1. Monologues are a fun way to practice speech and communication skills.
2. Not only would a student gain skills from memorizing and performing monologues, but they create opportunities for discussion about feelings and how to communicate emotions.
3. Monologue are excellent for children to practice memory skills as well as practice dramatic expression.
4. Communication is important to foster and stage monologues are an excellent way to encourage kids to improve their public speaking.
Learn more from professional actors in these videos:
Use the Freedrama Acting Journal to enhance your skills. How to Practice a Monologue:
1. Select a monologue that is right for you. Try to find one that fits your age and personality. If you're a 14 year old girl, don't do one about a 70 year old man. Ideally, look for a monologue that you can understand from your own experiences. For example, a monologue about sailing might be hard to connect to emotionally if you've never been on a boat.
2. Read the source. Find the play that your monologue comes from and read it to understand what is happening before and after the monologue. If you are in a competition and need to use a published play, it is good to purchase a copy of the play the monologue comes from to take with you in case the judges ask for it.
3. Who is the character? When you read the monologue and the play it comes from, look at the character more closely. Use adjectives to describe them.
4. Analyze the monologue. Break it down into parts. Find changes in tone. If you show an emotional range, it will keep it interesting. Find parts where you can show different emotions. Perhaps one part is silly and another more serious. Maybe you can show sadness in one part and anger in another. The more variety you add, the more interesting it becomes.
5. Re-read the monologue dramatically.
7. Record yourself performing the monologue and review it.
8. Next, perform for someone you feel comfortable with and get feedback.
9. Now, you're ready to perform or audition.
Short Comedic Monologue from Published Script- Female (1 minute)
Female Monologue Female from Published Play (2-3 minutes)
Male Comedy Monologue from Published Play (2+ minutes)
Monologues for Male Actors
Short Dramatic Monologue for male or female (3 minutes)
Comedic Monologue (1 minute)
Dramedy monologue- Female (2 minutes)
Short Monologue from Published Script- Female (30 seconds)
Monologue-Woman
Drama Monologue for Female (2-4 minutes)
"Second Soul"
from the book "Me in Pieces" by D. M. Larson
ISBN-13: 978-1981312054
In weakness, we find strength.
The walls must crumble before we advance.
The darkness finds us before we seek out the light.
True strength comes from loss.
The only reason I know a good life now,
is from the pain of my past.
I was ruined from within
and stripped to my final shreds of life.
But I was given a second chance to live again,
to rise up and be reborn.
Burned pure by the fire,
I rise on the wings of my second soul.
END OF MONOLOGUE
Copyright (c) 2017 All Rights Reserved
"Second Soul" is from the book of DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES called "Me in Pieces" available on Amazon.com ISBN-13: 978-1981312054 or buy a low cost PDF of the full collection at Sellfy.com "BREAKING BREAD"
by D. M. Larson
Copyright (c) 2017 All Rights Reserved
I go to church, and hide in the back in my hoodie, hoping no one will recognize me. Nobody here but the oldies and the goodies anyway. I listen, hoping to understand something the priest says. It's mostly alien to me. My family never went to church much. Just Easter and Christmas, at least until mama died. Then nobody cared anymore after that. Nobody but me.
I want something different now. I want something better. Let me unlock the key to a new life. A life that's not wasted. I don't want to waste away here like everyone else. Make me better. Make me matter. Let me make a difference.
END OF MONOLOGUE
"Breaking Bread" is from the book of DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES called "Me in Pieces" available on Amazon.com ISBN-13: 978-1981312054 or buy a low cost PDF of the full collection at Sellfy.com
When I had actors try the Demons monologue, several selected one sad or angry emotion and used it throughout which made it a boring performance. The best performances were the ones who selected different types of emotions for different parts of the script. Even though the whole monologue is sad, there are elements of anger, fear, hurting, desperation, madness and even love. The actors that found different emotions to use in different parts were the most interesting and enjoyable to listen to.
TIPS FOR NEW ACTORS ABOUT STAGE FRIGHT
The short monologues below are a good way to help you work through your stage fright if this is something you struggle with. By practicing short monologues, it can boost your confidence. Don't feel bad about being nervous. Some very famous people had stage fright: Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep and Sir Laurence Olivier.
Stage fright is a challenge a lot of people have. I've acted many times but I still get nervous right before I go on. But once I start performing I totally forget about the people and focus on my character. Focus only on your character and your story. Become that character. If you become the character, then it is this other person up there and not yourself. If you need to face the audience, don't look at anyone. Pick a point to look at in the back of the room and focus on that. Many performers (including myself) use the nervous energy and put it in their performance.
Singer Stevie Nicks explains how this helps her performance rather than hurts it. "If you have stage fright, it never goes away. But then I wonder: is the key to that magical performance because of the fear?"
Freedrama also has free monologues for teen and child actors: http://freedrama.net/small1t.html (teen) and http://freedrama.net/small1k.html (children)
These monologues are excellent for auditions, workshops, classrooms and competitions. Freedrama gives you a chance to use some new, original, fresh monologues that have not been performed over and over again. By using a monologue that isn't as familiar, you'll give the casting director a chance to enjoy the overall audition and focus on you as an individual actor.
