Shakespeare Monologue Festival
for Students Grades 6-9
February 7, 2008
1:00 Arrive at Imagination Stage
1:15 Warm-Up for All Contestants
1:30 Monologue Festival
Imagination
Stage, Bethesda, MD
(click here for
directions and parking information)
Home | Guidelines
for Coordinators | Guidelines
for Students | Suggested Monologues
Student Entrant Form |
Judges' Evaluation Form
Suggested Monologues
Judges and teachers familiar with this program
suggest the following passages. You may select another monologue
from the comedies or the history plays, or a comic monologue
from a tragedy. While you may choose to perform a tragic monologue
from a tragedy, most students find that comedy works better for
this event. Monologues should not exceed 25 lines of verse
in length. Monologues generally require two minutes of performance
time.
After you have selected your monologue, prepare
your performance. Read the play. Consider your character. Who
is this person? Why does this person make this speech at this
moment? What does this person want? What do the words in the
passage tell you about the character's actions?
As you perform, you should:
- speak as naturally as possible, not with
an affected or artificial voice;
- use an accent that is your own (that
is, American speech for most students, rather than a British
accent not native to you);
- dress not in costume but in clothes that
help communicate the status of your role. You may wear a rehearsal
skirt or shoes appropriate for your character.
- use one prop, such as a letter or a ring,
if the monologue requires it.
SELECTED PASSAGES
NOTE: Contest guidelines on this website diverge from those used
at the high school level.
Sponsored by the Center for
Renaissance & Baroque Studies, Imagination
Stage, the English-Speaking
Union, and the Washington Episcopal School.
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