Today we are going to be working on every actor’s favorite pastime. We want to encourage young actors that even though there is no stage, they can still work on their acting abilities and have fun!
Tuesday’s Drama Exercise is…Monologues!
Ah yes, the ever-favorite monologues. Monologues may seem boring to some, but they are very important to the art of acting. Below you will find a monologue you can use for this exercise. If you feel the need to print it out, please do!
Missing Socks
My mom always told me that the reason why one sock was always missing from my pairs is because of sock gremlins. I thought it was a joke until recently. I’m telling you my socks have been disappearing more frequently than ever before! I will empty the dryer and will have two socks in my hamper, then I turn around and POOF one is missing. Oh sure, laugh at me, but you’re not the one that has to walk around with mix matched socks or no socks at all. Sometimes I even find pieces in the backyard. PIECES! Who would I even call to help with this? An exterminator? A wizard? It’s crazy! I can’t keep losing socks like this…
Now, look over the monologue and ask yourself these questions.
- Who is my character?
- Who are they talking to?
- What is happening in this monologue?
- How do you think the character feels in this monologue?
- What is the person trying to do? Are they trying to convince someone to do something? Are they trying to get away from someone?
After you have looked over the monologue and asked yourself these questions, make choices about your character. Example: my character is talking to her boss about getting a raise. So I believe she should have a nice posture and needs to be polite.
She may click her pen a lot because she is nervous. Think of what you think the character would do and do it.
Next, you will want to find a mirror and perform the monologue in front of it
This is a great way for you to see how you look while performing the piece and adjust if necessary. This exercise can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the amount of time you want to put into it.
Once you try the monologue, you can explore with new monologues that you can get from the internet, plays, or books. This can be adapted, so you can constantly use this exercise to improve your acting skills. Also recording yourself performing the monologue can help as well.
You can hear how you are saying certain words. Try this exercise out, and feel free to send us videos of you performing the monologue.
For more information on preparing monologues and different monologues, check out:
“5 Tips for Preparing a Monologue with Confidence”- https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/5-tips-for-preparing-a-monologue-with-confidence/
Monologue Archive- https://www.monologuearchive.com/
