Shakespeare Monologue Festival
for Students Grades 6-9

March 17, 2011

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

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Guidelines for Students

This festival is designed to help you understand a passage from Shakespeare. As you learn your monologue, you will be both director and actor. You need to learn all about this character. Once you do, the words you speak and the actions you use will show what this person wants in this moment.

Choosing a monologue

• You should choose a piece that is no more than 25 lines (or can be cut to 25 lines, but still maintaining the sense and the action of the piece). 
  
  
• Choose a character that speaks to you; you should have a compelling reason to inhabit the character.  Is it the character’s situation?  It is attributes of the character’s persona?  Would you be comfortable playing this person?  Is this character appropriate for you?
   
  
• You should discuss different plays and character options with your teacher.
  
  
• Ideally, the piece should be driven by what the character needs and will forwards the action of the play. Avoid prologues and epilogues—they are not very active as they are narrative in nature or are summations of action.

Working on the text

• You must read the entire play!  You need to understand the journey of the character from the beginning of the play to the end.  The monologue is one point on that journey—and you want to know where the character is on the progression to the end.
  
  
• Then, you should be very specific in your analysis of the character.  Who is this person?  What is s/he trying to get throughout the play? What does s/he want in the moment of this monologue?  What gets in the way (is it an external conflict or an internal conflict?)?
    
  
• The text will provide you with the answers; be a detective and search for the clues that will illuminate the character!
  
  
• Watch a version of the play on film, if you have the opportunity.  This can give you a sense of how the text looks off the page.

Preparing for Performance

• You will need to memorize the piece, but it is not a good idea to memorize the piece until you know what the text means.
  
  
• Make sure you know what each word means—use the dictionary and the Shakespeare Lexicon or Glossary for text that is not clear.  
  
  
• “Translate” your piece into modern speech; this will help you to connect to the text. Write out in your language what the character is saying—be as specific as possible.
  
  
• Who is your character (king, queen, fool, lawyer, servant)?  What is their status?  How can you make the audience understand who the character is by the use of your body and voice?
  
  
• Create your “moment before”; what happens to the character right before s/he starts speaking? How can you create that moment?  You must know why you are speaking before you start.
   
• Where are you (specifically)?  This can often be established in your “moment before.”  Is this a public place or a private place?  Familiar or unfamiliar?  Indoors or outdoors?  Formal or informal?
  
  
• Who are you talking to (specifically)?  Is it one person or many people?  What is the difference between addressing one person or addressing several or many people? How does it change what you do?  Are you ‘breaking the fourth wall’ and addressing the audience? 
  
  
• What do you want (ie: what is your objective) from the person/people you are speaking to—and what will you do (how will you use both text and vocal/ physical action) to get what you want? What is the “moment after”?  Just as there is a moment before you start speaking, there is a moment after—what happens when you stop speaking?  Have you achieved what you wanted (your objective) or not? How does that moment resonate? 
  
  
• Remember that while the actor has memorized the speech, the character has not.  All these words are new ideas—they are being spoken for the first time by the character.  This sense of discovery is very exciting for the audience, so you have to create that sense of the first time.  Remember not to play the end of the piece—just as the character has not pre-planned what they are saying, the character also does not know the outcome.
  
  
• Take risks!  As actors, our bodies and our voices are our main tools; don’t be afraid to experiment with physical and vocal action.  Our voices can be wonderfully expressive; we can use pitch, pace, tone color and imagery.  However, please your own voice—stay away from dialects (just because Shakespeare was a British playwright does not mean you need to pull out your British accent! J). 
  
  
• Our bodies are also useful—and physical actions are often worth 1000 words.  In fact, an action can often make the words make more sense to the audience!  In other words, don’t just stand there talking during the monologue—acting means “to do.”  Make sure you are doing something.  BUT, make sure it is motivated movement or actions.  Many young actors have a tendency to wander around the stage.  Movement should be connected to the text.  Often, Shakespeare gives us clues as to what the physical action should be—if the character says ‘I kneel before you’—that is a big clue that you should be kneeling!
  
  
• Work on breathing—the breath is connected to the text and the punctuation.  Make sure you know where you can breathe, so the text makes sense.

Performing the piece

• Before you begin your piece, you should introduce yourself, the character and the title of the play (no synopsis of action, please).  For example: ‘Hello, my name is Jane Smith and this is Viola from Twelfth Night.’ Then begin! 
  
  
• Take your time, take a deep breath between your introduction and the start of the piece—take the time to remember who you are, where you are etc.
  
  
• You may use props, if needed (ie: the ring in Viola’s speech or the letter in Julia’s speech), but you do not want to bring lots of items that will burden you or that will be difficult to deal with—just use what will help the audience to understand what is happening and what will help connect you to the character. 
  
  
• Dress:  you do not need to come in costume, of course.  However, you will want to wear something that will help you feel like the character and help the audience understand something about you.  For example, if you are playing a Queen, jeans and a tee-shirt might not be a good choice, but a dress and heels would.  Or, if you are playing Viola or Rosalind when they are dressed as boys, wearing pants and a hat to cover long hair would make sense. 
  
  
• Most importantly, enjoy yourself and embrace the moment!

It sounds like a big job! To help you polish your monologue, Imagination Stage will hold a workshop a week or two prior to the contest for those students registered for the festival.

Dress

You may not wear a costume. You should think, though, about the sorts of clothing your character would wear. It might be difficult to be Helena in slacks; Caliban probably wouldn't wear a blazer and khakis. Choose clothing that will help you move freely and will allow you to inhabit the part. Don't wear anything that will make you or others feel uncomfortable.

Eligibility

You must be enrolled in the 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th grade in a public, private, or parochial school. You must not be a professional or semi-professional actor (here defined as a person who has received, or is scheduled to receive, payment for a professional or semi-professional acting performance during the school year in which the festival occurs.)

If you are in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, and you are a permanent resident of the United States, you should consider the competition sponsored by the English-Speaking Union.

Sponsored by the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies and Imagination Stage.