Research
Notes on a the article “How to Write an Effective Monologue”
"A monologue is a predominantly verbal presentation given by a single person featuring a collection of ideas, often loosely assembled around one or more themes. Note that I do not define it as a strictly verbal presentation; many, though certainly not all, successful monologuists also employ nonverbal elements to great effect, such as, their use of facial expressions and hand gestures, along with a variety of props and stage devices."
(Jay Sankey, Zen and the Art of the Monologue. Routledge, 2000)
Dictionary definition
Mon-o-logue /ˈmänlˌôg/
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Notes on a the article “How to Write an Effective Monologue”
· Monologues are the lifeblood of characters
· Monologues transmit whom a character is, what their thought process is and what they plan to do to change their current circumstances.
· What is a monologue? – Mono means one or single and logue means to speak, or voice.
· Flowing language is one part of making a monologue effective. Nonetheless, the fluidity of the monologue has to have an emotional stimulus is necessary to avoid the monologue to be flat. Therefore, what is said can flow even if is choppy or even broken. Writing effective monologues does not mean to have grammatically correct sentence. A writer needs to think about how his/her character would speak about a certain situation or topic.
· The writer should understand the character: its background, age, gender, feelings, relationships, etc.
· Emotions make the character. Happiness, sadness, fear and anger are the only four emotions that exist. Everything else is an expression of two or more of these four in combination with one another. Understanding this will help the writer know what emotion the character is experiencing and why.
Notes on “Performing Memorable Monologues” by Ratliff and Gerald Lee
· Cultivate a natural and conversational delivery of dialogue (I will deliver the monologue as a character that has just witnessed a soldier beating a Jewish man. Her speech will flow as if she were expressing her impressions. The highlight of the monologue is that she is traumatized with what she saw and her words are directed the audience in the form of a confession, since the feelings of guilt and impotence dominate her. Thus, the monologue will be played as in naturalistic theater– trying to imitate the real reaction of an adolescent from WWII and staying true to the emotions of human beings).
· Display personal habits or mannerisms that distinguish a character (Fidgeting is a habit that the character will develop throughout the monologue to show how she deals with tension).
· "Tune" the vocal instrument to produce sounds, syllables, and words crisply and focus on the "tempo" that underscores the present moment in the monologue. (Pace is key to the monologue and it will match what is being said. The overall pace will be normal and I will speed it up during the climax to create tension. Pauses will also be used to augment the tension).
· The audition wardrobe should be carefully selected to indicate the time period of the script or the character’s mood and attitude. (The attire of my character will reflect that of an adolescent during WWII and will have an element – the star of David patch– that indicates that my character is a Jew during WWII).
Reflection on creation process
For me process of creation had two stages. First, we were assigned to create a monologue that discussed oppression and, therefore, I chose to talk about WWII, because my grandfather is a survivor of the Jew genocide and I am familiar with the topic. I used his experience as an inspiration for my monologue and when writing it I focused in my style, figurative language and coherence. I thought I had created a strong and effective monologue, but then, after reading the teacher’s comments and researching about how to write effective monologues, I realized that my monologue lacked pace and emotion. My character did not have a voice and my monologue was flat – not only did it lack physicality, but it was also missing the tension I wanted to transmit. Therefore, I read several articles that explained what makes a good monologue and I discovered that movement, as well as voice were key to the success of my performance and that I was lacking both.
Without a doubt, re-writing my monologue was a challenge. I thought that my monologue was great, but I realized that it was missing essential elements to make it work and transmit a message. Yes, my monologue was good on paper, but it lacked excitement when said out loud. My first step towards re-writing my monologue was to stay away from the paper and simply improvise. This gave me an idea of how my character would move and react to what she had just witnessed. The first thing I did during my improvisation was run. I realized that the preamble of my performance was essential to the creation of the setting and ambiance. At the end, I decided to start the performance by entering the stage running. Additionally, during the improvisation I my expressions came out in an agitated and disordered manner. My first draft was coherent and chronological, but this did not make sense with the traumatized state of my character or with the way in which human beings reconstruct a memory. Thus, I decided to start with the end of the speech to engage the audience and stay true to the emotional response of the character to the horror she previously witnessed. Since my character is not emotionally stable at this moment, her speech cannot be totally coherent or perfect. This is why I included more repetitions and pauses in the second and final draft of my monologue.
Likewise, the addition of movement helped the monologue come to live. Through improvisation I discovered different ways in which I could transmit tension through physicality. For instance, when I was practicing the climax of the monologue (when she tells the audience how the soldiers tried to cut the man’s beard) I felt that it was lacking emotion and intensity. I began by using my hands as I talked to add tension, but something was still missing. I decided to get a paper that I crumbled as I spoke, but that was not enough. Finally, after playing around with several objects, I decided I needed to break something. I found that a pair of colored pencils would do it, since I could break them in half as a talked and also play with them to show my tension.
