Tips for Performing your Best Monologue
Just about every actor will need to learn the difficult skill of how to perform a monologue. It’s actually quite rare to find monologues in plays or films. In the vast majority of cases, actors need monologues for audition scenarios. Whether you are auditioning for drama school, or for a theatre production, you will need to perfect your monologue skills.
Monologues can be quite strange for actors. Most acting techniques are about reacting to the world and characters that are around you. With an audition monologue, you are alone on stage either imagining your scene partner or expressing your character’s thought process to the audience.
Auditions can be terrifying at the best of times. When you are asked to perform a monologue for your audition, it’s easy to feel completely daunted and overwhelmed. This guide is here to help you through the entire process. We’ll explain how to choose an appropriate monologue, how to prepare a monologue properly, and finally how to perform the monologue like a pro. At each stage, we’ll give you helpful tips and tricks that you can use for any monologue.
Choosing your Monologue
If you have been asked to choose a monologue, it can be hard to know where to begin. In order to show off your acting skills to the director of the production, you will need to choose your monologue carefully and intelligently. Here are a few helpful questions you can ask yourself to make your choice.
Classical vs Contemporary
Most directors will specify whether they require a classical or a contemporary monologue. The type of monologue you are asked to perform usually depends on the play you are auditioning for. Classical generally refers to anything that dates back to before the early twentieth century, while contemporary refers to plays written in the twentieth century of after. In most cases, you assume contemporary means the script was written in the last 20-30 years.
In most cases, directors who ask for contemporary monologues will prefer the speech comes from a play written in the last 20 or 30 years. Classical monologues are generally requested when you audition for a classical production.
If you want to show off your ability to work with a certain type of language, it’s always best to research the play you are auditioning for. Try to find a monologue written in the same period. For instance, if you’re auditioning for a Shakespeare production, you probably won’t do yourself any favours by selecting a ‘classical’ piece written in 1890.
Is the Monologue Too Popular?
Unfortunately, lots of great monologues are overdone by actors. No matter how well you perform the piece, if the director has already seen it a dozen times, you might end up reminding them of other performances. Try to find a relatively unknown monologue to keep the audition panel as engaged and attentive as you can while you perform.
What is your Playing Age?
Ask yourself how old you can play. Try to avoid choosing monologues written for a character outside of your playable age bracket as this can be off-putting and distracting for the panel.
What is your Casting Type?
Knowing your ‘type’ is vital. Casting type is essentially the type of role you are best suited to. For instance, some young actors will be suited to playing conniving tricksters, while others will be better suited to playing the romantic lead.
While these character stereotypes are usually reductive, they can be helpful in the monologue selection process. By choosing a monologue that fits into your ‘type’, you will likely show yourself off in the best possible (and most castable) light.
How Long is the Monologue?
Try to keep your monologue within the 1 minute to 2 minute range. Anything longer may be cut off by the director, while anything shorter probably won’t give the director time to take in your performance.
Does the Monologue Complement the Role You are Auditioning For?
Try to find a monologue that hints at the character you are auditioning for. For instance, if your character goes through a traumatic journey, finding a monologue that illustrates your ability to portray similar emotions will give you bonus points.
Does the Monologue Show Off a Diverse Range of Acting Skills?
Ensure that your monologue shows off a range of emotional states and levels. In the short space of time you have to show off your acting skills, you want to demonstrate your versatility. If the monologue seems to be one-note, question whether you can give the scene an arc and an emotional journey for the character. If you can’t, you might consider finding another speech with more emotional shifts and variation.
Why Every Actor Needs a Few Monologues Ready to Go
Ideally, you will be able to choose a range of appropriate monologues to prepare and learn well before any audition. Having a store of monologue options ready to go will save you lots of hassle and worry in the future.
Try to compile a collection of both classical and contemporary monologues to draw upon when you may need them. Every time you see a play with a good monologue, make note of it so you can use it in the future.
If you’re struggling to find monologues for auditions, try browsing through scripts at your local theatre bookstore. The National Theatre and The Royal Court both have excellent bookshops filled with newly published plays where you’ll find unusual, rare monologues.
Preparing your Monologue
Once you’ve selected a monologue, the next stage is monologue preparation. There is no one way to prepare a monologue, but there are a few tools you can use to feel comfortable and ready to show your piece to an audition panel.
Read the Full Script
In order to portray the character in the monologue, you will need to read the entire script. You will find valuable hints about your character in other parts of the script. You’ll also be able to understand the context of the monologue in much more detail. For a nuanced, detailed performance, reading the full script is essential.
Understand the Context
Ask yourself what the given circumstances of the monologue are. Where does it take place? What time is it? Who is there? What has just happened? What is your character’s emotional state? If your character is speaking to a scene partner, who are they and what is the nature of your relationship with them?
Understanding your character’s given circumstances is vital. You need to be able to drop straight into your character’s state of mind at the beginning of the monologue and embodying these circumstances will help.
