Study by subject
Lines for a play
For a play you learn your lines, your cues, the order of the scenes and the meaning of what you say. Lumi asks them back until your text comes out without effort.
How to turn this subject into cards
Learn the meaning of the scene first, what your character wants and who they are talking to, then break your text into blocks of one speech or one breath. Make one card per block, with the end of your partner’s line, your cue, on the front and your line on the back. The trap is rereading the text while following it with your eyes, thinking it is known, then freezing when your partner changes a word. With Lumi you say your line before seeing it. Return to the blocks at intervals that grow longer (Cepeda et al., 2006), and sleep between sessions Sleep and memory, why sleeping after you study matters.
What you need to know by heart
- Each line, word for word.
- The cue before each line.
- The order of scenes, entrances and exits.
- Your moves and the stage directions.
- The meaning of the scene, what your character wants.
How Lumi helps you remember it
You teach your text to Lumi, block by block, with the cue on the front. It forgets over time, like you do, then quizzes you right before you would forget. As the first rehearsal or the first performance approaches, the Mist settles over the lines you know less well and Lumi asks those first. You walk on stage with a text that simply comes out.
Example cards
Three cards the way you would write them, with the answer Lumi expects.
What goes on the front of a line card?
The end of your partner’s line, your cue.
How do you break up a long monologue?
In blocks of one breath, each linked to the next by an idea.
What do you do when you freeze on a word?
You go back to the meaning of the sentence and what your character wants.
Example card
Try it, Lumi turns it into fill in the blank questions in your browser.
Lines for a play · teach this card to Lumi
Stage directions are instructions for the actors that are not spoken. A monologue is a long speech by a single character. An aside is a line the other characters are not supposed to hear. An act is divided into scenes.
Lumi’s question
Stage directions are _____ for the actors that are not spoken.
Pick the missing word
Answer right to light Lumi up
Its lamp fades when a fact slips away.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I learn a play text quickly?
- Break it into small blocks and say each block from memory before rereading. That effort of recall fixes the text better than rereading does (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006).
- Do I need to learn the other actors’ lines?
- Learn at least the end of the line before yours, because it is your cue. Lumi shows it to you so you come in without a gap.
- What if I forget a line on stage?
- Go back to the meaning of the scene and what your character wants, the next sentence often returns. In practice, hide the text and work without a net with Lumi.
Read next
Sources
- Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, Rohrer (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
- Roediger, Karpicke (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3). doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
Teach this to Lumi
Give Lumi your lines for a play notes, it gives them back as questions at the right moment.