Script to Scriptless

Use a script for a scene you'd like to imitate. "Imitate" in this case does not mean to copy exactly; it means to perform something similar in spirit to the scene.

1. Cold read the script. Perform it. Make up the characters and react to the dialogue as you go along.
2. Briefly note and discuss what techniques or moves are used by the writer in the scene. How does it begin, how does it end? What is the arc of the scene?
3. Put the script down and perform it again, without looking at the words. You won't be able to remember all of it, so improvise lines and bits when you need to. Try not to pause and think through it too much. See if you can quickly feel your way back to what happens next.
4. When you're done, check the script. You aren't checking to see how word-for-word you were. You're checking to see if you used hit every move and beat the writer of the scene used. If you didn't hit any of them, mentally or verbally note what you missed.
5. Put the script down and improvise a different scene. It doesn't matter what the scene is about (use a suggestion if you like). Your goal is for the new, improvised scene to feel like the written scene. Can you improvise a new situation that uses all the moves and beats the written scene used?
6. When you're done, check the original script one more time to see how close you were.