Memorizing Lines

I was asked a couple of weeks ago by a friend of mine in the film department to help her out with a project. She is directing a scene from the play "The Owl and the Pussycat," and asked me to play... what else? The prostitute. I was out of town when I needed to start memorizing my lines and had a long drive to get back to Bozeman so I decided to record myself saying my lines onto my computer, then put the file on my Ipod so I could listen to it on the drive. I was putting orality and memorization to the test--remembering my lines just from what I'd heard. When I went to the first rehearsal, I found that I needed the script in front of me even though I thought I knew the lines. When it came to recalling the lines, it was really difficult. I didn't have any point of reference; I find that when I am reading things and memorizing them, I recognize places on the actual piece of paper that I am reading--they become loci. I could listen to the lines over and over, but until I actually read them on a piece of paper was I able to accurately recall everything. Now that we have had several rehearsals, I can recall the lines not because of memorization, but because the lines have become an actual conversation in our own pretend world. Moral of the story? It was much easier for me to memorize the lines typographically (<-- look at the big word I used) than it was orally. Maybe that's just the way my brain works, but I like to think that the words on the page act as loci.

parlez-vous francais?

I have been royally slacking on my blog. So I still haven't posted the muses and their loci. I am a failure.

Erato: Thermostat, heat (erotic poetry)

Clio: Chalk board, history (history)

Urania: Screen, Mysteries of the Sky (which I took as a liberal arts major so I see where that's coming form), (astronomy)

Thalia: "Quiet" desk, loud (comedy)

Polyhymnia: Projector, hymns (sacred songs)

Terpsichore: Brown desk, table dance (dance)

Calliope: Bulletin board (representative muse)

Euterpe: Snowman, Calvin and Hobbes (song)

Melpomene: "F" thing, Mel Gibson and pomegranate (tragedy)

My items for memorization:

50 common French verbs

 

 aimer- to love

 aller- to go

 avior- to have

 boire- to drink

 chercher- to look for

 choisir- to choose

 conduire- to conduct

 demander- to demand

 detester- to detest

 devoir- to have to

 dire- to say

 donner- to give

 dormir- to sleep

 ecrire- to write

 ecouter- to listen to

 etre- to be

 etudier- to study

 faire- to do, to make

 falloir- to be necessary that

 habiter- to live

 jouer- to play

 lire- to lead

 manger- to eat

 mettre- to put

 montrer- to show

 mourir- to die

 naitre- to be born

 ouvrir- to open

 penser- to think

 perdre- to lose

 pleuvoir- to rain

 plaire- to please

 porter- to wear

 pouvoir- to be able

 prendre- to take

 reflechir- to think

 regarder- to watch

 rendre- to return

 rester- to stay

 savoir- to know

 sortir- to go out

 tenir- to hold

 travailler- to work

 trouver- to find

 valoir- to be worth

 visiter- to visit

 vivre- to be alive

 voir- to see

 vouloir- to want