| Twaddle. | |
| Posted by: portenopete 08:09 am EDT 10/17/17 | |
| In reply to: "It has become fashionable for actors not to learn their lines, Bill Nighy complains " - kieran 01:21 am EDT 10/17/17 | |
|
|
|
| Different theatres, different directors and different actors all have their methodology and it is the responsibility of all parties to agree beforehand whether an actor should be off-book before the first day. In many, if not most, regional theatre, there is a limited amount of rehearsal time allotted. Some major theatres have only a two-and-a-half week rehearsal period (including tech) so if someone has a lot of text or if the part is very physical and would be difficult to execute with book in hand, then it would behoove the actor to come in with a fairly solid amount of the script under his belt. But many directors and theatres allocate four, five, six weeks of rehearsal, which is usually more than enough time for the text to sink in. For many actors, learning a part by rote on one's own can lead to a faster but more superficial absorption of the words, and I have known actors who begin to stumble midway through a run because of this. Nighy's martinettish attitude seems typical of a lot of British directors, who are often surprised when working outside their country that actors are not off book on Day One. Unless the company has made it clear to all performers signing contracts that this is to be expected of them, then they have little grounds for complaint. And many actors bristle at the idea that they should be expected to do "homework' before a play starts rehearsal when the salaries in most theatres are so meagre. It's fine to ask Bill Nighy- who would be getting paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of £10,000/week, I'd venture, for a production like SKYLIGHT- to come in off book, but for the punter who is pulling in £500/week, it's a bit rich to expect an extra two weeks of unpaid work. One of the accepted rules of film and television work is that the actor arrives off-book for the day's scenes, but is subsequently compensated handsomely for that extra work done before shooting day. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: "It has become fashionable for actors not to learn their lines, Bill Nighy complains " - JereNYC 02:24 pm EDT 10/17/17 |
| Next: | re: Twaddle. - Chazwaza 11:46 am EDT 10/17/17 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.010790 seconds.