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Dramatic performance

Research the whole play

Memory

Do the research

Learn other characters lines

Practice with props

Voice

Projection

Control

Positioning

Levels

Accents

Movement

Timing

Talking about the play character or scene

Writing a play script

Experience a play

KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid

Plot

Get right into it straightaway

Characters

Action

Comedy

Typical format

Rewriting scripts

Practice with props

Practice with props too. It’s common in a play to see something fall over that shouldn’t, or to hear a sound effect, like a telephone ring or gunshot, go off at the wrong time. Some things are hard to cover up, so sometimes you have to resort to a humourous adjustment of your lines. In other cases, you can ad-lib. For instance, say this was the correct script:

Sally:	Look James, I really don’t want to talk about it now. Can’t we discuss it at another time?
James:	So you’re just going to leave me in the dark are you Sally? I think you cheated on me last nig...
SFX:	James is interrupted by the sound of Sally’s phone ringing.
Sally:	Look I have to answer the phone. Go away and calm down and I’ll talk to you then.

Sometimes things can go horribly wrong. For instance, in this situation, two things could happen. The sound effect could come too early, or be delayed; if it was delayed, James and possibly Sally would have to ad lib until the phone rang:

Sally:	Look James, I really don’t want to talk about it now. Can’t we discuss it at another time?
James:	So you’re just going to leave me in the dark are you, Sally? I think you cheated on me last night. I mean, what am I supposed to think? You get home at 3 am, roaring drunk, with your lipstick all smeared? I was awake; I heard you sneak into the spare bedroom; you were so drunk that you bumped into everything. I got up to check on you but you’d already passed out, I was really worr...
SFX:	James is finally interrupted by the sound of Sally’s phone ringing.
Sally:	Look I have to answer the phone. Go away and calm down and I’ll talk to you then.

James has had to ad-lib, but has only said stuff that fits in with the general situation. This is where having a general knowledge of the play can help. If you know that James and Sally are living together and that Sally is a drinker, you can make up a story that ties in these pieces of information and sounds plausible to the audience.

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