any acting tips for a monologue?

Question

im doing a monologue for my drama class as an assignment and i am having trouble figuring out whether the way im saying it is good or not and any tips i could use for performance

Answer 1

Do you have a director? If so, this is a question that should go only to him or her.

If you have to direct yourself, asking for help is a great idea!

Pick three points at which you will look during your performance. Look at them. Don't look all over the place; it lessens the power of any performance.

Give yourself time. Speak slowly and clearly. There's a huge temptation to rush a monologue. DON'T. Find the pacing of the play and follow it.

Vary the speed of your lines.

Vary your pitch and emphasis patterns.

Really give yourself time to think the thoughts the character is thinking that cause her to say what she says. Thinking doesn't need to be slow, and may happen while you're talking, but you really need to be thinking character thoughts.

Of course, to do all this while speaking lines someone else has written, you need to truly own your lines as well as you own your name and birthdate and other things you say without thinking.

I just gave someone else a whole list of tips on line learning. Her question was about any tips for learning lines, or something like that, so you can go find it and read my answer to her. That way I don't have to say all that twice. Feel free to email me (click on the name under my avatar for an email link) about this, if you like.

Answer 2

Good luck with your monologue. Here are some tips that I do before I start.
1. Relax before the actual reading. Nothing is worse than giving a stiff reading all because of nerves.
2. Take a deep breath before starting. This allows you to clear your head and get into the state that your character is in. It allows lets your audience know when you begin (after the breath).
3. DO NOT stand still. Try to add movement to make your monologue visually appealing. You don't have to walk excessively around the area, but simple shifts of weights, steps forward or back, or even hand gestures will be sufficient. If you stay still, the audience will be bored and you will most likely sound boring.
4. DO NOT be monotonous. I believe you asked this question later. Nothing ruins a perfect monologue than a monotonous tone. Add inflictions, pauses, raises. This add spice to your show. Nobody likes a boring cookie; you have to add chocolates, icings, cinnamon, raisins, you get the idea. Changes in your pitch add flavor. The only reason to be monotonous is to demonstrate that you have memorized the words or if your character is in that situation, which i doubt (even if he/she is, you should try taking a different approach so you could add inflictions.)
4. Do not come over too headstrong. I mean don't overact, be too serious, play up a joke too much, or do anything out of the ordinary. The monologue is to demonstrate how well you can portray a role and see if you can make a character come to life. Extreme emotions are rarely expressed in normal life, so why would you add it to the monologue?
5. Once you are finished, wait three seconds, go into the neutral stance (feet at shoulder length, high posture), and say scene. This allows the audience to know you are finished and the pause lets then take a small breather from your absolutely stellar performance

Don't worry if you don't think you'll sound good. It's not up to you to decide. You may feel you have done a terrible job, but the audience may feel you have really connect with your character. As long as you follows the steps above and don't do anything stupid, your performance ability is determined by the audience. If you are desperate for feedback, try videotaping your monologue and post it on youtube.com that way people (such as myself) can critique it and and help you further progress your monologue. I hope your monologue will be successful and I hope I helped you in some sort of fashion. Good luck!

Answer 3

You dont say a monologue, you act it. A monologue is a character's reaction to stimuli in the scene. Speak it as the character's reaction to that stimuli that makes her speak.

Answer 4

Just remember to use a lot of movement, that doesn't mean pace back in forth, keep your feet planted and use your upper body to portray your feelings. worry about how your audience is going to recieve the words. good luck, hope that helps.
a Fellow actress.

Answer 5

how about angelina jolie's scene where she recites the poem in girl interrupted????? think you can get away with the whole speech.

the girls' closing speech in Our Town


if your really ambitious try sally kellerman's screaming tirade in MASH when she yells at Henry after the guys tear down the walls while she's in the shower. that was kellerman's audition and she nailed the first take.

Answer 6

bary your tone of voice. read the text several times and try to understand it. If possible, learn it by heart and think about the emotions the person would have.