A Fly On The Wall, January 25, 2013

Words, Words, Words
by Jim Murchison 
@JimMurchison

Invariably, the first thing that anyone that has never been on the stage says to someone after seeing a show is, "How do you remember all those lines?" It is a well meaning and intended compliment from people that don't realize that timing, subtext and understanding the characters is the key to memorizing most of the time. If a fellow actor or director says, "Wow!... Lots of lines!"  what they really mean is, "God that performance was shit!" 

I am not saying that words aren't the most important part of a play. It's just if you drop a line or a scene or mix the words up it's because you've lost control of the character. You're either wary, have never understood what the scene is about or are overconfident and cocky about last night's review.

We were in the middle of this change when the stage manager informed us that three minutes of the monologue had just been cut

There are some great memories and stories about line drops though. I was once in a Greek tragedy where six actors had to change from slaves to guards for an upcoming scene. It involved stripping off a layer of body makeup, charcoal dust and glycerin sweat, then applying a fresh layer of body makeup; and changing from burlap attire to leathers before grabbing armour and marching dramatically on stage. We were in the middle of this change when the stage manager informed us that three minutes of the monologue had just been cut, which meant we had a minute and a half to enter. Sprinting as fast as we could, trying to break stride and enter in a perfect synchronized marching step it was definitely the most dramatic entrance we ever made. 

As I stared out into the theatre, my chest heaving, body covered with beads of real sweat, looking powerful, but thinking damn that was close, little did I realize that that would be the most fun moment I would ever have in a Greek tragedy. To this day I believe if you can cut even one minute from Aeschylus or Sophocles, the audience will usually thank you for it.