Memorizing a DI for Forensics?

Question

Ok, so I have until Friday morning to memorize my DI (Dramatic Interp.) for my Forensics team because we're going to competetion that day. Any ideas on how I can memorize it in three days???

By the way, it's a ten minute piece...

Answer 1

I'm very involved in theatre and currently I am performing the lead in The Skin of Our Teeth, a three act play by Thorton Wilder. What I do is repetition. Continue to read it over and over and test yourself by putting it down, reading a loud and checking the script to see if you got it. Have someone give you cues (if any) at random and just run the whole thing through your head all the time!
I even put it to music and that really helps!
Good Luck!
~KatManDu~

Answer 2

Here are some of the tactics I use when trying to memorize lines efficiently.

1) I'm not on a Forensics team, so I'm not sure if you're really allowed to move around any- but if you can, move and act through your body/hands as you read your lines. When you get more familiar with it and are ready to try saying the lines without reading them, you sometimes remember what your actions were for what words and in what order they came... it connects things together a little bit easier, and in my experience especially helps with those pesky little breaks that come in when the speaker changes their train of thought.

2) Write it down or type it out. Actually, no joke, one of my own little tricks was always to recite my lines to SmarterChild, hahaha. But really, if you ever have spare time, copy it down. As you remember more, write down the parts you remember and then go back to it and copy down the parts you didn't. When you get to the point where you basically know all of it but have to think about it a second or two first or you won't get it right, copy it down from memory. I realize this might be difficult with a 10 minute presentation- if you don't have the time, try to do this with the parts that really give you trouble.

3) If you have that problem (like me) where once you get started speaking you get on a roll and can usually breeze through the rest, but it's the first line you can never remember, I always feel it helps to create a sentence/inner thought before you go through with it. Like think, okay, why am I saying this first line? Make something up- a thought that leads into your monologue, or someone else's question that prompts your response- I guess it depends on how you want to act it, too.

4) Have someone be your "Line Nazi," as my friends and I used to call it. Give them your script and start out speaking. Whenever you mess up, your Line Nazi should correct you and make you say the messed up line a number of times or even go back to the beginning and start over (or if it's really long, back to a certain point) until you get it right.

That's all I can think of- hope this helps, break a leg!

Answer 3

You memorize by rehearsing. I used to rehearse for hours for speech meets. There are a few tricks that I learned also that will help:

1.Recite at fast speeds
2.Put the words to a tune that you know (kind of like turning it into an opera)
3.Grab another eventer (it doesn’t matter if they do drama, poetry, or humor) and practice both of your pieces, at the same time, facing each other. This causes you to increase your concentration on your own piece.

Good luck. 4N6 was a blast! (Way better than DB8!)