What Makes a Good Monologue?

Video Transcript

"Good day. I'm Dr. Charles Grimes, and I'm speaking today on behalf of Expert Village about finding a theatrical monologue for use in auditions. What makes a good monologue? First, the monologue has to has lively and colorful language, so that when the directors hear it, they have something to listen to. Second, the character has to speak in ways that reveal his or her personality. You're looking for a personality going through a problem who speaks in ways that are representative of who he or she really is. Third, the character is speaking to get something done. He or she has a want, an action, an objective, a desire...if you're an actor, you've heard these words. If not, they make simple sense. The character has to want to do something with those bunch of words. If they fail, their life will be ruined, or their day will be ruined at the very least. If you care to think about Hamlet's monologue, where he decides to think about killing himself or not killing himself, or going after Claudius or not going after Claudius, he makes a decision in his mind, and by the end of the monologue, we know what the decision is. That feeling of completeness is something you need from a good monologue. In every good monologue, there's a beginning, a middle and an end. A stunningly obvious statement, which means that in the beginning, a problem is introduced, a goal is announced. In the middle, this goal is carried through and fought for with tactics and objectives, and it ends and we know whether the character has achieved or not achieved his objective. Everything in the monologue has to be self explanatory. Nothing can refer back to things in the play that don't make sense if you haven't read the whole play. Finally, you should not choose a monologue where you have to stretch and become someone you wouldn't be cast as, someone that would be a challenge for you to become. Save that for your acting class or your outside work. Pick something that makes sense for you right now."