Evaluation

When I performed my monologue to the audition panel I think I used my body gestures and movement well to emphasise my emotions and to to show the audience where I was. By folding my arms and pacing about, looking stage left continuously and pointing in that direction showed the audience that I was angry and jealous, also it showed that I was on my own as I kept pointing to the distance to show I was talking about somebody after they left. This came across in my performance as in my feedback I was told that it was a believable realistic performance.
I also showed my emotions through my voice. Because I knew the translation well. It gave me a better understanding of what each line meant and how she was feeling. So I used this knowledge to show through my vocals that she was jealous and angry.
There is a change in moods towards the end of my monologue and because there is only two mood in this piece I wanted to make sure that it was noticeable to the audience when the change in mood was. I did this by uncrossing my arms, pacing slightly more around the space to show I was planning. I also stopped looking stage left. To show I was focused on my plan and not them. I showed a more excited expression on my face to show that I was excited for my plan and to show that my character thought it was a good plan.
Overall I think I showed a good understanding of the monologue through my emotions, diction and by using the space around me effectively in my performance. This showed the audience that I knew what I was saying and the right emotions to go along with it.

I then got told I had to perform the monologue again, but this time I had to pretend I was a typical teenage girl in her bedroom. I decided to do my monologue on the floor to show I was sitting on a bed in my bedroom and I was writing in my diary instead of referencing to someone. I also acted out throwing the diary half way through my monologue to show I was a typical teenage girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way. I also made my tone more winey and high pitched to get across that I was a stereotypical teenage girl. I also crossed my arms and legs, showing that I was moody and angry. I also made my movement a lot more sharp to emphasise my anger. I also made sure I didn't move from the bed because I also want to show that she is still quite vulnerable and upset because her 'boyfriend' has just left her for someone else. I also made sure my vocals were projected more making sure I was shouting at some points to show the tantrum of a teenage girl.
I think I showed my emotion well in this performance though my vocal and physical skills. I think I also used different parts of the monologue well to show different states of tension and emotion.

Exercises

Tempo, Emotion and Action: We walked around the room reading our monologue and whenever we got to any type of punctuation we would stop, turn 90 degrees and keep walking until we go to the next bit of punctuation. By doing this it gave us an idea of the pace of the monologue and where the tense bits where in our monologue and where the climatic bits where. For example my monologue starts off with lots of commas and full stops. This implies that my character is angry and jealous, then towards this middle there is less punctuation as my character is reflecting on what love is. By doing this exercise is showed my the tempo my piece could be performed at and the different types of emotions along with it.
We then walked around the room again, but before we walked we read the line in our head, picked out an important word then walked saying the line and did an exaggerated action to this important word. By doing this it gave us an understanding of where the important word where is the monologue and we should pick up on these words and emphasise them in our performance, not as exaggerated though.

Forum Theatre: I performed my monologue to the class and they gave me feedback on what I did well in the performance and what could do with improvement. They said my diction was good and projection, I think this came across well because I made sure I knew how to pronounce each word before I did the performance. An area to improve on was instead of talking to the audience I should also refer to the people i'm talking about. So when I performed it again I kept looking stage left to show the audience that the person who I was talking about was over there. I also got told that I could show a bit more jealousy in my emotion at the beginning of the monologue. When performing it again I crossed my arms showing I was angry at them and jealous and I also raised my voice higher than the previous performance to show my characters mood.

Iambic Pentameter

Usually in Shakespeare's writing he has ten syllables in each line, by stressing every alternative syllable it gives us a better understanding of the text and what should be emphasised in each line. 

E.g duh-DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH

How happy some o'er other some can be!

Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so.

He will not know what all but he do know.

And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,

So I, admiring of his qualities.

By highlighting these specific words/syllables, it gave me a better understanding of the characters mood in this monologue and her jealousy towards Hermia in this scene.

Translated Monologue

HELENA

It’s amazing how much happier some people are than others! People throughout Athens think I’m as beautiful as Hermia. But so what? Demetrius doesn’t think so, and that’s all that matters. He refuses to admit what everyone else knows. But even though he’s making a mistake by obsessing over Hermia so much, I’m also making a mistake, since I obsess over him. Love can make worthless things beautiful. When we’re in love, we don’t see with our eyes but with our minds. That’s why paintings of Cupid, the god of love, always show him as blind. And love doesn’t have good judgment either—Cupid, has wings and no eyes, so he’s bound to be reckless and hasty. That’s why they say love is a child. because it makes such bad choices. Just as boys like to play games by telling lies, Cupid breaks his promises all the time. Before Demetrius ever saw Hermia, he showered me with promises and swore he’d be mine forever.

