When it's not all right on the night

What do you do when your trousers go on fire, or you trip over an armchair and land flat on your face on stage in front of an audience? BRIAN O'CONNELLtalks embarrassing moments with some Irish actors

LIAM CARNEY

What was your worst or most embarrassing moment on stage?

It was probably during a public workshop of a play by Tommy O’Neill a few years ago. I was playing a Dublin gangster and wearing tracksuit bottoms. I had to fire a blank gun and there was a spark from it. I left the stage in darkness and could hear the audience laughing. The spark from the gun had hit my tracksuit and my crotch region was on fire. That was one of my most embarrassing moments, and every now and then I meet someone who was at it and they remind me of what happened.

What do you do if you forget your lines?

I never forget my lines. Actually that’s not true. Any time someone forgets lines, there is a different reason or scenario. Nine times out of 10, the audience doesn’t know you have forgotten anything, unless it is a big chunk crucial to the plot.

Any tips for recovering?

When it does happen, I try to stay calm and let it come. I remember doing a one-man show and someone said, “If you forget your lines start whistling and the audience won’t know”. I was in one play and it had been changed and changed during previews and I did forget my lines. I improvised a bit and walked off stage, got the script and came back on. It always depends on the play and the situation. My advice is don’t panic and the audience won’t know you have forgotten anything.

What’s the best advice you have been given?

Never eat yellow snow. Only joking. There is an actor called Noel O’Donovan. He said when you are doing film or TV work, if they offer you props like guns and knives, don’t bother with them. His reasoning was that guns and knives are seldom used in a film and you have the prop for the whole movie. So he was saying to always get a prop you could use, like something to smoke or to eat or drink. When you are on set, you often get the props guy coming around. For example, when I worked on Gangs of New York, there was a huge amount of weapons and I allowed the cast to take them and I choose a small knife. I then asked if they had any cigarettes to smoke and, I was the only one smoking, so I ended up in nearly every scene with Daniel Day-Lewis because of that.

Liam Carney is in rehearsals for Druid Theatre Company's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan

INGRID CRAIGIE

What was your worst or most embarrassing moment on stage?

It is best to erase the worst moments from your mind, otherwise you might never have the courage to go back on stage. However, my most recent embarrassing moment was during Faith Healerat the Gate when, just at the climax of a 40-minute emotionally devastating monologue, I blindly made my way to the armchair, missed it and ended up in a heap on the floor, wedged between the chair and a lampshade, defying the audience not to believe it was intended.

What do you do if you forget lines?

Don’t panic! That is the worst thing you can do.

What is your top tip for recovering if you forget your lines?

The cleverest thing to do is to make it look as if someone else has dried. Some actors can do this – I managed to do this once but only because I actually thought the other actor had forgotten his lines and I looked on innocently and sympathetically while trying to figure out how to help him. Failing that, stay calm, trust that you know the line and that it will come to you. Then once you get out of the situation, move on and don’t think about it again until you are off stage.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

In my first week at Trinity, my tutor said, “Get involved in the life of college, do a certain amount of work and leave the rest to Big Brother”, confirming my plan to join Players as soon as possible and plot my future as an actor. Other pieces of advice that stand out include, “It is not brain surgery on a small child”. While I was waiting in the wings with David Kelly once and we were about to make an entrance and he jokingly said, “Watch the mannerisms”, which is not good advice to prevent corpsing.

Ingrid Craigie is in rehearsals for Druid Theatre Company's production of The Cripple of Inishmaan

ORLA FITZGERALD

What is your worst or most embarrassing moment on stage?

There have been a few. I remember I was doing a play in the Edinburgh Festival with the Merlin International Theatre company from Hungary. It was a big enough stage. I tripped on stage over a misplaced prop and fell flat on my face. I was mortified and I leapt up and tried to continue as if nothing had happened. Of course, my fellow cast members found the incident hilarious, and the scene fell apart as everybody began to corpse, including myself.

I did hear a few sniggers from the audience and we all just kind of collapsed. The whole thing was a shambles.

The big thing I learned from it was to watch where you are going on stage all the time.

Have you ever forgotten your lines?

Thankfully it has rarely if ever happened to me, but you try to cover it up as best you can. If it does happen, your fellow actors generally step in as they can usually see the wild panic in your eyes.

For me though, the fear of that happening is a great motivator to make sure it doesn’t. I’m fortunate in that I don’t find learning lines that difficult, once you do the work in rehearsals. The lines almost become the least of your worries. I think it’s kind of the job of an actor to remember.

Have you ever been on stage when a fellow actor has lost their way?

Yes. We were doing a play called Pump Girl, which was a series of monologues. An actress forgot her lines and I couldn't save her, as it was all just monologues. It was terrifying as you realise you haven't control over it. Eventually it came to her but it was nerve-wracking.

You can just tell when an actor doesn’t know where they are going next. You get a look of panic in their eyes. You try to jig their memory or feed them lines.

I worked with an actress once and it was Shakespeare and she would forget her lines but could improvise in iambic pentameter. It was amazing to watch.

What advice would you give to anyone who forgets their lines?

Quite simply, don’t dwell on it.

What’s the best advice you have ever been given?

Stop explaining yourself, just shut up and act. I don’t remember who gave me that advice but it’s so true.

There is a lot of talk about acting and, personally, I don’t like to talk about it too much. I just feel like getting on and doing it.

