Understanding a Monologue

Video Transcript

"This is Dr. Charles Grimes. I'm speaking on behalf of Expert Village about analyzing a text and beginning to rehearse your monologue. Actors need to read the entire play from which their monologue comes. Please don't be lazy. Do the entire work of reading the whole play. I'm going to tell you what you should do as you read the play and why you're doing so. So, read the entire play, first, concentrating on the emotional arc of your character. What kind of things does your character go through in this play? Do they go from happy to sad? What kind of problems do they have? What ends up being their situation? Even if the character, say, dies in act two, you still have to read the entire play to pick up every last hint about who that character is and what kind of play this is. You're going to be representing the entire play up there in one minute or two minutes. So you have to know everything about the story, and what happens in it. Your presentation will serve to indicate the entire story of the play. Also, when you're talking to your friends about what monologue you're doing and getting them to help and when directors are asking you questions about what play you're working on, you need a firm grasp on what happens in that particular play. As you read for story, think of yourself as creating a biography of the character, and think of yourself as someone who tells someone else important parts of a certain person's life. That's why you read the entire play for story."