An actor’s vocabulary

beat

also called a unit of action

The stretch of a scene that runs from one shift of intention to the next.

Breaking a scene into beats means spotting where the character changes tactics: they were asking, now they threaten; they were retreating, now they attack. The breakdown is marked in pencil in the margin with a plain double slash, and it works as a game plan when the scene goes sideways.

At work in: How to make a self-tape audition

cue pickup

also called taking your cue, the handover

The moment one line triggers the next, and where nearly every dry happens.

A line is learned as a reaction to the one before it. Rehearsing alone therefore means memorising answers without having the questions: the text looks solid, then cracks the moment a partner walks in. Working your cue pickups means learning the other actor’s last three words as thoroughly as your own.

At work in: Learning lines alone, without a scene partner· How actors learn lines by heart

Italian run

also called a speed-through, a Russian run, a run-through

A rehearsal where the whole text is spoken at high speed, seated, with no acting and no movement.

The company sits in a line and runs the dialogue far faster than in performance. The exercise separates the words from the acting: as long as you rehearse while playing, it becomes hard to tell whether the text is held or whether emotion is quietly fetching it for you. Above all it works the cue pickups, where nearly every dry happens.

At work in: How actors learn lines by heart· Learning lines alone, without a scene partner

memory palace

also called the method of loci

Attaching what you want to remember to a place you know perfectly, then walking through it in your mind.

The technique is ancient, Roman orators used it, and it rests on one simple observation: memory for places is far sturdier than memory for lists. Formidable on the order of a monologue, it does nothing for the exact wording of a line.

At work in: How actors learn lines by heart

self-tape

also called a tape, an audition tape

An audition filmed by the actor, at home, and sent to the production.

It has become the default way into casting. Instructions vary from one casting director to the next, framing, length, file naming, and they override any general guide. What never varies: the sound, the light on the eyes, and sending it on time.

At work in: How to make a self-tape audition· How to prepare an audition in 24 hours

spaced repetition

also called distributed practice

Revisiting a text at growing intervals, at the exact moment it starts to fade.

The principle has been documented since 1885: what consolidates is the effort of recall, not the time spent staring at the page. A company that opens every session with an Italian run has been doing spaced repetition for centuries without knowing it.

At work in: How actors learn lines by heart