Monologue Analysis Pt. 2: “Technicality”
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Welcome to Part II of Monologue Analysis: Technicality. In this section of the preparation we are going to focus more on the technical aspects of your monologue by asking questions that must have specific answers. There are certain questions that any actor doing any monologue must ask themselves and must answer fully. We’ll discuss today how to become more specific and dynamic in your monologue and how to keep your audience engaged.
So often actors find themselves faced with the prospect of finding a monologue and run immediately to those collection books filled with nothing but monologues. I hate these books, they’re filled with monologues from half-decent plays that may or may not have ever been produced. The real problem though is that when flipping through those books you’re presented with a character’s name and a paragraph and many actors leave it at that. It’s not the best way of discovering monologues because, let’s face it, from a collection book you have no idea what the character is like or even what they’re actually talking about.
- Read the Play – this step is surprisingly neglected by actors, especially when choosing from a collection book. No matter where you’ve gotten the monologue, read the play it came from all the way through. This will give you information on who the character is and what they are talking about in terms of the entire play which will add up to one very important ingredient: SUBTEXT! Subtext is the key to creating the fictional circumstances in which you can live honestly. Playing the subtext of the overall play in the sixty seconds of a monologue can make all of the difference by making the audience feel as if they are witnessing a glimpse of a much larger picture. Rather than hearing you tell a story they are getting to peer into a characters life. And let’s face it, voyeurism is one of the reasons we love the theatre in the first place.
- Re-Live Don’t Re-Tell – like I said before, the audience would rather see a character’s life that hear a character’s story and that will bring us to a very important point for actors to remember. No one wants to hear you retell a story in your monologue. No one wants to hear you chat about this-or-that horrible experience; we want to see you relive it for us. Any one can tell a story and a good storyteller can hold audience attention, but that’s not why we go to the theatre, we go to see people live truthfully in fictional circumstances. You must relive your stories by remembering the sites and the smells and every other detail you can about what you are describing. If you can’t see it, neither will the audience.
Next we’re going to delve into two very technical aspects of monologue work. These are stepping stones that every actor should employ. I stress again that these are only ways to work monologues, not rules of how to perform them. Use these to your benefit and listen to what they can tell you about your performance.
- Who Are You Speaking To? – a very simple question with many answers. Many times it’s a question actors forget to answer. Who are you speaking to? If you are a character like Li’l Bit in Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive there are many times when you’re speaking directly to the audience. Don’t take that for granted, however, that’s why reading the play can be so important. If you’re character is talking to someone in the script, pretend that someone is with you, out where the audience is. Imagine what they are doing as you speak so that you may react to their reactions. Either way you must have a clear and specific idea of who you are speaking to, why you are speaking to them and what you are try to get out of them.
- Leave the Adj. / Adv. Alone – This is something that is only for rehearsal, but it’s a great way to get the feel for how the monologue flows. Go through the speech and underline every adjective and adverb. Once that’s done go back and read it out loud, this time doing nothing to the underlined words. Adjectives and adverbs, such as “beautiful” and “beautifully” can trip an actor up because they become stress traps. You read them and want to stress how beautiful someone is, but soon the audience looses interest because your speech has lost its entire dynamic. Verbs are what make speech dynamic, if you leave the verbs unstressed and begin to merely describe them, you begin to loose steam and the audience’s interest.
Remember to check back again on September 25th for the third part of Monologue Analysis: Shakespeare, where we’ll focus specifically on the speeches of the Bard. Until then I hope the tips are helpful to you and always remember to Sin Boldly!
Monologue Analysis Pt. 1: “Scoring”
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Today on the Alchemist we’re going to begin Part One of my three part series on Monologues. All three of these parts will cover different exercises and techniques that can help actors work their monologues in new ways. All of the ways I’m going to detail can be mixed and matched, use them whenever you’re starting your monologues to give yourself a good foundation to play with.
To start off with I want you to visit another of my earlier posts that details a very handy tool for monologue work called a VOTE SHEET. VOTE stands for Victory, Obstacle, Tactics & Expectations. I won’t go through all of the details because I already did that and why waste the time, right? But I urge you to visit the link above, read the article and download the sheet because that alone can give an excellent foundation for your monologue.
The first point I want to cover in Part One is:
- Scoring for Breath: When going through your monologue, disregard the grammar and punctuation the first time through. In fact, it’s helpful most of the time to rewrite the entire monologue as one long sentence. Once you’ve done that, you’re left with a blank canvas to work with. The next step is to say the monologue out loud without imposing any sort of reading to it. As you’re reading, only pause when you feel you need to take a breath. As you read it and breathe I want you to mark your own, new punctuation on the monologue accordingly. Once that’s done, go back and read it with more emotion, read it the way you’re going to perform it and re-punctuate again only when you feel you need to breathe. How do the three different versions you have now compare? Can you combine them in any way?
- Scoring for Beats: The second method is going to begin the same way. Type out your monologue in one continuous sentence with no punctuation. This time when you read it I want you to put lines separating every beat change. A beat changes when the subject or the tone of the monologue changes. A beat change is usually a good place to pause and get your bearings. Many times you’re going to find that the scoring for beats and the scoring for breath are going to be very similar. Once you’ve separated every beat, go back and name each beat. Ask yourself, “What am I doing in this beat?” and entitle it with your answer. If you’re asking for and drink, your title should be “Asking for a Drink.” This way you separate your monologue into thoughts, rather than sentences.
These two methods of scoring will help you to pace your monologues; they’ll also help you learn to take your time while performing them. I want you to remember, as I go through these methods and those to follow in parts Two and Three, that these are only tools for analysis, not performance. You should never play your analysis. I give you these so that you may have a way of adding texture and depth to your monologue work.
Before we end this Part of Monologue Analysis, I want to discuss the stakes that an actor places on any given scene and how that can affect your monologue.
- Raising the Stakes - We’ve all heard of “raising the stakes” on stage and we know that it means making the scene worth more if you fail to achieve your victory. But why is that so important? Well, it’s important because it boils down to the true essence of drama, which is conflict. Without conflict, there is nothing to fight for, nothing to gain, nothing to lose and nothing for an audience to care about. Very often if a scene just doesn’t feel as if it’s “working” the problem is in how much importance it holds for you as an actor. The question is how much do you care about getting what you want? If the answer isn’t something along the lines of: “It’s the most important victory of my life!” Then you might want to re-think that choice and raise the stacks. I’ve said it before and will do so many more times to come: If you don’t care about your victory, neither will the audience.
Look for Part Two of the Monologue Analysis series: “Technicality,” on September 24th. Until then, remember to Sin Boldly!
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