All in all, improvisation and practicing the monologue several times helped me figure out what I needed to modify and how I needed to interpret different moments.
Performance proposal
Through the confessions of a Jew witnessing the horrors of oppression during World War II, the global issue that is discussed through my monologue is peacekeeping and conflict prevention. The Jew adolescent is a by-stander of the harassment the German soldiers inflict on an old Jewish man. The monologue focuses both on her remorse and impotence for not having the courage or ability to prevent the conflict. Likewise, the monologue discusses the violation of human rights through the presentation of the authorities abusing of their power. By contextualizing the monologue in a known historical event– World War II– the audience is able to connect to the story and the character at a deeper level. Immediately, the audience comprehends the magnitude of the conflict presented in the monologue: the discrimination and abuse of the Jews was rooted from hatred and it resulted in genocide.
Through the use of movement/physicality, voice and lighting, I will transmit the tension and misery of the character in the monologue.
Movement/physicality
Although movement is not my focus, it still plays an important role during key moments of the monologue. The agitated entrance of Jozefa, who runs on stage, marks the beginning of the monologue. This first movement sets the tense ambiance and grabs the attention of the audience. Without this initial and simple movement, the monologue would be flat and would lack preamble.
The physicality of the character revolves around her hands– her tension and restlessness is expressed through the rubbing and fiddling of the hands. During the climax, what Jozefa does with her hands is key: she fiddles with a pair of colored pencils while she talks about the two soldiers. This action points out her anger and impotence. The action of breaking the pencils in half, expresses her emotional breakdown and her helplessness. Lastly, the fact that she puts her body against the column and presses her face against it, expresses her resignation and despair.
Voice and speech
Voice is key to the feeling I want to transmit through my monologue. Tension will be predominant in the voice of my character to convey the overall tone of the monologue and the ambiance of the war setting. Jozefa’s voice will be broken, high-pitch and frail to convey her emotional status. Through variations of the tension in my voice, I will stress some words and, in doing so, I will highlight some key moments in the monologue.
The pace at which I will speak will also vary. My monologue will lack smoothness – it will be rather uneven and interrupted by pauses– but it will still have a measured pace and continuity. It is essential for my monologue to have pauses, since this will put emphasis on what I am expressing and will give moments for the audience to digest what is going on. Additionally, pauses create suspense and augment the tension of the scene. The climax of the monologue will have an accelerated pace, which contrasts the medium pace that is predominant throughout it.
Lastly, repetition is key to my monologue. The words I look to emphasize will be repeated so that they stay imbedded in the audience. At the same time, repetition adds to the tension and it is the way in which the audience deals with what is going on.
Lighting
Lights will not vary throughout the performance. The dim lighting will contribute to the gloom mood and the misery of the character. Additionally, the lack of light conveys hopelessness and the war setting.
Sound
The soundtrack from “Schindler’s List”, Jewish Town (Krakow Ghetto-Winter 41), will be used to contribute to the solemnity of the monologue. Likewise, it will augment the tension of the situation. The instrumental song will not be played from the beginning of the monologue, because at first I want the audience to focus on the movement of the character and the tone of her voice.
Link to the soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yBba30y4Vc&feature=related (played from minute 1:24)
It was a challenge to find a soundtrack that suited the mood and ambiance of the monologue. The song should not be the protagonist of the performance, but it should contribute to the development of it. After discarding several soundtracks, I found this one. I believe that it does not only express somberness, but it also helps create the desired tension.
Costume
Then, I also researched the type of clothing that a girl would've worn and I found references that indicated that the typical attire would include a coat and a dress or some kind of formal outfit.
The following is a picture of my attire:
(to be added)
Stage
Costume
Costume is important to my performance, since it will contribute to the ambiance and characterization of Jozefa. The character that I will be interpreting is based on the figure of a historical character from World War II. She is a Jewish during the time of Hitler's domain and, therefore, her attire should resemble a girl living during the time when Jews were discriminated in Poland. The key element of her outfit will be the patch that the Germans forced the Jewish to wear when they were in street as a way of identifying them. The patch went either on the arm or the chest– I chose the chest for this particular performance so that it is more visible.
Then, I also researched the type of clothing that a girl would've worn and I found references that indicated that the typical attire would include a coat and a dress or some kind of formal outfit.
The following is a picture of my attire:
(to be added)
Stage
I will only use one element on stage: a black rectangle box that will act as a column. This will be used at the end of the monologue for the character to lean on as a sign of defeat and complete despair. Other than that no other elements are needed to create the setting. The dim lighting and the soundtrack will create the ambiance of a war setting and the solemn mood.
The monologue
Jozefa enters the stage running.
She is breathing heavily, trembling and on the verge of tears.
JOZEFA: He had him under his boot; the German soldier had. He had him under his boot and was pressing his chest against the pavement. He was pressing and pressing and pressing.
And I did nothing to help. Nothing.