Textual Analysis - Find an Objective
Use your favourite textual analysis tools to analyse the monologue text. If you’re completely lost as to how to break down a monologue, start by finding a Stanislavskian objective. Ask yourself what your character wants and how they will get it. This will usually involve affecting change in your scene partner by using various tactics throughout the speech.
For instance, if your objective in the monologue is to make your scene partner fall in love with you, your tactics might include seducing them, flattering them, enthralling them, and so on. You’ll find an excellent guide to actionable tactics to use in the book Actions: The Actor’s Thesaurus. It’s a must-have for any actor’s library.
Some monologues do not involve a scene partner. Many of Shakespeare’s monologues, for instance, are soliloquies. In this type of monologue, the character is voicing their inner monologue to the audience. The objective in this type of piece usually involves working out a personal problem and coming up with an actionable solution.
What is your Character’s Thought Process
In order to perform the monologue well, you will need to understand the character’s thought process. Decide where each new idea comes from. Is it a look in your invisible scene partner’s eyes? Or is it a sudden memory? Or is it a thought based on the previous thought?
By tracing your character’s thought process, you’ll be able to live inside the monologue and discover the character’s thoughts in real time. Acting through the character’s thoughts as opposed to just their words will make the monologue feel much more realistic and truthful. If the monologue has a difficult emotional climax, this thought process will help you reach it without pushing or forcing your emotions.
Learn Your Lines
The best way to learn lines is actually very simple, though it’s not much fun. To make sure your lines are deeply ingrained in your mind, repetition is key. You will need to repeat the monologue over and over and over again until it has become second nature.
During the audition, your nerves may get the better of you. Many actors struggle with remembering their lines during auditions due to the heightened adrenaline and stress in the body. Practice saying the monologue out loud in a variety of ways. Say them with no feeling, then with feeling, then quickly, then slowly. By switching up the way you repeat the lines, you will be less likely to forget them in any circumstance.
If you’ll be using an accent other than your native accent for the monologue, learn the lines in this accent rather than your own. It can be very hard to change accents once the lines are learnt.
Monologue Preparation Exercises
There are a few monologue preparation exercises that you can try in order to reveal the character’s thought process and to keep the words organic and spontaneous.
- Changing direction with each thought – Walk around the room speaking the lines of your monologue. With each change of thought, turn and walk in a new direction. You may discover some complexities in the character’s emotional and intellectual journey.
- Synonyms and consonants – Speak only the consonants then only the synonyms. Then combine both and speak the monologue normally. This exercise may reveal some words and phrases you had overlooked before. You may also find a new way to use the words to convey your emotion.
- Create memories for the character – If your character speaks about a memory in the monologue, imagine this memory in detail. When you recall the memory in the performance of the monologue, you will have a ‘real’ image to think of and describe.
Practice Delivering the Speech Out Loud
While this may seem like obvious advice, a surprising number of actors only ever practice their monologue in their head. The importance of practicing monologues out loud is huge. Once you’ve done the analysis and line-learning, be sure to practice delivering the speech out loud as though you were in the audition room.
While practicing the monologue, be sure to practice entering the given circumstances quickly. Find a technique that helps you to drop straight in. You may find that a particular song helps you get in the right mood, or you might find a certain breathing technique helps you.
Performing you Monologue
When the audition day finally arrives, you will (hopefully) feel ready to present your monologue. The big day shouldn’t involve any last-minute line-learning or character decisions. Instead, the immediate lead up should be about warming up, concentrating, and relaxing so that you can give the best performance you can. Here are some tips on how to approach the performance of your monologue.
Warm-Up Before the Audition
In the morning before your audition, take some time to do a physical and vocal warm-up. Breathing exercises can help to calm the nerves and ground the body.
Get Into Character
While some actors like to spend a few hours getting in a certain state of mind prior to an audition, others can easily find the character in the second before they start the monologue. Find out which technique is best for you.
Make a Professional Entrance
The few minutes you have in the audition room prior to the monologue are not to be overlooked. Be professional and confident before you begin the speech.
Avoid Delivering the Monologue to Anyone in the Panel
When delivering the monologue avoid making eye contact with anyone on the panel. Locking eyes with someone on the panel can make them feel uncomfortable and will distract them from watching your monologue objectively. Instead, choose a spot on the wall behind them and do your best to imagine a scene partner there.
Don’t Panic If You Make a Mistake
Mistakes happen, what matters is how you deal with them. If you mess up a line or forget what comes next, deal with it in a professional and calm manner. Try to get back into the monologue as quickly as possible. If you need to, ask if you can start from the beginning. Try not to harp on your mistake as this will affect the rest of your performance.
Be Prepared to Take Direction
Many directors will want to see a slightly different version of your monologue. They may also want to see how well you adapt when given direction. Take direction as an opportunity to show how you work in a rehearsal room. Be playful and experimental with the monologue. Enjoy exploring other options.
Final Thoughts
Very few actors can honestly say they enjoy presenting monologues in auditions. However, if you prepare the monologue well, you will find the experience much less harrowing. Hopefully, you can reach a point where you are so comfortable with the monologue that is no longer scary to perform.