Orla Fitzgerald next performs in The Camerashave gone to other Wars in the Royal Court in London

AARON MONAGHAN

What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I had a horrible vomiting bug during a run of Romeo and Julietat the Abbey. I was weak and feeling very ill, but I had to do a violent fight with Karl Sheils in the rain. I swung a piece of scaffolding at Karl and, as it passed his face, my vision went black for a few seconds. I was playing Romeo and we had this big rain machine that covered the entire set. It was a really scrappy fight and we were always falling. It was made worse by the fact that I could barely stand. That was my worst moment on stage. The audience don't notice really a lot of the time. Lots can go wrong. You might forget to bring on a prop and have to go off stage to get it. Often I'd talk to people afterwards and they wouldn't have noticed a thing. They always expect it is part of the play. I suppose that's the great thing about it.

Have you ever forgotten your lines?

I don't really have a problem learning lines. It's like learning a song in a way and becomes about a rhythm. There are moments where you think I don't know what is going to happen next. If you take little bit of time, it will come to you. There was one play I did by Michael Harding called A Tinker's Curseand it was three actors with three monologues. I had never done that before and I went on stage and was terrified. It was also my first time doing a play in my hometown. I took a pause and couldn't remember what my next line was. I thought to myself, "I have nobody else to rely on here". When you are doing a show on your own, there's not a lot of help you can get. You just have to stand there and be calm. It will always come to you or you'll find a way of making up a line to get yourself back into it.

Any tips for recovering?

Take your time. Wait. It’ll probably come. Don’t panic. Listen to the lines that have gone before and they will offer a connection to the lines that come next. If that doesn’t work, I’ve heard of people turning to their fellow actors and say, “I’m sorry, but what was that you were saying to me?” That might work. You have to trust in yourself and the other actors, and be assured that the audience will probably have accepted and forgiven any little mistakes you make.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

I’ve been given loads of brilliant advice that has proved invaluable. One piece that sticks out is to read the play over and over, all you need is in there. One of the tutors in the Beckett Centre said that to me. She said that, even when the play was up and running, we should continue to read it. I’m eight years out of college now and every time I do a play, the more I read it, the more information I get out of it. I’m continually surprised how much that one piece of advice has given me back.

Aaron Monaghan performs in Arrah-na-Pogueat the Abbey Theatre

GARY MURPHY

What was the worst moment for you as an actor?

It happened during a production of Translationsin the United States. I was standing downstage facing the audience waiting for the actor playing Hugh to finish a speech, which was then my cue to come in with my next line. Halfway through his speech, he stopped. I couldn't see him but the silence went on and on. I turned around slowly but he was gone!

He had completely dried and figured he would do less damage offstage than on. So I had to make up a few lines quickly that weren’t in the script, and manoeuvre myself towards a situation where my next “real” line made sense. Needless to say I was none too happy with him and let him know that in no uncertain terms afterwards.

What do you do if you forget your lines?

The best thing is to stay calm. It will come. If all else fails, then you can only try and wing it. Under no circumstances should you simply leave the stage.

What’s the best advice you have ever received?

I was doing a play, again in the United States, called Playlandby the South African playwright Athol Fugard. It is a very political play about apartheid. It was a two-hander with a black man and a white man.

After the performance one night, the director introduced me to an elderly lady in tears. She grabbed my hand and said, “Keep telling the truth.”

She was a survivor of Auschwitz apparently. So really the best advice for me from then on is to keep telling the truth.

Gary Murphy's most recent stage appearance was as Aegisthusin a new play by Simon Doyle called Off Planstaged at the Project Arts Centre

NEILI CONROY

What was your worst or most embarrassing moment on stage?

I was doing a show with Rough Magiccalled Mrs Sweeney. It was probably only my second theatre job and it was in the Project. There seemed to be a couple of people sitting at the back that were talking and laughing inappropriately. I thought maybe they had wandered in by accident or that they had time to kill before they caught a bus home or something. Anyway, it was a very quiet moment between Ger Ryan and myself and we were very conscious of these people sort of sneering.

Next thing I had to stand up and, whatever way I did it, I slipped on the rug and went flying.

I was mortified and of course the people at the back thought it was hilarious and were laughing their heads off. It was awful.

Have you ever forgotten your lines?

It’s a very big fear to forget your lines and no doubt I’ll have a terrible anxiety dream about it before an opening night. If it does happen, I think the best thing to do is to stay calm and focus – and then hope and pray they come to you quick.

I’m always worrying about forgetting my lines. There is this fear that you will corpse or go blank on stage.

I’m okay at learning lines. You get them inside your head and it stays in there. Sometimes you can have short rehearsals, and that can be tricky. Generally though, if I know how much time I have before a play, I’ll do it fine.

Any advice to an actor who does forget their lines?

Generally the best tips are to focus and not to dwell on it. You just have to keep going and forget it happened. The main thing is not to let it affect the rest of your performance. Also don’t beat yourself up too much about it. With a bit of experience, you don’t get that out-of-body nervousness. I’m very superstitious as an actor. I would usually come into the theatre at certain times and have a cup of tea or whatever. It becomes a ritual in that you have to do these things a certain way.

What’s the best advice you have ever been given?

That would have to be, “Don’t act it, be it”. Nerves don’t give you a better performance. My mother gave me that advice. I must have been very nervous. I’d always get the odd bit of advice from my father who is an actor, but you are still on your own really as an actor.

It helps to be around people who have been on the stage, but you still have to get the parts and to get up on opening night and do it.

Neili Conroy will perform in Little Gemat the Civic Theatre in Tallaght from February 10th to February 16th, before it goes on tour internationally