My Monologue

HELENA

How happy some o'er other some can be!

Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so.

He will not know what all but he do know.

And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,

So I, admiring of his qualities.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,

Love can transpose to form and dignity.

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgment taste—

Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.

And therefore is Love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.

As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,

So the boy Love is perjured everywhere.

For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne,

He hailed down oaths that he was only mine.

Character Profile

Helena

• From Athens 
• 17 Years Old
• Best Friends with Hermia 
• Jealous because all the men go after Hermia
• In love with Demetrius 
• The character nobody loves 

Shakespeare Monologue

Evaluation

When I performed my monologue to the audition panel I think I used my body gestures and movement well to emphasise my emotions and to to show the audience where I was. By folding my arms and pacing about, looking stage left continuously and pointing in that direction showed the audience that I was angry and jealous, also it showed that I was on my own as I kept pointing to the distance to show I was talking about somebody after they left. This came across in my performance as in my feedback I was told that it was a believable realistic performance.
I also showed my emotions through my voice. Because I knew the translation well. It gave me a better understanding of what each line meant and how she was feeling. So I used this knowledge to show through my vocals that she was jealous and angry.
There is a change in moods towards the end of my monologue and because there is only two mood in this piece I wanted to make sure that it was noticeable to the audience when the change in mood was. I did this by uncrossing my arms, pacing slightly more around the space to show I was planning. I also stopped looking stage left. To show I was focused on my plan and not them. I showed a more excited expression on my face to show that I was excited for my plan and to show that my character thought it was a good plan.
Overall I think I showed a good understanding of the monologue through my emotions, diction and by using the space around me effectively in my performance. This showed the audience that I knew what I was saying and the right emotions to go along with it.

I then got told I had to perform the monologue again, but this time I had to pretend I was a typical teenage girl in her bedroom. I decided to do my monologue on the floor to show I was sitting on a bed in my bedroom and I was writing in my diary instead of referencing to someone. I also acted out throwing the diary half way through my monologue to show I was a typical teenage girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way. I also made my tone more winey and high pitched to get across that I was a stereotypical teenage girl. I also crossed my arms and legs, showing that I was moody and angry. I also made my movement a lot more sharp to emphasise my anger. I also made sure I didn't move from the bed because I also want to show that she is still quite vulnerable and upset because her 'boyfriend' has just left her for someone else. I also made sure my vocals were projected more making sure I was shouting at some points to show the tantrum of a teenage girl.
I think I showed my emotion well in this performance though my vocal and physical skills. I think I also used different parts of the monologue well to show different states of tension and emotion.

Evaluation

When I performed my monologue to the audition panel I think I used my body gestures and movement well to emphasise my emotions and to to show the audience where I was. By folding my arms and pacing about, looking stage left continuously and pointing in that direction showed the audience that I was angry and jealous, also it showed that I was on my own as I kept pointing to the distance to show I was talking about somebody after they left. This came across in my performance as in my feedback I was told that it was a believable realistic performance.
I also showed my emotions through my voice. Because I knew the translation well. It gave me a better understanding of what each line meant and how she was feeling. So I used this knowledge to show through my vocals that she was jealous and angry.
There is a change in moods towards the end of my monologue and because there is only two mood in this piece I wanted to make sure that it was noticeable to the audience when the change in mood was. I did this by uncrossing my arms, pacing slightly more around the space to show I was planning. I also stopped looking stage left. To show I was focused on my plan and not them. I showed a more excited expression on my face to show that I was excited for my plan and to show that my character thought it was a good plan.
Overall I think I showed a good understanding of the monologue through my emotions, diction and by using the space around me effectively in my performance. This showed the audience that I knew what I was saying and the right emotions to go along with it.

I then got told I had to perform the monologue again, but this time I had to pretend I was a typical teenage girl in her bedroom. I decided to do my monologue on the floor to show I was sitting on a bed in my bedroom and I was writing in my diary instead of referencing to someone. I also acted out throwing the diary half way through my monologue to show I was a typical teenage girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way. I also made my tone more winey and high pitched to get across that I was a stereotypical teenage girl. I also crossed my arms and legs, showing that I was moody and angry. I also made my movement a lot more sharp to emphasise my anger. I also made sure I didn't move from the bed because I also want to show that she is still quite vulnerable and upset because her 'boyfriend' has just left her for someone else. I also made sure my vocals were projected more making sure I was shouting at some points to show the tantrum of a teenage girl.
I think I showed my emotion well in this performance though my vocal and physical skills. I think I also used different parts of the monologue well to show different states of tension and emotion.

