An Elephant's Faithful

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How to Find and Create a Great Monologue

Disclaimer: For the sake of Shakespeare Competition coming up, I'll be referring to Shakespeare's work, but the process is generally the same for straight plays and musical theatre. This is my own personal process, which is actually really crazy. It took a lot of focus to actually realize what I do. I am not responsible for how the piece affects you. If you wish to make this tutorial on your own blog using this process, let me know:).

Step One: Ponder
       This is a long process, which should happen quite a bit before the actual audition. Think about what genre monologue you wish to perform to narrow down the search. Think about favorite characters and plays. Keep in mind which shows the director might favor and pieces found overdone.

Step Two: Search
       After you have pondered quite a bit, you begin to search. Look on the internet. Here's some urls: Option One. or Option Two. There are many other websites dedicated toward Shakespeare's work. It is also a very good idea to simply read Shakespeare's Completed Works.

Step Three: Select
       It is always good to have monologues to put in your repertoire. Once you found the Money Monologue, continue to Step Four. If you couldn't find your Money Monologue via internet, fret not. Go back to Step Two and read the plays. This year, I couldn't find my Money Monologue from the internet, so I just read and read until I found the piece I loved. If you don't love the piece, don't perform it. Find one you are passionate about.

Step Four: Study
       For those of you who hate reading, I'm helping you, I promise. It is imperative that you read the complete play of the piece you are performing. Doing so will enhance your understanding of your character and truly understand who the character is. Create a family tree. If there's many deaths in the play, put an "x" mark on the family tree next to their name to signify the death. Write down the act and scene and who killed who. It's a lot like Clue.
        I try to do a character analysis. I cross reference the play/monologue with a favorite movie (ie: for Henry V act V sc. II, I watched Stardust to see the progression of love; for Kentucky Cycle: Tall Tales, I watched Moulin Rouge to understand how betrayal felt).
       Studying your character is a lot of the process, so really enjoy this. It's my favorite part. You get the opportunity to try to understand your character. It's like playing dress up. It's quirky, weird, but totally fun.

Step Five: Work It
       This could be done in many ways. My favorite is to mark up the script. It helps to use different colors to signify different things (ie: green: action words; blue: emotion words; red: outbursts of high emotion, mostly found at climax of monologue). Running it really helps as long as you're not saying it so say it. You should have the piece memorized by the end of this process, at the very latest.

Step Six: Mock Perform
       I love getting constructive criticism. A few days or so before the audition, get a group of friends together and have a mock competition, giving feedback at the end of each performance. This will give you time to truly polish the piece before you actually perform.

Step Seven: Audition/Perform
       You made it. Stay optimistic. If the audition is at the end of the day, wear a comfortable, favorite outfit and really colorful underwear. It really helps you to feel confident, promise. If the audition is right after school, or you plan to stay after for your audition, bring extra clothes. Dress to impress. Don't wear high heels, it may mess with your character. Bring tooth paste/tooth brush. Get rid of that lunch time food smell. For girls, bring your make-up to touch up,  a curling iron/straightener, perfume/deodorant. For boys... well, use your best judgement.
      Take a deep breath. You've spent so much time for this, why ruin the great time with worry? Have a fun activity planned for after the audition.

Break a leg!