Benedict Cumberbatch has 1,480 lines in Hamlet - so what's the secret to actors' memory skills?

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. He recommends acrostics and mnemonics that associate troublesome passages with a memorable story: an approach rooted in the Renaissance "art of memory" that flourished in Shakespeare's day. Lenny Henry speaks for many actors when, in Laura Barnett's book Advice from the Players, he advises: "Try writing down your lines, at least 10 times for each scene." open image in gallery Totall recall: the Aurora Orchestra, led by Nicholas Collon, perform Mozart from memory in the Royal Albert Hall last year That "music" will often serve as Super Glue for memory. In his recent book about playing Falstaff, Year of the Fat Knight, Antony Sher recalls how he used to scoff at the naïve playgoer's query, "How do you learn all those lines?"