Students (and parents) in the theatre program sign a contract that covers behavior and other requirements to participate in the extra curricular theatre program. One of the specifications is that if they do not memorize lines by the deadline, they may be removed from the role. Students are encouraged to get off book before the deadline, so we usually have students not looking at their scripts as they progress to learn their lines. When I see a student stuck with their nose in the book, I start talking about the various techniques for learning lines. If the deadline comes and they have not learned them, then they are on probation, and are reminded of the contract. I usually only give them a few days to show improvement. Sometimes they are removed from the stage that night, and the assistant director does their role, while they work on their lines. It is usually pretty clear they will lose their part if they don't improve. Over the years, I have removed students who did not learn their lines, more than once, so everyone knows this is a serious deadline. The deadline is usually weeks before opening night, so another student could step in if necessary. It is important to follow through on the consequences of not meeting deadlines, so all the students (those yet to join) know how serious the deadlines are.
In the classroom setting, the day lines are due, the students' grade for the day reflects how many times they had to call for line. It is not hard to come up with a rubric. You should give this rubric out before the day, so they can see how many points they will lose (which ultimately affects their grade). Obviously, you have wiggle room here, as you also don't want to discourage students, so it was usually a scale (and depended on the length of the piece) like Calling for lines 1-3 times = -1point, Calling 4 - 6 times = -2points, etc. It is so unfair to their scene partner if you have an actor that does not care, and does not bother to learn their lines. I have replaced actors out of scenes for the sake of the other actor. The replacement uses a script, since they are not graded for the scene they have just stepped in. The actor removed gets a grade of either F or 0 (zero) for their scene work (or lack of work).
Students will take learning lines, this crucial part of theatre, seriously if it is treated seriously. We also have in the contract that not writing a character sketch by the deadline could cause you to lose your role. I recently did
The Diary of Anne Frank and my Otto (the male lead) learned his lines, however, he did not hand in a character sketch on time, and kept saying he was not finished with it (and cited all sorts of reasons, health issues, etc). My only mistake was making the deadline only a week and 1/2 from opening night, in future I will make the deadline much sooner in the process. (side note: Half the cast handed their sketches in a week early.) For each day a sketch is turned in late, actors lose some of their Thespian points for the show. The actor playing Otto didn't seem to care about losing points, and knew I had cast ever male that auditioned, so maybe felt he was safe. However, he was wrong. On the day of wet tech when he still had nothing to hand in, I went to the sound booth and asked one of the sound crew, a boy who usually acts, if he would step into the role. Since it was only five days to opening night, I told him he was allowed to use the script on stage, as Otto was usually reading a book, and the actor could carry the script. He agreed. Then I told the original actor to get off the stage, and told him he was out of the show if he did not get the sketch written within the next 2 hours. I informed him that I had someone lined up to play Otto, so he knew it was not an idle threat, but a fact. The assistant director went on stage so the kid taking over the role could watch the blocking. The actor got his sketch written before the time deadline, and was then allowed to return to the stage. He apologized later, in tears, and said he learned a valuable lesson. More importantly, everyone in the production was well aware he almost lost the part because, even though he had his lines, he did not have the character sketch done by the deadline.
It is important to follow through on consequences, therefore, the word spreads that you mean what you say. That is more powerful than anything else.
Hope you get some other responses. Good Luck!
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Valerie Farschman, Drama Director
MLS Theatre Company, Troupe 1422
Marion L Steele High School
Amherst, Ohio
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-16-2018 13:50
From: Nathan Emmons
Subject: Line memorization accountability
I would be grateful to hear any and all suggestions/strategies you have to hold students accountable for line memorization - or, more to the point, to ensure that lines are memorized in a timely fashion to do any real performance work. And I refer to class and outside productions - this most basic, and most vital, step is just not taken seriously as the work to be done for theatre, either for a class scene or extracurricular production. I give my students many different ways to memorize lines, but the lengthy (and tedious, for many of them) process of memorizing just isn't done.
How do you get them to memorize sooner, more efficiently?
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Nathan Emmons
Theatre Director
La Jolla CA
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