It’s been twenty days now since the Germans attacked Poland. The tension created by this uncertain war is tangible. Bombs invade the blue skies every now and then. We are not save anymore. The Germans have invaded our streets, our thoughts, our rights – we belong to them.
That poor man, that poor, poor man, he just one of the victims. I fear it’s a matter of time before they get hold of me, of my family. If you could have seen the look in the soldiers’ eyes as he was pushing and hitting the old man. It was hatred, the kind of hatred that contaminates the air and suffocates anyone watching.
I was on my way to visit my grandfather when I saw them.
[Takes out two colored pencils from her pocket and fiddles with them while she speaks]
There were two of them, two German soldiers – one soldier attacked, the other laughed. [Pause] He laughed.
The soldier was yanking the man by his white beard. He threw him to the floor. He spit on him. He hit him. He spit again. They were having fun; amusing themselves with the suffering of the man.
And I stood there paralyzed. I did nothing. I stood there while the soldier tried to cut the man’s beard with a bayonet. The man squealed. But the soldier still moved the bayonet back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The man squealed. The soldier laughed. And he kept going back and forth, back and forth.
[She breaks the pencils in half]
[Pause]
The thing is, you cannot cut a beard with a bayonet.
[Pause]
He had him under his boot; the German soldier had. [She leans against the black rectangle that acts as a column and slides down as she speaks] He had him under his boot and was pressing his chest against the pavement. He was pressing and pressing and pressing. [She presses her face against the column as she says the former line] And I did nothing to help. Nothing.
I can only think and I shiver at the thought: that old man could have been my grandfather. But I still did nothing to help. Nothing.
The Performance I - Class presentation
The performance in front of the class was not what I had expected. Although I had practiced before, several factors altered the quality of my presentation. I became overly nervous for no apparent reason rather than the fact that I had to expose my art. I believe that when performing one should always experience some type of uncontrollable emotion – either nervousness or excitement in order to maintain you alert and lively. Even more, when one is presenting an intimate piece of work, written by one, one becomes more self-conscious and aware. In the case of this performance, I was presenting a monologue I had written and directed by myself; thus, every element in the performance depended on me. Even though I felt confident about the work I had prepared, nerves got hold of me.
The drama classroom was dark, expect for the back of the room that had been arranged to serve as the stage in which I had performed numerous times before. I experienced a déjà vu: my mind travelled back almost a year when I had also performed a piece of my own, which I had titled "Waiting". The lighting has also been dim and my senses as alert. I tried to focus, but my mind drifted off to different locations and times. (This often happens to me– when I'm about to perform, my mind wanders to places I had not visited for a long time). Eventually, I returned from my distant thoughts to the stage in which I had to perform my monologue. I became immersed in the emotions I had to portray: despair and anxiety.
I entered the stage running, as planned, and I planted myself in front of the audience. The words, I had practiced several times before (and written, too), began coming out of my lips. I had told a classmate to press play when I gave the cue so that background music would create the mood I wanted to portray along with my acting and stage setting. The music came out too loud and my mind flashed to a menacing thought: I should've tested the sound before. You always have to do a sound check. What was I thinking? I became silent for a split second that felt like an hour; I had forgotten my next line. What was it? They won't hear me because of the music. Raise your voice. But this will affect my acting... still; I have to raise my voice. I made a dramatic pause– my gestures did not reveal that I had forgotten everything. Improvisation came in handy. I motioned my classmate to lower the volume. I should not have done that! Whatever happens the actor must continue and not engage in any technical problem. I reincorporated myself. I used emotion to disguise the mistake and then the lines came back to me. I was in the last part of the monologue and, suddenly, it was over.
Now that I reflect back I did overcome the issue with improvisation and experience– I had been there before, that moment when your mind goes blank, but still, it is frightening every time. As a detestable perfectionist I am, I was very unsatisfied with my performance and still am. I knew I could have done better. And I do not blame the technical problem completely; I should have been prepared for the worst, one should always be. Unexpected things are bound to happen during a performance and it is the skill of the performer that should counteract it. For the audience the mistake was not huge, I reacted accordingly so that they would not notice, but I felt it ruined my performance. I could have reacted with more expertise: I should have continued when the music was too loud and I should have stayed in character (one should always stay in character, regardless of what is happening around you).
Nonetheless, I do feel I was able to transmit emotion and the core message of the performance, the suffering of my character due to the violation of human rights. I think that the internal conflict of my character was successfully portrayed; the audience was aware of who my character was in a historical, social and personal context. Still, some important parts in the monologue were hindered by the lines I missed and the moment in which I became detached from my character. For my next performance I will remember to always stay in character and to prepare for the unexpected. I believe that to do so, I should feel more comfortable with improvisation and with my character. One of my weaknesses in theater is that I still do not feel quite at ease with mistakes and improvising to counteract them. I do it, yes, but I have to work on doing it without feeling as a failure afterwards. After all, unpredicted factors will always show up and my duty is to work with them and enjoy it.
The performance II- GIN presentation
