We all know kids can project their voices—playing, cheering, arguing—but when kids get on stage they often drop their volume. This is normal and very common, even for adult actors, but it’s also the most important challenge because if the audience can’t hear, the audience stops listening.
What to do
VOCAL WARM-UPS
Nothing complicated, especially if you are in a classroom or short on time. This can be a 90-second exercise. Have kids stand up, yawn, relax their jaws, stretch their arms and wriggle their torsos. Then have them yell and shout and let it out! This really energizes them and helps take that energy to the stage.
AIM FOR BACK WALL
Tell the actors to aim their lines to the back wall, even if it’s farther than the true last row of seats. Or find a spot or object on that far wall and have the kids focus on reaching that.
VOLUME DEPUTY
Select a word: “volume”, “louder please” or “can’t hear”, then have an actor who is not in a scene stand in the back, calling out when they can’t hear a line. This is especially helpful if the deputy is also one of the actors, seeing firsthand the importance of projection. But this interruption can also be distracting to the actors and the rehearsal process, so an alternative is for the deputy to just give notes to the actor or actors once the scene is over.
THINK SCHOOL YARD
Tell the actors to talk as loud as they would on the playground. Deliver this directive to them in your own playground voice. I’ve done it. IT WORKS! (that’s my playground voice.)
#2 MEMORIZATION
Actors all know what a drag it is to be glued to a script while trying to move about the stage, so the sooner one can ditch the script, the better.
What to do
START EARLY
The earlier that actors start memorizing lines, the better. The trick here is to imprint as soon as possible. Resist cramming! Most kids memorize lines easily, so armed with this knowledge many don’t concern themselves with jumping right in, knowing they can cram in the end. But the real work on a character or scene cannot truly begin until the actor’s lines are down pat, which frees them up to relax and have fun with their characters.
HIGHLIGHT AND UNDERLINE
Once they get their scripts, have actors highlight their own lines and underline their cue line in pen or pencil. The marked cue lines are helpful not only to the actor, but for anyone helping run lines with them.
RUN LINES
Any chance actors get, it is helpful to run lines with each other before practice starts or while waiting to go on stage. It is equally helpful to have friends or family run lines with the actor, too, and with the underlined cues, it makes this process much easier.
SPEED TEST
The ultimate test whether actors know their lines inside and out is to do rapid line readings. Have the cast sit together and rapidly go through the play, just doing the lines. The words should roll off their tongues like familiar lyrics to a favorite song. This is an excellent way for actors to discover any weak spots they may still have.
#3 FREEZING AND FEEDING
Oh, that dreaded moment on stage when your next line is nowhere to be found in your head! As an actor I’ve encountered it plenty, and it’s painful every time. Freezing can be just blanking for a moment or being fed the wrong cue which can send one spinning. In any case, actors, carry on!
What to do
FAKE IT
Remember, even though an actor may be thrown temporarily, the audience doesn’t know that, so the trick here is to keep going. Stay in character and say something. This action alone will often trigger the correct line. If not, stay the course. Cast mates will often jump in and save the day by saying the missing line themselves, although we should never expect or depend on that kind of help.
RESIST FEEDING LINES
This refers to a situation when an actor doesn’t have a bulk of the lines down late in the rehearsal process. This does not refer to simply forgetting a line or two as outlined above.
It is very tempting to help out the struggling actor, especially when you know what lines they should be saying, but in the long run it is not helpful. Whispering the line or lines can make that actor dependent on the help, plus it is distracting to the whole cast.
So in rehearsals, don’t feed lines to each other! That’s what rehearsals are for. Let actors call for a line to whoever is holding the prompting script—teacher, director or book holder. By calling for lines (just shout “line”), this helps the actor and director to see what areas the actor needs to work on at home.
- IN SUMMARY
- Project with gusto
- Memorize early
- Fake, not freeze
- Have fun!
