Monologues

[saaaaaam]

I guess they've been out for a while now. Has anyone picked one? If so, what are you doing?

[Nic K]

We started unit 4 this week and my teacher said that we shouldn't start looking at choosing a monologue yet (although I've done some research and made a list of the ones that I think seem most interesting). We're doing general acting stuff at the moment.

[saaaaaam]

That's interesting. We've been pushed into monologue research already! What has made your shortlist?

Personally I'm looking at doing Queen Marguerite from Exit The King.

[Nic K]

The plays that have appealed to me are Exit the King, Marat/Sade and Everyman. I'm male so I plan to play a male character haha.

I think we will begin doing research later next week after we finish doing acting pieces.

[Nic K]

Hey, what is the trend in terms of monologues chosen from the males in your class this year?

[saaaaaam]

There aren't any

[Nic K]

Any males? Or trends? If no males, that's strange!!! Although, there's only 3 of us in my class I guess.....

[saaaaaam]

Sorry for being vague! No males. Although the monologues are very spread out between the girls.

Three is a very small class! Although that's great when preparing for monologues.

[Nic K]

Oh okay! It'll be interesting to see which monologues will be the most popular overall. Do you think it is an advantage to do a less popular monologue? I was thinking about it the other day.

[saaaaaam]

I guess if you're doing the same monologue as the last five people the examiners have seen it might be a disadvantage. But overall being a less/more popular monologue shouldn't make a difference so long as you score well in all the criteria.

Although I have to say, I'm more worried about the written exam then I am the monologue.

[Nic K]

Really? Yeah, that is quite daunting but I haven't really thought about it. I am thinking that I should be able to work on those skills later in the year.

Have you got a copy of Exit the King? I cannot find it ANYWHERE!! I really just want to see the monologue and gain a bit more of a knowledge of the story.

[saaaaaam]

I do have a copy of it, but I also have a document VCAA has provided my teacher with that has a copy of all the monologues. Do you want to PM me an email address to send it too? I'm not sure about copyright, so I don't want to upload it here.

I had to buy my copy of Exit the King from www.amazon.com . It came from the US.

[StringFever]

I guess if you're doing the same monologue as the last five people the examiners have seen it might be a disadvantage. But overall being a less/more popular monologue shouldn't make a difference so long as you score well in all the criteria.

Although I have to say, I'm more worried about the written exam then I am the monologue.

From experience - it's better to choose the more obscure monologues over the more "popular" ones. Because heaps of kids (even ones in our class) were burned by the fact they chose popular monologues and didn't provide great individual interpretations of it (e.g. Richard from Zig Zag Street).

My advice is to choose an absurdist/abstract monologue (or one that can be interpreted in that style); because it gives you freedom to do what you want with it - and you'll be more likely to come up with an individual/well-rewarded interpretation. I did the Arturo Ui monologue last year (as did my friend), and we were the only ones chosen for Top Class because the absurdist piece gave us license to be really creative.

Also - with the written exam; don't stress out about it. Just make sure you study up on your plays and your monologue. Apart from testing your knowledge of that - the rest is very "common sense" stuff (like how you'd run a rehearsal in order to achieve a particular goal).

[Nic K]

How did everyone's performances go?

[saaaaaam]

I'm relatively happy with mine. I think I had some good stagecraft stuff going on and I had strong elements of absurd theatre.

But I preformed it around 30 seconds fast than I normally would. I'm hoping I can put that down to nerves and I didn't leave anything out.

How was yours? Which monologue did you chose in the end?