Why do you choose the material you choose for monologues? What do you want to show the agent/casting director/director about your skill as an actor?
Do you know that that your choice of material reflects certain things about you? Your job is to select material that showcases your strengths as a performer. The piece should be age appropriate, unaccented (unless specified by the agent/director/casting director) must have a recognizable character arc and range. Ask yourself how comfortable you feel with your audition material right now. What you put into developing your monologue will be what you get out of it. A sharp, well acted, thoughtful performance will give you a solid audition tool that you can use to get jobs.
Turning in a bad monologue performance is like handing someone a sub-par resume with few qualifications for the job. It is a waste of your time and that of the agent/casting director/director that called you in. Shoot for the top 1% of candidates applying for the job. This requires work and dedication to excellence.
There will always, always be exceptions to the good acting rule, but you can't bank on this.
Ask yourself what you will do to identify, develop and polish your audition materials so that when opportunity knocks,
you are not standing in front of mirror memorizing new lines, but preparing a thoughtful performance that has been rehearsed
and developed into a shining example of your talent and training.
For my monologues this week, I chose Annette’s monologue from God of Carnage and Beatrice’s monologue. I chose these monologues for several reasons. First, I believe that I could play these characters well. I feel that I understand their back stories. I identify with certain elements of their characters. For example, I have often had to be polite to people when I actually feel like being incredible rude, which I feel is what Annette is going through. Annette also struggles for attention, which is something I think everyone can identify with. Beatrice is also a relatable character for me. She is stubborn and can become very passionately angry when things are not going her way. The second reason I chose these monologues is because I believe that they will show the casting directors my range. Besides the obvious difference between Shakespeare and Reza, the monologues contrast because Beatrice’s anger is very apparent, almost desperate. Annette’s frustration turns to thinly veiled meanness as the monologue progresses. With these monologues, I want to show casting directors that I can do more than play sweet, virtuous characters but that I can play darker, meaner roles as well. I have yet to be cast as a villain, and that frustrates me a bit. For example, in high school, we put on the musical Grease. I really, really wanted to play the mean-spirited Rizzo, but I knew that because of previous roles I had had that I would not be cast in that role. I want people to see my angrier side so much so that, as you will notice, I have chosen a different Beatrice monologue than the one I originally performed. The first monologue of Beatrice’s that I chose was about her being in love and casting away her contempt and pride in the interest of gaining Benedick’s love. Nicole suggested I look for another one of hers that highlighted her sarcasm and flippant attitude, and I believe I have found a good one. In this new monologue of Beatrice’s that I will be performing, Beatrice is bemoaning the fact that she is not a man and, therefore, cannot properly fight to avenger her kinswoman’s honor. I think it provides me with an excellent challenge.
ReplyDeleteMonologues is not exactly my favorite thing. I chose new material to perform and honestly I didn't put much more than an hour into it which I realize is not sufficient. I chose a monologue from Cassandra in Agamemnon and Nell from Like Dreaming Backwards. Although I have read the Iliad, Agamemnon and other greek mythology and I know Cassandra's story very well, the piece was just way too hard and I wasn't ready for it. I then chose Dialogue of the Gods, but an adapted version of the original play by Lucian. So far I have only a few theatre monologues under my belt, and the only one I really like is Like Dreaming Backwards, and also a few film monologues. I definitely need to add to my bag of tricks and work all of the pieces more. I really related to Nell because the anniversary of my friend's death had just gone by when I came across this play. It made me look at suicide from a different point of view and definitely touched me because this could have been how my friend was feeling. I feel like I could definitely improve on that piece. Even though I relate to it, and its personal to me, I was hesitant to completely go into character in front of the class because it was so personal. I realized that if I allowed myself to become the character then those emotions from my friends death would arise and perhaps haunt me in my actual life, which was a scary thought. But as an actor, substitution can really help. I feel like doing the monologues really exposed my weaknesses which are many, and I can only get better from here on out!
ReplyDeleteI have a terrible habit when it comes to monologues. I am never satisfied with them. Indeed, since I've only used 2 or 3 of them repeatedly (scrapping all the rest after bad experiences with them, instead of working them harder), you'd think I would have quite a bank of possible monologues. But they're always "wrong". I always want a different or better one.
ReplyDeleteAt an earlier class period, Nicole said she thought I downplayed my sex appeal. This is only true because I continually get cast in sexualized roles. Whether it's sex abuse victims or the flirtatious maid or the femme fatale turned serial killer (yes, more than once), this seems to be what I get. I'm a little tired of it. I'd like a role that has a greater stretch for me; and additionally I think enough actresses should be comfortable with their sexuality that these roles shouldn't fall to me so often! But because that's been a boon to me lately, I suppose I do try to downplay it, but without much success. Maybe I'm just hurting myself by hoping I'll be cast against type.
And so, with these wrestling ideas, I inadvertently picked two monologues that do relate to two womens' awarenesses of their respective effects on men. One relishes it and uses it as a tool for attention (Mabel Chiltern), and the other resents it for having put her in danger and made her subjective to mens' whims (Theresa). So these are probably "type" choices for me. Out of the two, I enjoy the Wilde one much more. I like doing comedy, and I love the comedies of manners that poke fun at the vanities of high-class women and men.
