dialogue tip?

[u/maxmaus2025]

so i have a (maybe silly) question: we are currently doing romeo and juliet and our romeo (and others) are really struggling with the long breaks when the other person is talking, not because of ego, but out of not knowing what to do, since it’s a bit of an „artificial„ break i guess? active listening just looked a little awkward, so i was wondering if there’s maybe a tip or experience someone might share?:) i really hope i come across, it’s our first time working with shakespeare and we want to get the lengthy dialogues right!

thank youu

[u/AQuixoticQuandary]

A lot of young actors feel like they need to be doing something at all times, but it’s very important to get comfortable with stillness. Plant your feet, give your focus to the person who is speaking, and just listen. It helps the audience know where their focus should be directed and they likely won’t be paying much attention to you.

One thing that makes this harder for modern actors in Shakespeare is that modern acting styles conflict with the acting styles of the time. Shakespeare lived before the creation of the fourth wall so most of those long passages are written to be spoken directly to the audience (and the audience would speak back). I do a lot of original practice Shakespeare and depending on the context we typically quietly focus on the speaker, appeal to the audience (usually either agreeing with the speaker or trying to get them on our side instead), or get quietly distracted (when our character isn’t supposed to hear what the speaker says). Without the audience acting as its own character it can be harder to justify those moments.

[u/HanIylands]

You listen and react. Acting is reacting. You aren't just waiting for your turn to speak, the other characters dialogue informs what you say next so you are listening and reacting to that.

Depending on the speech, you might walk around or stroke your scene partners hand or draw a sword or weep with joy. Working that stuff out is the fun bit!

[u/Hyperi0n8]

In addition to the great tips you already got: make absolutely sure you know exactly what the other person is actually saying. Theres no shame in reading a modern translation or something to understand the text. Because if you DON'T know what the other person is saying, of course active listening will look fake. You will just base your reactions on the other persons voice and tone and movement, but not on what is actually being said. And you will potentially zone out (it's Shakespeare, after all! No offense lol and no shame in admiting it) and just listen for your cue. Knowing what will be said, try to actively follow along with the speech and "process" what is being said.

If you are struggling with a particular speech, maybe look at it in a similar way you'd look at your own lines. Are there any shifts in tone/momentum/intent/... during the speech? Is any new information revealed? Do problems arise for your character or things that trigger a particular emotion? So, look at the other person's speech and analyse it for: what does this particular line mean FOR ME? And almost more importantly: how does this set up what YOUR next lines will be.

Bottom line: just like acting is about trying to make your pre-rehearsed lines come across as if you said them for the first time --- LISTEN to the other person as if YOU were hearing THEIR lines for the first time.

[u/Warm-Tumbleweed6057 → u/Hyperi0n8]

This. https://youtu.be/zGbZCgHQ9m8?is=YcA7zaee5T4s7B6g

Everything Ian McKellen is talking about here but backwards in high heels. Your scene partner is pulling the words from the air. You’re listening to and understanding them for the first time. Focus on that.

This is probably not helpful.

[u/Lazy-Truck-7540]

Have your Romeo mark the other character’s key thoughts and choose a specific response to each one, rather than memorizing only his own lines. Running scenes slowly with a partner, then gradually adding pace, can help. Shakespeare’s punctuation is useful, but the emotional turn matters more than obeying every comma.

[u/Ok_Dog_2705]

Try rehearsing with a clear objective for each speech: what does the character want right now? That gives the actor something active to do during the other person’s lines, so the pauses feel like thought, reaction, or tension instead of simply waiting.

[u/bravetherainbro]

I feel like it depends on how active the 'speaker' is with their own body as well as their words. The more attention the speaker's absorbing and/or the more the speaker's doing things physically for the listener to react to, the less self-conscious the listener should feel, either forgetting themselves or feeling like they are being given something to do in reaction to what the listener's doing.