Evaluation

When I performed my monologue to the audition panel I think I used my body gestures and movement well to emphasise my emotions and to to show the audience where I was. By folding my arms and pacing about, looking stage left continuously and pointing in that direction showed the audience that I was angry and jealous, also it showed that I was on my own as I kept pointing to the distance to show I was talking about somebody after they left. This came across in my performance as in my feedback I was told that it was a believable realistic performance.
I also showed my emotions through my voice. Because I knew the translation well. It gave me a better understanding of what each line meant and how she was feeling. So I used this knowledge to show through my vocals that she was jealous and angry.
There is a change in moods towards the end of my monologue and because there is only two mood in this piece I wanted to make sure that it was noticeable to the audience when the change in mood was. I did this by uncrossing my arms, pacing slightly more around the space to show I was planning. I also stopped looking stage left. To show I was focused on my plan and not them. I showed a more excited expression on my face to show that I was excited for my plan and to show that my character thought it was a good plan.
Overall I think I showed a good understanding of the monologue through my emotions, diction and by using the space around me effectively in my performance. This showed the audience that I knew what I was saying and the right emotions to go along with it.

I then got told I had to perform the monologue again, but this time I had to pretend I was a typical teenage girl in her bedroom. I decided to do my monologue on the floor to show I was sitting on a bed in my bedroom and I was writing in my diary instead of referencing to someone. I also acted out throwing the diary half way through my monologue to show I was a typical teenage girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way. I also made my tone more winey and high pitched to get across that I was a stereotypical teenage girl. I also crossed my arms and legs, showing that I was moody and angry. I also made my movement a lot more sharp to emphasise my anger. I also made sure I didn't move from the bed because I also want to show that she is still quite vulnerable and upset because her 'boyfriend' has just left her for someone else. I also made sure my vocals were projected more making sure I was shouting at some points to show the tantrum of a teenage girl.
I think I showed my emotion well in this performance though my vocal and physical skills. I think I also used different parts of the monologue well to show different states of tension and emotion.

Evaluation

When I performed my monologue to the audition panel I think I used my body gestures and movement well to emphasise my emotions and to to show the audience where I was. By folding my arms and pacing about, looking stage left continuously and pointing in that direction showed the audience that I was angry and jealous, also it showed that I was on my own as I kept pointing to the distance to show I was talking about somebody after they left. This came across in my performance as in my feedback I was told that it was a believable realistic performance.
I also showed my emotions through my voice. Because I knew the translation well. It gave me a better understanding of what each line meant and how she was feeling. So I used this knowledge to show through my vocals that she was jealous and angry.
There is a change in moods towards the end of my monologue and because there is only two mood in this piece I wanted to make sure that it was noticeable to the audience when the change in mood was. I did this by uncrossing my arms, pacing slightly more around the space to show I was planning. I also stopped looking stage left. To show I was focused on my plan and not them. I showed a more excited expression on my face to show that I was excited for my plan and to show that my character thought it was a good plan.
Overall I think I showed a good understanding of the monologue through my emotions, diction and by using the space around me effectively in my performance. This showed the audience that I knew what I was saying and the right emotions to go along with it.

I then got told I had to perform the monologue again, but this time I had to pretend I was a typical teenage girl in her bedroom. I decided to do my monologue on the floor to show I was sitting on a bed in my bedroom and I was writing in my diary instead of referencing to someone. I also acted out throwing the diary half way through my monologue to show I was a typical teenage girl throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way. I also made my tone more winey and high pitched to get across that I was a stereotypical teenage girl. I also crossed my arms and legs, showing that I was moody and angry. I also made my movement a lot more sharp to emphasise my anger. I also made sure I didn't move from the bed because I also want to show that she is still quite vulnerable and upset because her 'boyfriend' has just left her for someone else. I also made sure my vocals were projected more making sure I was shouting at some points to show the tantrum of a teenage girl.
I think I showed my emotion well in this performance though my vocal and physical skills. I think I also used different parts of the monologue well to show different states of tension and emotion.

