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Research the whole play

Don’t be lazy and just read and learn the particular scene you are going to perform, because you’ve found out from somewhere that it’s a good one for dramatic performances. Take the time to get to know the whole play. Ideally, read the entire play, but, if time is limited, at least try to find a good, detailed summary of the play on the Internet or from your library.

Doing this research means you will avoid the embarrassing situation where, after your performance, the teacher asks you something like:

I thought that your character had a limp. Why were you leaping around like that?

Whoops! Believe it or not, this happens quite a lot. Students who haven’t done their research can find out, too late, that their character has some physical defect or characteristic that they obviously didn’t portray in their performance. You will pick up things like blindness, limps, injuries, and voice characteristics if you do just a bit of research. It will definitely save you from embarrassing yourself in your performance.