Shakespeare Monologue Festival
for Students Grades 6-9

February 12, 2009
1:00 pm - Arrive at Imagination Stage
1:15 pm - Warm-Up for All Contestants
1:30 pm - Monologue Festival Begins
Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD
(click here for directions and parking information)

Home | Guidelines for Coordinators | Guidelines for Students | Suggested Monologues
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Suggested Monologues

Judges and teachers familiar with this program suggest the following passages. We strongly encourage participants to select a monologue from this list.  However, if you would like to perform a monologue that is not on the list, please contact the Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies by phone (301-405-6830) or by e-mail (crbs@umd.edu) to confirm that the piece is appropriate and acceptable for the festival.  Other monologues that have been successful were selected 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: Guidelines on this website diverge from those used by the English Speaking Union at the high school level.

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