Getting a Superior in IE Monologues p.1
Choosing Monologues
2009 Natio
Everyone wants to do
their best in an Individual
Events competition.
Getting a Superior is not
as difficult as you might
think! Here are a few hints
to point you in the right
direction…
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Avoid Monologues that…
Choose a Monologue that is…
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Active.
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Are over 2 and a half minutes. If both
your pieces hit that 2 and a half minute mark
you run the risk of going over time. Allow
yourself time to play with your monologues
rather than rushing to beat the clock.
Don’t work out of context. If the
monologue doesn’t work on its own or
without explanation, don’t use it.
Tell a story rather than show a story.
Monologues are often used to advance the
plot of a play. These types of monologues do
nothing to show off your skills as an actor.
There’s nothing for your audience to connect
to.
Don’t come from plays. You know
the rules. Monologues must come from
published scripts written for theatre.
Contrast
“To compare in order to show unlikeness
Character-driven. There are no lights,
or differences.”
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monologues!
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Judge’s nam
Well-written. Seem obvious? Be on the
lookout for all of the above in your piece. Contrast shows your versatility as an actor.
Choose monologues that are unlike each
An interesting character in the middle of an
other, that have differences.
emotion-based moment. Look at the sentence
acto
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Good
Continued Over…
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Types of Contrast
Character: What makes the characters
different in each piece? How do they
physically move about the space? What
emotion does each character experience?
Are the stories for each character similar or
different?
Sound: Read the monologues aloud.
Sometimes monologues that look different
on the page become similar when spoken.
Do the pieces sound similar? Do they
move at the same pace? Is the vocabulary
different?
Period: Pair Shakespeare, Euripides or
Molière with something modern. The
Importance of Being Ernest with
Mamet. A Feydeau farce with Arthur
Miller.
Genre: Classical, Absurd, Naturalistic,
Modern, Post modern, Melodrama,
Comedy, Drama, the list goes on. Don’t use
two pieces from the same genre.
Mood: Contrast giddy with serious. Which
of the following moods contrast well each
other? Peace, fear, joy, anger, charming,
frustration, warmth, playful, condescending,
upbeat, festive, sombre, whimsical, anxious,
sad, bored, excited, passionate. Define the
mood in your monologue.
Pace: Pace is an excellent way to establish
contrast. Some pieces will have the pace
organically built in through sentence
structure: pauses, run-on sentences, clipped
sentences. If not, look to the character. How
urgently do they want to share their story?
What do they want? What tactics do they
use to get what they want? Let the character
determine the pace.
A Few Last Words
Choose monologues with characters in your
age range. Avoid playing a seventy-year-old
when you’re seventeen. More often than
not, it’ll be a distraction for the judges, no
matter how good the piece itself is.
Choose a piece that you love and connect
to. The more you love a piece, the more fun
you’ll be able to have with it, the more you’ll
want to work on it, the more you’ll shine.
You get a Superior, when you shine in your
work. When you bring a character to life.
When you give your audience an experience.
Choose monologues that will make you
shine. ❧