Notes, Part Two

This is a continuation of my previous post on Notes, located here. 

First, I'd like to add to my previous advice by telling you the most important rule of notes, which I unfortunately omitted previously.  Have a thick skin!



Now and then, the director will tell you that the way you did a scene today was perfect, and not to change a thing.  I've always thought this was a terrifying note to receive, because I immediately can't seem to remember what on Earth I did.

However, that happens rarely.  Usually, he or she gives small (and often quite picky) critiques of your performance.  They are very important of course, but they may make you feel uncomfortable.

After all, the director has just singled you out by name and taken apart your performance, mentioning flaws you may not have known were there, or problems you believed you'd fixed.

It can be very painful.

Remember not to get offended or angry and that all this is for the good of the show.  In fact, the more detailed his comments, the better your performance probably is.  He or she wouldn't be able to make such detailed assessments unless your performance was generally very strong.

That said, I have a second addition.

There is another kind of note.  They're called line notes, and the stage manager or the stage manager's assistant takes them.

Once the cast is off-book, line notes are taken when the line you delivered and the one in black and white weren't quite the same.  If you missed a word, added a word, or missed the line entirely, it will be noted.

This notes will be posted somewhere physically (the callboard, perhaps), sent out as an email, or explained to you directly by the stage manager or his or her assistant.  I've seen all of the above.

Look carefully at the line notes.  Whoever took them did a lot of work, and the deserve your consideration.  Bear in mind, everyone has memorized a line incorrectly at least once in their career, and if you've performed it wrong ten times it can be very hard to fix it the eleventh.  You still need to try.

In Shakespeare, it's important to say the lines right because his work hasn't endured this long for nothing, and they are exactly as they should be.

However, it's often even more important when the work isn't Shakespeare.

When you're performing Shakespeare, you might get the occasional actor or professor who knows the show by heart and will be shocked and disconcerted to find a mistake, but most audience members probably won't know the difference.

This isn't the case with the modern shows.  In fact, you're theater will have a contract with the people who wrote the show, part of which guarantees that the play they are putting on is exactly what was written.

Remember all this, and process should go smoothly for you.