that triggers your character's response, the lines are going to come much more naturally than if you just try to memorize them statically out of context.

It works for monologues or long speeches too. Except instead of your character responding to something in a line someone else says, they're responding to something they just said or some action.

EXAMPLE:
Beryl: My brother and I were very much shocked by the death of Sir Charles. We knew him very intimately, for his favorite walk was over the moor to our house. He was deeply impressed with the curse which hung over the family, and when this tragedy came I naturally felt there must be some grounds for the fears which he had expressed. I was distressed therefore when another member of the family came down to live here, and I felt he should be warned of the danger.

~*~
In this example - Beryl starts off by expressing her shock because of a death. The next line is triggered by the thought of Sir Charles and why it was so shocking - because she knew him well. In the same line she explains why they knew him well - he walked across the moor to her house - and it implies he visited often and it was enjoyable. Knowing the whole story, in this case, helps make the next line make sense. The word "moor" triggers thoughts about the legendary curse. So next she talks about how Sir Charles thought about the curse. And the thought of the curse goes on to trigger her words about the tragedy. You can look at the last two lines and see what triggers those remarks.

So just by finding those key words in the conversation or speech, it helps your mind connect with your character's words because you know why they say them. I've been memorizing my lines super fast using this method. It makes the lines make sense since while memorizing them you're thinking of them in context as opposed to just going line by line and learning them by rote.

I probably haven't explained this well, but try looking through your script and see why your character responds how they do. It makes it feel a lot more like natural conversation than just sitting down and memorizing a bunch of words.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it was helpful. Good luck learning your lines.

Youh can think of the lines as of something youh know. Like to help youh remember the lines.

there are a few ways:
write them out from last line to first or end to begining (so backwards)
Say tehm allowed a bunch of times to your self
record yourself on tape and listen to it over and over adn over again

Just practice by yourself. Write them down, so that you can visualize. Read them over and over and say them to yourself, one at a time. Do one line and read it and say it over and over until you know it, then move on to the next, then do the first and second. Once you have these you can move on to where they fall within the conversation, I.E other people's lines.

Some people remember lines in different ways such as:
-sitting down and reading it silently
-recording it on a tape and listening to it
-make it into a song and sing it
-read it out loud
-drawing it out (as queue cards)

I do it when I - first of all - like it/them and moreover my
memory opperates as such: I have to look at the lines
and then read them loudly.

I memorize lines several ways. Mixing and matching different techniques can help. First, I write out each line 5 times. Then I write out the cue (the line before it) followed by the actual line. Then I read them both out loud. Next, I record my line or portion of the line and leave space afterward for me to repeat it out loud. Then I record the scene saying all of the cues with space left for me to say my line. Finally, I just repeat the lines out loud over and over again. It also helps if you try to memorize the meaning of each line, so that if you forget the actual line during the play, you can still get the idea across and keep the scene moving. Good luck!

Well, here are just some suggestions that works for me:

1) Understand why you are saying these lines. What made your character responde with these lines? Put yourself in the shoe of the character in the play.

2) Don't try to memorize all 10 lines at once. Memorize them one at a time. Once you have memorized the first then, then moved onto the second one.... once you got the second one memorized..then see if you can say your first two lines all together...then move onto the next.... Remember, take your time.

3) Don't rush yourself. The more you 'force' yourself to memorize the lines, the harder your brain will pick them up.

4) I rememorize things rather fast in the shower.... I think much better in the mornings - and review the lines again before bed.

5) Write your lines done on a piece paper, and carry it with you. Whenever you have time (break), just review the lines one at a time. I have been studying my own scripts when I was on the Train and Subways...etc.

Good Luck!! Remember, you have two days to study them. No rush.