"That would hang us, ever mother's son."

It's going to happen. It's just inevitable. Somebody is going to forget their lines. Somebody is going to misplace a prop. Somebody is going to enter from the wrong side of the stage. You just have to accept that it's going to happen. But when it does, you'll have to remember to improvise. As they say, the show must go on. If it's the night of the performance, we can't just scream "Cut!! Okay, let's try it again!!" And even more than that, we can't freak out for freeze up. You have to work around it. The show must go on, and you're going to make it go!!

If you're talking with somebody, and they forget their line, you'll quickly notice the awkward pause that rises. If you remember their lines, you may be able to prompt them subtly. Try to remind them of their next line. If their line is "Hey, would you like to drop by a restaurant for lunch?" You could quickly improvise with "Oh, I sure am hungry!!" This will hopefully jog their memory to their next line. If it doesn't you can always try to whisper their line to them quickly and quietly, without attracting too much attention to yourself is possible. If neither of you can remember the line, you can always try to skip ahead to the next line, as long as it fits within the conversation.

"When you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake; and so every one according to his cue."

Whenever you're on stage, you must always be active, be it broadly or subtly. You can't just stand limply and mindlessly stare off into nothingness whenever you're not speaking. When your on the stage, you are a part of the act. And everyone must act when in the act. We've had some actors who would be incredibly animated while reciting their lines, but the moment they quit speaking, they would become as lifeless and motionless as a statue..!!

But be that as it may, it's understandable. It's difficult to act while you're not speaking. And besides, you don't want to distract the audience from what's being said!! You have to maintain a balance between undermoving and overmoving. It's a difficult balance to manage, but that's all part of acting in theater!!

Just think about it for a moment. What are you doing in that scene? Are you talking with somebody? Maybe you should act like you're actually listening then!! React to what they say, be it in surprise or disdain. Are you amazed by the news that is being delivered? Why not gasp or gape?

If you're not actually participating in the scene, you can also try to mess around upstage with the other characters. You can always pantomime some sort of skit; just as long as you keep it silent and subtle. Action in the background of the scenes can really add to the flow, but it can also detract and disrupt it if the action is too large or broad..!!

When memorizing your lines, don't skip over any dialogue merely because you aren't speaking; you'll have to be doing something during those lines, and you sitting around doing nothing isn't going to work. As an exercise of sorts, why not have somebody else read them out so you can practice how you'll act and react to the lines!!

"I do wander every where, swifter than the moone’s sphere;"

We had a workshop last Saturday for the fairies. We discussed the costuming, makeup, personalities, and more. It was a great success!! As we've discussed before, the morning cast and afternoon cast are costuming for different effects, with the morning cast going for a more mystic and whimsy interpretation of the fairies, while the afternoon cast is portraying the fairies as earthen beings who are one with nature.

We saw some neat ideas for the fairies of the morning cast, one of which were the skirts. By layering various segments of skirts, you could get a very dynamic feeling from the costumes. You don't have to do anything fancy; all you need to do is stack!!

It was commonly suggested to start with a base skirt of sorts; something fairly long and fairly simple. Pastel colors seemed to look best, but don't be afraid to experiment!! On top of this, you can layer and tie whatever you want to make your costume more unique!!

"...You speak all your part at once, cues and all!!"

Year by year, we give out the lines, and year by year, we expect everybody to memorize their lines. But in some ways, we also expect you all to take your role within the play and your responsibility to memorize your lines a step further.

When you speak your part, you are not only expected to act with your body, but also your voice. We've seen dozens of actors merely read their lines out, speaking in a bland tone and taking no time to pause and ease through your lines.

Although it's not always easy, it's best if you consider how to pitch and tone how you speak your lines. It's not easy to explain, but always remember that it's much more interesting to hear a statement that mixes it's volume and raises it's tones.

Take pauses in during moments of frustration. Gasp or grunt out some words. Emphasize different part of your lines. Be sure to speak each word carefully, highlighting in a way the words that have the most importance. If any of your lines are particularly long or particularly dull, give it some thought; try to think out how you could make the line more interesting!!

"Fetch me that flower, the herb I showed thee once..."

I write this post not as an author of this blog, but as the actor of Lysander for the afternoon casting. As of late, I've been trying to figure out the magic behind the fairy flowers. Throughout the plays, it so warps the love of the characters in so many ways, from Titania loving an assheaded weaver to Lysander turning to hatred to his beloved Hermia. And to complicate it even further, Demetrius remains under the spell of the flower in the end of the story!! How does the flower actually affect others, and what are its true powers?

"Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in"

{(This is a continuation of sorts to an older post written by Rachael Williams. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly encourage you to go back and read it through!! It got a lot of ideas rolling, and it strongly influenced this article in more ways than one!!)}

As the fairies have such a crucial role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," it's important that we convey them carefully. They set the mood for much of the story, and they progress the plot of most of the play. We can evoke different feelings within the audience through the costuming of the fairies, but there are dozens upon dozens of different approaches that could be taken.

Are the fairies something elegant and ethereal from a world beyond this world; a land of dreams? Are the fairies a species born from the earth, embodying nature around them? Are they simply an estranged kingdom of people who live near the woods?

Here are just a couple of ideas, compiled and coupled from the different opinions that have been been passed around. Some of them have grouped together after a while, leaving us with "Dream Fairies" and "Earth Fairies."

"Demetrius is a worthy gentleman"

Much of acting is understanding your character. Any aspect of the character can affect your interpretation of their personality, which in extension affects your personification of the character. Knowing their habits and hobbies, knowing their talents and skills, knowing their occupation and professions... Knowing and understanding your character can exponentially improve your portrayal of them beyond mindlessly memorizing their lines and quickly cutting out their costumes.

So as a fun exercise of sorts, try to give your character a story. Read through the script and try to find all the clues scattered around about your character. If you can't find anything about your character, fill the void and imagine up something that may befit them. Don't be afraid to make up your character as you begin understanding them better. Try to apply them to your character. As you memorize your lines, try to add facial expression and body gestures that work with your understanding.

Why does Theseus think that "Demetrius is a worthy gentleman?" Is there a story behind all that? Just what does Snug do as a "joiner," or Snout as a "tinker?" Why is Puck called "Robin Goodfellow?" Why is Helena so enamored of Demetrius? How does Oberon make himself invisible? There are so many questions that can be answered with just a bit of understanding.

"There is not one word apt"

During his writings, Shakespeare invented more than a thousand words and phrases now commonly used throughout our language. Scattered throughout his plays and poems were words which at the time were entirely new and weird, but are surprisingly common within our day to day conversation.

One example of this is from our own Midsummer's Night Dream, where Oberon is talking with Puck in Act III and Scene II. The earliest recording of the word "eyeball" is when Oberon commands Puck to "take from thence all error with his might // and make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight."

But obviously there are all sorts of other archaic words that didn't age quite as well. Some are just uniquely uncommon, while others are entirely unheard of in this day and age. In Act II and Scene I, the fairies continually wax on about different flowers, from "cowslip" to "woodbine" and "muskroses" with "eglantine." And even more later on, in Act III and Scene I, the mechanicals use all sorts of crude language, with Bottom singing about all sorts of nonsense such as "ousel-cocks" with "orange tawny bills!!"

But what about you guys? Do you have any particular lines that use any sort of weird word? Share it with us in the comments!! (If you want, grab that archaic dictionary or pull up a searchengine and find out it's definition!! Some of them have some very interesting history!!)