Theatre is a beautiful hobby to have, the ability to transform into someone or something else to appease an audience. As a child, I was always performing reenactments of popular Disney movies and casting family to do certain roles as I acted in front of them. I had a dream for the stage and when I entered High School I got into theatre. I have done full two act plays, one act plays, musicals, voice acting, vignettes and I continue to do more as I find time. As a STEM major, I use theatre as an outlet for my emotions and to free myself creatively. Sometimes it is nice to act as another person and harness their character, especially when your life is filled with research and papers. I use it as a release and I encourage people to give it a shot, you never know if you have a knack for something unless you try! Monologues are a crucial element of theatre, a monologue is defined from Study.com as “A monologue is a lengthy speech given by one character in theatrical work, movie, or literary work. Monologues are addressed to other characters in the literary work”. Monologues are how most directors first get a glimpse into your acting prowess but also how you work, your emotion range, your feelings. I say that performing a monologue in front of someone is one of the most emotional and vulnerable experiences you can have. Here are some tips and tricks on how to prepare for your audition, more specifically an audition with a monologue.
- Find a monologue that matches the tone
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Most auditions, specifically at Virginia Tech, ask for a monologue that is 1-2 minutes but it can vary. My first recommendation is if you are taking a theatre class or know faculty in theatre, I would recommend using them as a resource. They have experience and expertise like no other and if they have a personal connection to you or know your project they can help work on the monologue; sometimes giving thoughts on specific ways to pronounce words or certain personality shifts that can be used. There are also monologue websites and even books! The monologue websites I find useful are: Monologue Archive , StageMilk , Daily Actor . These websites have an array of genres that you can choose from for monologue books you can find on websites such as Amazon. As you choose your monologue make sure to tailor it to the theme or genre I like to say, so that they can picture you in that role.
- Read/Research the playwrights work
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The performance that you are preparing to audition for is important, but what’s more important is understanding the playwright’s intention. I like to look at their past stories, look through the genres of work they have done. Some playwrights even put in their notes of the character how they visualize the character or how they sound. Playwrights leave clues in all their work of their writing style or their characterization; you can use that to your advantage as you perform your monologue.
- Practice!
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Before you go you should practice your monologue. Some auditions prefer you to have a memorized monologue while others do not. I recommend you should at least have some gist of the monologue memorized so that you do not have to stare at the piece as you read and act it. Sometimes you focus on reading the monologue too much that you forget to act. I believe that you should break down the monologue, block parts off based on emotion shifts, mark places for silence or breath work. I have had moments where I forget to breathe so I have to take a deep breath within the monologue that makes it hard to come back by or you can continue not breathing and then you are gasping for air by the end. Make sure to have your monologue somewhat practiced.
- Understand the commitment
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Yes you have your monologue and you should be proud of picking one. It can be hard to choose just one, especially if you are indecisive like me but I recommend trusting your gut. The biggest thing is you need to figure out exactly how committed you are to the project. Most performances will highlight rehearsal dates, technical rehearsal dates, and so forth, make sure you know what you’re signing up for. Also understand not only are you committing to going to the rehearsals and performance dates, you are also going to be committing yourself to your team. A team of director(s), stage managers, actors, stage hands, and tech. You are committing to giving a piece of yourself to this, you are committing to give it your all. You are committing to showing up and also having decorum with your team and being present.
- Be Vulnerable
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I mentioned earlier that performing a monologue requires vulnerability and I need to emphasize that. You may cry, you may yell, you may have a range of emotions depending on the monologue. You need to be open to feedback, you may be asked in the middle of your monologue to change an element. It’s not supposed to discourage you but encourage you to make new choices. They want to see how dynamic you are and also if you are going to be in a production you will be critiqued but also you will be transformed. In my experience, sometimes the emotion catches up to you. I have asked in the past to restart a monologue but it is not something that you should do. Instead I recommend reorienting and continuing, show you can catch up when things get rough.
I hope that these tips have helped you at least learn something new or reorient how you think of your auditions.