Oh! And I suppose I didn't really get around to addressing the end of the prompt. As for preparation, I absolutely could go further into character arcs, scoring movements and STICKING TO THEM. I have a problem with my nerves overthrowing my preparation. But once in a while I neglect the preparation, too. Even with nerves, a prepared piece is usually a lot more solid--and likely to earn a callback--than when I try to "wing it" or play the aforementioned game of choosing a new monologue under a time crunch, because I'm not happy with the last. I think I could get my nerves under control if I learn to really immerse myself in the circumstances of the scene. Really it's that grounding that might fix everything...and perhaps if I stop thinking of monologues as funerals and start having fun with them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I choose a monologue I usually go for things that aren't often done, for things that play to physicalities, and for things that I know will often set me apart. One thing right off the bat; I never pick a memory/narrative piece. I don't find them boring and not the best way to showcase my skills; they are too indulgent in my eyes and will go over the auditor's head. I think the best pieces, at least for me, are the ones that have to do with speaking to a person or a group directly. That way I can imagine what he/she is saying back and I can have something to play against other than myself. I usually look for things that are reminiscent of the type of work I want to play. This always is important to me because I want the auditor to have a very great sense of who I am as an artist right off the bat; I don't want to give a wishy washy performance and be put in roles I don't like because of their content. This has happened to me because of lack of great auditions, but hey, we gotta live to learn, right?
ReplyDeleteI need to find more monologues that fit me. I need to read more shows and watch more film in order to know what's out there. Recently I have been connecting more with cold reads than monologues and this is definitely a shift for me. I feel like I can't decide what sort of monologue best showcases my talents so I really like looking at cold reads and then preparing for them because I can apply my skills to something that I know the casting agent/director wants to see. I have seen great monologues in this class and they have inspired me to want to read the shows and do the monologues myself. For example, I really liked Gil's assasin's monologue and I loved to see the specifics he brought to it and I feel like I could take a couple of those ideas and really run with them. I have to get a hold of the script. I need to figure out what type of actor I want to be specifically and then find pieces to highlight the skills that make me that type. When I find a new piece, I think I will try to block it very powerfully and thoughtfully and try to stick to the blocking as I memorize the lines and become familiar with the through line of the monologue, instead of trying to let some sort of emotional arc fuel my movements in the moment.
ReplyDeleteWhen I pick a monologue I like to showcase my ethnicity because that's what I know I'll be looked as when I audition for casting director. Picking two very strong contrasting monologues is important. I pick ones that play to my strengths. Finding very strong monologues of leading ethnic roles that I can play up to. I have worked great with the few contemporary monologues I have and now I can add Shakespeare to my rep if need be. I feel like me having all this different styles will greatly help me for auditions. I like to show the casting directors in my monologues that I am a talent ethnic actor, who has a powerful, has strong movements, and can play dramatic roles exceptionally well. Being in this class has really helped me because I know my type that casting directors will be looking for, so I should play up my "Denzelness," and pick strong pieces.
ReplyDeleteI was not satisfied with my monologues in the least bit. I thought choosing a monologue with a young character might showcase how young I am able to play but I ended up being really uncomfortable in the role. I felt like it was a high school forensics meet or something. My classical monologue has potential but I would rather do a different one. I want to be able to really feel like I am showing off and I don't feel that yet. I think I have some work to do to really dig into some scripts and find an appropriate set of monologues that are exciting to perform. When I am excited about my work, it will be more interesting for other people to watch. I think it would be beneficial to choose a few different monologues based on my look and a few based on what I know I can do. Oddly enough I am pretty good at a Clueless type of character, yet I never showcase that because I am afraid of not being taken seriously. However, there is not a show on or a movie running that doesn't have that dumb girly character in it.
ReplyDeleteMonologues. When I see that an audition requires monologues, I almost immediately begin to freak out about it. For some reason I believe monologues will be the death of me. But, I know that I shouldn't let them control my mindset like that. I don't know what it is about monologues that intimidate me so much, but they do. The two monologues I chose to do were Portia's speech from The Merchant of Venice and a monologue from "Universities" by Jon Jory. I chose the Shakespeare one because I worked on it intensively with Paul Meier so it is definitely one of my stronger ones. When I was told in class that the beginning of the monologue was good but I lost momentum in the middle. I know that I really need to work on keeping it interesting and really connecting with what I'm saying will help that. The "Universities" piece is a little more difficult for me, and not because I don't relate to the piece. For some reason I feel like its written weird or something. I know that this piece can be good for me, so I'm not going to give up on it. I will get it eventually. I am looking right now to find more monologues that fit me and that I am able to open myself up to. One I've found that I'm looking at is from "The Laramie Project" so, we will see how that goes. Its been so hard to find comedic pieces for women. Even the ones that are supposed to be funny, are more ironically funny. They are really dramadies, not actual laugh out loud funny. Thats one of the main difficulties I've been having when looking for monologues. But, my major strength lies in drama, so I try to find really dramatic pieces that I can do well.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to monologues I am completely lost. I’ve always prepared monologues specifically for whatever show I was auditioning for, and then scrapped them. This means that if there were an audition tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t be prepared for it. This weakness definitely stems from being a “singer who can act” and not an “actor who can sing.” I know all the roles in opera and musical theatre that I would play, but I am clueless when it comes to theatre. For class I chose a monologue from the Adventures of Nervous Boy that I believed played to my strengths pretty well. Finding that monologue alone was a feat in itself and I couldn’t find a second one that I liked as much. I ended up bringing out an old Shakespeare monologue from Paul Meier’s class that I had not done for over a year…bad call. I need to find something that contrasts with the Nervous Boy monologue and shows off my other strengths. The only problem is that I don’t know where to look and I don’t really know what my other strengths are.
ReplyDelete