Evaluation

Like a Virgin- Angela
In this monologue I wanted to show that even though Angela was ill, she was still a typical teenager. I did this by having my arms folded and my posture was slightly hunched this not only showed that Angela is a typical teenager, but she's also quite vulnerable. I also used my voice to show the different emotions that Angela was feeling. For example when I say 'What have I done that's so bloody wrong?' I projected my voice to show that she was angry and upset. Where was when I said 'I don't know why...but I am' I said quietly and turned away from the person I was talking to and looked down. I did this to show she doesn't understand why she's got the illness and she's now come to the realisation that she's going to die.
I use certain words and lines in the speech to show high tension and climatic sections of the monologue, for example when I say 'look at you you're pathetic, just standing their not wanting to say anything incase you hurt my feelings' I said standing close to the girl I was speaking to, whereas when I said, 'no you go I don't feel up to it' I said far away from the girl. I did this to show my different emotions in the monologue and to show different states of tension, when my character was angry I would move close to her and when things were less tense, or when she was talking to herself I would be further away, this represented that she is isolated from her and society because of her illness.
I tried to show the setting of where I was by the way I moved around and when I sat on the chair emphasised the fact that it was in her bedroom. I also sat on the chair to show that my character was reflecting on what she should be doing.
To show Angela was from a middle class family, I made sure my posture was slightly hunched and slightly dragging her feet to reinforce this. I also shortened words to show that she's not from a high class family and that she doesn't properly pronounce her words and shortens them showing that she's middle class and a teenager.
By turning my back quite often to the person who I was speaking to showed that my character is quite moody and doesn't really care about her feelings and that she's the one who is most important in this monologue, even though the person who she is speaking to is her best friend. This shows the audience just how having this illness has effected her.

Star-Spangled Girl- Sophie
I think I made my character believable in my audition. One of the ways I did this was by having an accent. Seeing as Sophie is from Southern America I had a Southern American accent. Which I think worked really well. I made this accent believable by changing words like 'my' to 'mah' which is what a person from Southern American says it like. I also thought it worked well having a chair in my monologue, by doing this it showed the audience that I was talking directly to someone in front of me and showed that we were both in an environment where we would be sitting down.
My character Sophie is quite well mannered. polite and lady like. So to show this I made sure my posture was upright and poised (contrasting with my other characters posture). I also used my facial expressions to show my disgust with the man i'm talking to. But also by not showing many emotions on my face, it makes the piece more comic to watch.
I made sure I knew when the comic bits in my piece were so I could leave some pauses for laughs to add to the comic effect of the piece and also for the audience to hear what i'm saying.

Improvisation

In our exam we will be given a short improvisation task that we have to perform with another actor. In preparation for this we made up a situation that our character might be in after our monologue takes place. We then had to explain the situation with another member of the group for one minute and then begin the improvisation. By doing this we used our imaginations and improved on our impov techniques to know what it would be like in the real audition

Like a virgin monologue-Angela

Star Spangled Girl Monologue

Sophie: Mr.Cornell, Ah have tried to be neighborly, Ah have tried to be friendly and Ah have tried to be cordial...Ah don't know what it is that you're trying to be. That first night Ah was appreciative that you carried mah trunk up the stairs...The fact that it slipped and fell five flights and smashed to pieces was not your fault...Ah didn't even mind the personal message you painted on the stairs. Ah thought it was crazy, but sorta sweet. However, things have now gone too far...Ah cannot accept gifts from a man Ah hardly know...Especially canned goods. And Ah read your little note. Ah can guess the gist of it even though Ah don't speak Italian. This has got to stop, Mr. Cornell. Ah can do very well without you leavin' little chocolate-almond Hershey bars in mah mailbox-they melted yesterday, and now Ah got three gooey letters from home with nuts in 'em-and Ah can do without you sneakin' into mah apartment after Ah go to work and paintin' mah balcony without tellin' me about it. Ah stepped out there yesterday and mah slippers are still glued to the floor. And Ah can do without you tying big bottles of eau de cologne to mah cat's tail. The poor thing kept swishin' it yesterday and nearly beat herself to death...And most of all, Ah can certainly do without you watchin' me get on the bus every day through that high-powered telescope. You got me so nervous the other day, Ah got on the wrong bus. In short, Mr. Cornell. And Ah don't want to have to say this again, leave me ay-lone!!!!

Exercises

Tension State:

We wanted to know in our monologues what every part of our body was doing and how it shows tension and different tension states. We did this by walking around the room in neutral walking into the free space. I decided to use my character of Sophie. I decided that all the tension would be in her face. this is due to her being naive and polite. So even though the tension in het face she tries not to show it. This could be shown through raised eyebrows to show her disparagement and the shock in her face.

