Off Book at the First Rehearsal: Is It Reasonable?

Because I've worked as an actor and director in professional, college, and community settings, and as a teacher in universities and junior colleges, I am here to examine the implications of this question in a variety of settings. Please note that I am speaking from my personal familiarity with Theatre in a range of styles and venues; as with any broad topic, the answer should be treated on a case-by-case basis.

I cast this inquiry to Facebook and received some interesting responses. It was mentioned that it's standard in Opera. My only experiences with the art form are as a backstage technician (thank you BFA Freshman Year) and as an audience member, so I won't get into it for this article. I will speculate that because most Opera performers study in highly methodized programs for years and decades to learn the history, music theory, vocal technique, and literary canon of Opera, and because participants know that it's par for the course, it seems logical.

College theatre programs, from elective courses and supervised clubs to rigorous BFA sequences, also require students to learn enough technique and textual information to take on a role with a significant line load; however, it's not a universally prescribed best practice in the industry. We do, of course, expect that actors of a certain caliber will show up to the first rehearsal having read the script, done some text analysis, and perhaps frontloaded some well-informed physical and vocal choices (that we sincerely hope are flexible depending on the vision of the director, designers, and other actors). Does this adequately equip them to be productive on Day One? Most theatre artists would say yes. Does it mean they should anticipate Day One holding themselves to an unrelenting standard of perfection? I sure hope not.

I tap into my educator persona and examine the teachable benefits of requiring student actors to be off book. One major challenge we face in directing productions at a high school or college is to trust the actors to apply what they're learning in classes to their work in the rehearsal hall. When I was geeking out on voice and speech during my first two years of college, I applied many of the processes that I learned for getting to know my text before and during the early days of rehearsals, and I wasn't the only one (but we weren't all so obsessive). So, does requiring actors to know their lines well enough to start the blocking process without their scripts provide the opportunity for budding professionals to do enough homework to prepare for a baptism by fire? I'm going to say no. An actor at any experience level is nervous enough on that first day of meeting their collaborators, getting to know the energy of the process, and settling into the culture established by the director. If their number-one concern is whether they'll screw up their lines, they don't have much psychic space left to be available for all of the other important things that happen on that priceless first day. As one facebook commenter said, "compassion, kindness, and listening (in both directions) is key to a productive rehearsal process."

I would also argue that requiring freshman or sophomore actors (or high school students) to learn lines before they have the opportunity to learn how to learn lines doesn't set them up for success. The same is true for community theatre, especially if the actors aren't paid or don't have formal training. Performers will do better work if they feel encouraged and supported. Demanding that they learn their lines before anything else could set a condescending tone that's difficult to reel back from.

In a professional setting, is it reasonable? When I launched my informal social media poll, the first comment that popped up was "please no." Another artist mentioned that as an actor she hates it. I tried to recall any time that I was on a paid contract with a theatre company that I was asked to memorize before meeting the rest of the cast, and came up with nothing. As I predicted, many people who chimed in echoed the sentiment that it's important to be prepared, but it can be tough on the production if an actor has become too cemented in certain line readings. It was also mentioned that it should only be required if the actors are paid for the time it takes to do this work ahead of time (and therefore should be built into the contract, which for my money means that actors should be made aware of this requirement as early as the audition process).

What are some practical reasons why it doesn't work? When actors go off book for the first time, they are dealing with enough new variables that even if they know their lines cold, they will drop something somewhere along the way. For many actors, it helps to have blocking and other information from the director and scene partners in order to memorize lines. It's possible that an actor learns text with specific interpretations before learning what the director believes, which can lead to an awkward unlearning-relearning process. If the actor is set on a certain delivery, they may not be available to their scene partner (and we've all worked with that actor who doesn't listen to what we're giving them). So much of the rehearsal process is about discovery; if everyone stomps on those potential a-ha moments, it may yield a joyless result.

So what is reasonable? In a professional setting, it's courteous for a director to assume that the actors will do their homework and be off book by the given date. In an educational setting, actors may need more guidance. As redundant as it may seem, they can benefit from several reminders from the mentors they trust that they already have the tools, and need to work smart to apply them. In a community theatre setting, I like to work a scene script-in-hand for a couple of nights and then ask the actors to come to the next rehearsal off book and prepared to call for line.

Special thanks to my contacts on Facebook who contributed to this article: Jahred, Clayton, Jon, Colleen, Kaipo, Raven, Ann, Jim, and Victoria. Do you wholeheartedly disagree? Share an alternative viewpoint in the comments.