Cumberbatch, Pennington and Other Actors’ Secrets to Memorization

Theater actors are amazing people, since they can memorize hundreds or thousands of lines, compelling an ordinary person to wonder what their secret could be to have such memorization skills.

In the United Kingdom, theater is very much alive, and in a few days film, TV and theatre actor Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame, will have his turn as Hamlet at London’s Barbican Theatre. Among the tragic plays of Shakespeare, it is said that Hamlet is the most unforgiving, as it requires the lead actor to memorize 1,480 lines, compared to only 710 for Macbeth, 750 for King Lear and 890 for Othello.

A marvel and a mystery

Musicians and actors accomplish large-scale memorization that ordinary folks consider a marvel and a mystery. Michael Pennington, a celebrated actor said that this particular topic is always a subject for discussion during parties because it is something that never ceases to amaze. But he said that there are several methods that actually help actors memorize their lines and commit them to memory. He said that as a professional actor, he had long studied Hamlet before he was offered the part. He had several years where he was exposed to the play, which allowed him to hear the lines repeated numerous times. Repetition is the key to memorization, as Pennington found out. It is an instruction that is not exactly written down in the actors’ guidelines.

Repetition

Still, Pennington revealed, actors have different learning styles. He said that it is easier for him to learn things late at night, while many more people want to study in the morning. When actors come across tricky passages, he suggested doing mnemonics and acrostics, which help commit difficult passages to memory. Another great way to remember things is to have a recording of it and listening to it repeatedly.

Another effective method is to write the lines for each scene at least 10 times. It is also very helpful to an actor trying to memorize the lines to keep moving around. According to Elmhurst College psychology professor Helga Noice, partnering words with physical actions have a very important effect in retaining words in your brain longer.

The key to memorizing lines, according to all actors, is to understand the full meaning of the story or the character rather than memorizing the lines. When this happens, the words will quickly follow.

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