Being Off Book

If you work or train with me, you’ll know I do things differently. Not to be controversial but because it’s more effective.

One of the main ways that I differ is that I insist that the actors come to the first day of rehearsal with lines learned, not generally, not quite well, so they can paraphrase but perfectly verbatim.

To counteract the (likely) chance that the actors will stick with early choices for intonation, we ask them to learn it cold, like the word have no special meaning.

This is quite a feat and it goes against the learning through repetition in rehearsal that actors usually rely on.

Imagine coming to rehearsal and on day one, everyone is off book. No stressing over lines, no scaring the crap out of other cast members with your failure to deliver cue lines.

Instead, from day one, you are ready to play, ready to act, which doesn’t really start happening for most actors until maybe the dress rehearsal or later. Of course on set, you HAVE to know your lines on day of filming. Opera singers always come to rehearsal with lines well learned.

When you work with a company of actors that are off book from day one, you experience freedom, you see them work fearlessly and the lines come falling out easily, because they just know. Here is a freedom far too few actors know.

Leaving it late is lazy and self-indulgent. Learn the lines early, get off book and fly from day one.