My final interview this semester I met with Nick Atkinson, a colleague in this program who has spent time honing his memory in the context of theatre. In this discussion, we talk about Nick’s experience with memorizing lines and how he thinks teachers can incorporate this knowledge and experience into the classroom.

For theatre, he breaks down memorizing lines into three stages.

Stage One: Script

The first stage involves identifying key segments of the script and repetitive rehearsal of the words without too much affect. As he mentions, actors need to memorize the words in an affectively decontextualized manner, the idea being that they need to know the words but not overdetermine delivery in the same process.

Stage Two: Blocking

This stage involves blocking the scene, which couples the physical, sensorimotor components of act scene with the act of remembering and recalling the words.

Stage Three: Deep End

The deep end involves trying out the lines without any support beyond calling for lines. What this stage does is force students to recall the words without any aids beyond memory, thus allowing actors to practice in a context as close as possible to performance. That they must continue in the moment, calling for lines without breaking character, allows actors to build deep familiarity with the flow of the scene and practice recall in a context close to performance standards.

Transferring to the Classroom

In the classroom, Nick sees the emphasis on multimodality transferring most of all. As a learner, outside of his own acting, he has found notebooks to be most useful for notetaking. “Having to physically write things out helps,” he clarifies.

To make this work in the classroom, he suggests teachers could record their lectures for students to play back should they need. To avoid potential legal issues, he imagines that teachers could wear a microphone around their neck, thus preventing the possibility that students’ voices might be recorded.

Thank you, Nick, for your insights and stories!

Nick on Memory and Theatre