Body Parts:

We then went on to a exercise where we got told which body part to lead with. We did this by walking around the room and being told what body part to lead with and also using characterisation. e.g. leading with chest, showing you're in power, looking down on lower class. You are maybe a king. 

I decided to use my character Angela for this. She's leading with her forehead because she's very forceful and powerful, but is also ill and unwell so it makes her look vulnerable.

Animal Characteristics:

We thought about what kind of animals our character would be. I decided that Sophie would be a mouse and Angela would be a cat. I decided this because Sophie is quite quiet and doesn't like to be mean to anybody and is quite polite. Angela is a cat because she can be nice, but also has a nasty streak to her when she wants to and cats are quite dominating and want attention.

Contrast-Suitability For an Audition

I think the two monologues are very suitable for an audition. I think this is because they are both very contrasting monologues. The first one I am performing is very serious and involves a lot of strong emotions such as hate, anger and sadness. Whereas the second monologue is comic and light hearted. This shows my versatility to be able to do different styles of drama.
Another contrast is accents. The first monologue is set in England, therefore i will have an English accent. Whereas in the other piece I will have a Southern American accent as my character is from Southern America. This shows that as an actor I am able to do different accents well.
I think these are suitable for an audition because of the age the characters are. One is 16 and the other is 24. Even though I am not 24 myself it is still close to my age and I could put myself in her shoes. And 16 is very close to my age so I can relate to some of the issues she is dealing with.
Although I have never experienced an illness such as leukaemia. I could relate to other issues close to this in order to get the right emotional effect I want to show. We also did a devised piece recently where I had to play a girl with Leukaemia, so in order to play that part I had to do a lot of research on the illness and how it effected a person, so I could use the knowledge I gained in that to perform the monologue convincingly.

Star Spangled Girl Plot

The second monologue i'm performing is from the play 'Star Spangled Girl' written by Neil Simon. I will be playing the role of Sophie who is 24 years old.

Sophie is an ex olympic swimmer who moves from Southern America to Northern America next door to two men, Norman and Andy. Norman fall madly in love with Sophie and invites her to write for their failing newspaper. Sophie then falls in love with Andy creating a complicated love triangle which tests the newspaper and the mens friendship.

Like a Virgin Plot

The First monologue i'm performing is from the play 'like a virgin' by Gordon Steel. I will be playing the role of Angela who is 16 years old.

The play follows the lives of two teenage girls, Maxine and Angela. Who are both in love with Madonna and are quite reckless and herself and Maxine get in to trouble a lot at school. Maxine wants it to be the same like it did in the old days before Angela had leukaemia, but Angela doesn't feel the same. She already has to deal with her parents break up. But now has to live with this new illness.

Character Profile-Star Spangled Girl

Sophie

• 24 years old 
• From Southern America 
• Ex olympic swimmer
• moves to North America
• Innocent and polite manners  

Like a Virgin-Character Profile

Angela

• 16 years old
• Loves Madonna
• Reckless and a trouble maker at school
• Mum and dad have broken up
• Is diagnosed with leukaemia during the play
• Stereotypical teenage girl, during most of the play.

Monologue Exercises

Exercise 1:
We used an exercise in class where we walked around the room reading our monologues aloud and when we got to a punctuation marking such as a full stop or a question mark we had to turn 90 degrees and then carry on. This told us where all the breaks where in the monologue and by doing this it helped us get a better understanding of where the tension was in the piece. For example my Like a Virgin monologue start of with lot of punctuation this is telling me that my character is quite angry and the tension would be high in this part of my monologue.

Exercise 2:
We then had to repeat the same excercise, but this time we had to read the sentence before we walked, picked out one word that stood out to us and then did an action when we got to that word. For example in Star spangled girl when I said 'My cat's tail' I did a gesture of me with my hand on my chest emphasising the 'my' of the sentence. This helped us see what words we should emphasise in our monologues to give us a better understanding of what the character might be feeling.

Exercise 3:
We then all stood in a line and read our monologues aloud. As we walked forward we had to move our bodies up and down depending on the tension at that point in the monologue. so for example in 'like a virgin' it starts of very tense so to show this I started on my tip toes, as the tension fell I got closer to the floor until the end when the tension builds again and I finished on my tip toes. By doinf this it gave me a better understanding of exactly where the tension rose and fell in my monologue and exactly how much tension their was.

Monologue Preparation

Audition Requirements-Mountview, Academy of Theatre Arts.