I HATE going off-book!

Just when you've gotten some really nice flow going, the director basically yanks the rug out from under you and you go tumbling. All those words that you really do know, but you know better while holding your script even if you don't look at it, flee into the darkness leaving you blank of mind. It's almost like starting over, relearning your lines and all. And what to do with those freakin' hands??? OMG, I've never noticed how big they are, and they just seem to get in the way, or fly all around in the air without any purpose. I wish I had a prop. Or oven mitts. Well, I'll just put them in my pockets. Yes, that looks natural. Whew.

Also, my personal experience with some actors is that it signals the moment at which they no longer (apparently) need to review their scripts. Problem is, all the mistakes they've incorporated into their role that haven't been corrected by the director now become set and will be a part of their performance, regardless of how many "notes" they get, because they will not write them in their script which they aren't going to review anyway, so the note is ignored. Oh, by the way, I expect you will continue to review your script up until the cast party.

Inevitably, and it stands to reason, the cast will vary in their need to call for lines, and the one who needs to the most will by virtue of doing so exasperate the rest of the cast members in inverse proportion to their individual line-calling need. That is, the actor who best knows his/her lines will be most frustrated, while the actor who is actually only a tad better than the "worst" will be just slightly relieved to think "well, at least I'm not THAT bad". Of course, it helps when there's more than two or three in the cast, eh?

I'm not going to tell you anything you shouldn't already know, but it never hurts to review. I've come to this approach through experience as an actor, and I will not so humbly say here and now that if you follow these guidelines, particularly in the future, your efforts will be appreciated by every director and sincere actor you have the pleasure to work with. It's nothing new, really. But as with virtually all aspects of theater, there are some right ways and wrongs ways of doing things, and some in-between ways. Why settle?

You all know that the first off-book run-through has the potential to be catastrophic and disheartening. Potential, hell, it's the way it always is. Steps can be taken to minimize that. Steps taken by both the cast and the director/stage manager, or whoever is prompting. I'll tell you here what you as an actor can do, and I'll note what the prompter can do.

The point of off-book is not two things (yes, not): 1) an exercise in your powers of recall, 2) an exercise in improvisation. It is not either of these. You should certainly try (for about one second max) to recall your line if you can't, but any longer and time is wasted. Later, you'll review those parts in the script and work harder on them. Rehearsal is not the time for that. Also, making up something on the spot is harmful, not helpful. If you give your scene partner anything but your actual line (or close) they will most likely respond with something other than their next line, and you're off on a wild goose chase having a great time riffing on who-knows-what and cracking everyone up while you try to get back to the dialogue as written. This does not help. It's great fun, and worthy of a separate night's workshop, but not a rehearsal. Of course, come showtime you will be expected to improvise like a pro, you know?

When you are stuck for your next line, all you have to do is ask. You do this very simply by saying "Line", and nothing else. Not "Oh, crap, I know this" or "Geez, I just can't get this *&^%$ part down" or "I did this flawlessly with Granny last night". Time wasted. One word. "Line". And, very importantly, do not drop out of the scene. Stay in the moment. Don't turn out to the prompter to ask for the line. Stay in character, stay engaged with your scene partner, don't gyp them out of the moment just because you need to ask for the line. And if you are waiting for your scene partner to receive his/her line, stay in the moment as well. You help them by being as you are supposed to be, not losing the moment. And most importantly of all, do not worry about asking for lines, even if it's line after line after line in some spots. That's the whole point of this process. It's expected, it's natural, it's okay.

When you call for your line, the prompter will begin reading it to you. S/he should not "cue" you by giving you the first word or words to see if you "get it". S/he will just start reading your line. As soon as you can, you take over, and s/he will stop. When you get the line, deliver it as you would have if you hadn't needed to ask for it. Don't rush through it, as though it doesn't matter, in an effort to make up lost time or to let your scene partner have their line. Give your scene partner the full accounting of the line and the moment. It's not just recitation, it's still rehearsal, with all that implies.

Now, the problem becomes one of how do you know to ask for your line if you don't know it's your line? What if you think it's someone else's line? Or you think the other actor has more to say? Or actually you have more to say, but think you're done so you think it's the other actor's line and they should call for it? So, in those moments where it just may appear that the deafening silence will go on forever because no one is apparently going to ask for the line, (hoepfully) the prompter will give a prompt to the actor in question, saying your character name and starting your next line, so you know it's you. The tricky part here is that while s/he thinks you might have forgotten your line, you are in fact "acting", which at the moment includes a half-dozen Pinter-esque pauses strung together like popcorn and cranberries at yuletide. So, in these instances, s/he may actually prompt you when you don't need it, but that's okay. It probably won't happen often. And since s/he pretty much should know already where to expect those quiet moments you've worked into the script, it may never happen. But just so you know. If it happens a lot, and appears you've forgotten your line when in fact you're really "acting", you should try "acting" less.

Lastly, regarding the situation where a line gets dropped/jumped or a blocking cue gets missed. In the early off-book rehearsals, the stage manager or director should stop and correct the moment. It does little good to continue, in effect rehearsing it wrong. Obviously, a missed line will be noticed immediately and the prompter should stop you right away. A missed blocking cue might not be so apparent, so they may need to "rewind" to get back to where you need to be onstage. However, as you get closer to performance, they need to take the understandable approach that whatever happens out there will need to stand, so for the last off-book rehearsals before show, they probably won't correct anything. You'll be on your own, to make it right when you realize something's wrong. Hopefully they'll note it, and mention it, and you'll review it for next time. This is where your superior improvisational skills, for which you were all chosen to be in the show, will come to stand you in good stead.

So, if it sounds like I've eviscerated all the fun out of the process, I haven't. Having fun is important, especially in community theater, where the pay sucks and it doesn't even count towards your AEA. But still we strive to put out a quality product, and that takes a little work, and a little bit of a serious attitude at the right times.

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