Help me find an actable moment or fill in a beat in my monologue!!?

Question

I'm playing the stage manager, or narrator from Our Town. In this monologue I'm introducing our town and what's on there. The main problem I'm having with this monologue is that it's so dry and boring theres no blocking or movement I can make! For example, "Across the tracks is--Polish Town. You know, foreign people that come here to work in the mill. (Beat) The Congregational Church is over there; Presbyterian's across the street. Methodist and Unitarian are over there. Baptist is down in the holla-by the river.(Beat)" Its so dry and boring theres nothing I can do! And I can't indicate because thats a big acting no-no. Please help!!! What should I do?

Answer 1

I agree with all the others here. You really need to be thankful you got such a role and you need to find inspiration for performing it. I think the Stage Manager is an awesome role. He (sometimes she!) knows EVERYTHING! In fact he does indicate. He may not point to everything, but he looks that way, he may in fact point in one or two directions, or nod... get a hat, some glasses, a pipe, anything that will give you some character. if you can't do it justice, give it to someone who really wants it. Such a shame to have such a great role go to waste. If you think it's dry and boring then your whole audience will feel that way because that's how you will deliver it. This is YOUR town, and you're telling the audience about it. You care about it and the people who live there and what happens to them.

You can do this. Get over yourself and read the story. Maybe you'll learn your importance and how much faith the director put in you by casting you as the Stage Manager.

You can do it

Answer 2

The reason it is boring is because you feel that way about it. And if you feel that way about it, it will always be boring, not only to you, but also to those who watch you perform.

As English Teacher said, you have to do your homework. The script will give you the lines and the director might give you some direction, but YOU have to do the rest. You have to fill in the blanks and create the rest of the character? English Teacher gave you some of the questions already that you could ask yourself. Create this person.
How old is he?
Where did he grow up?
What did he do before he became a stage manager?
What does he do to socialize?
Who are his friends?
What kind of character/personality does he have?
What kinds of things does he like/dislike?
What upsets him?
How does he feel about those Polish people and about the mill?
How does he like living in the town where he lives?
Does he actually go to one of those churches he talks about?
Does he have an opinion about them and about the people who go there?
Who is he talking to and what is his relationship with those people?
Why is HE (not you) saying those lines?
How does he FEEL about what he is saying?

Now, I've given you a lot of possible questions you could ask yourself and I'm NOT saying that at your age and level of experience you need to try and develop answers to all those questions. What I am saying is that having an opinion AS THE CHARACTER will make you not even have to think about HOW to say something. The tone of your voice and the way THE CHARACTER feels about what he is saying will automatically come through.

Go to my site for new actors and download the ebook How To Start An Acting Career: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acs-blog.html . On the right column you will need to sign in and then you can download it. What you will find in it, among other things, are about 10 different acting method creators. Start to investigate some of them.

Then, if you really want to continue acting you will need to start taking classes. If you had been doing that with a good teacher, he or she would have been able to answer that question for you.

One last thing about acting classes that I haven't put in the ebook. Here you'll find 23 advantages to taking classes: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/taking_acting_classes.html

Good luck!

Tony
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acs-blog.html

Answer 3

The Stage Manager is written to be conversational. Think of the beats as him trying to think of the next bit of information to impart. It's like when you're explaining several parts of a certain subject -- you occasionally have pauses while you think of what to say next.

And it's NOT "dry and boring" -- this is Wilder's way of setting the scene and giving the audience a glimpse of New England life. Trust me, the play is brilliant -- it's all about how we humans don't really appreciate life while we're living it, and how we generally don't live "in the moment". Powerful stuff in the 1930s, and even more applicable in today's world of fast technology and people running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get all the "important" stuff taken care of.

Anyway, "Our Town" is not like a splashy musical -- it's not over-the-top. It's quiet and restrained much of the time, so don't feel like it needs to be made exciting. The only really passionate part is Emily's aching farewell to life in Act 3.

I strongly recommend you get one of the productions available on DVD -- either the 1970s TV production with Hal Holbrook, or the 1990s production with Paul Newman. [The Holbrook is better.] Avoid the 1940s feature film -- they gave it a wretched happy ending that Wilder detested.

I hope you enjoy the project. This really is one of the most human plays you'll ever have the pleasure of doing.

Answer 4

The stage manager is a very important character in Our Town. Your monologue is establishing the setting of the story. You must learn who your character is, his own background, his mannerisms, his accent (northeast - Vermont, Maine) Respect the character! Discover his motivation, intentions and actions. ACT as if you enjoy it.