Dialogue Lost

Actors usually don't like it when audience members ask them how they memorized all those lines. But many do find it a difficult task, and they do sometimes lose their place on stage. The playwright can help by not giving one actor the same line twice, because that can miscue the other actor.

So, say there's a scene like this:

She: Come to the store with me.
He: I hate shopping.
She: But I want your advice about something. Something really important.
He: My advice is that you not take me.
She: Why won't you come?
He: I hate shopping.
She: I hate you.

The danger here is for She, who may reply "I hate you" after his first "I hate shopping".

In which case, the foreshadowing about "something really important" will be lost.

And the strength of her final line makes less sense if we don't know that he has refused to help her with something she feels is really important.

When actors get lost,
lines can get tossed,
unless the "oops"
creates a loop,
so instead of being deleted,
the lines end up repeated,
possibly ad infinitum,
be careful how you write 'em!