HOW TO REHEARSE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 200, 12 November 1927, Page 19 (Supplement)

HOW TO REHEARSE

j When the first reading of a play has ! taken place, many untried amateur i • actors and actresses are eager to me- : morise their lines without delay. in- i j deed, there are some producers who ; j insist that players shall know their j 1 parts before rehearsals begin. What- | ever may be said in favour of this j [ stipulation, committing lines to memory in a parrot fashion, and without even : one rehearsal, is certainly not the best ! way to master a part. Before a player i attempts to learn the words she should ; become thoroughly familiar with the play and with the meaning of every | line. Only when she has accomplished i this can the words be delivered intelligently. Provided the producer shall permit j it, the part should be read from the j book at least once for each act in j which the character appears. Luring j that first rehearsal the producer will, no doubt, explain what intonations arc J required and what stage movements j axe necessary. Any error made in the manner of reading the lines will be corrected. After then, and not before, j should the actress set to work to learn j her part. There need be no desperate ; hurry to become word perfect. The course of rehearsal will help one to ! become familiar with what has to be ! spoken. And. the retention of words I which are not learned too early is much more likely. On the other hand, it is ! equally wrong to delay the learning of ! words until the last moment. No actress can properly rehearse an embrace or swift movements with her eyes fixed upon the book or script. Besides, to | be carrying a book when other players | are not is unfair to the cast, not to i say exasperating to the producer, j In short. know the play and be i familiar with the words you have to speak first of all, then commit the lines to memory afterwards. ! Another most important point is the i learning of cues. This is as essential as the learning of one’s own words. Without a thorough mastery of cues, pauses will be inevitable and nothing i does more to label a performance ••amateurish” than that. In rehearsing a part, never fail to act upon the instructions of the producer. He has studied the play and has his own ideas as to how it should be played.