Performing A Monologue - 11/12/14

To begin the lesson, we got into pairs and performed our monologues to each other. From this, we were able to give each other advice on how to improve the staging, body movements and voice expression. This helped us to quickly change parts of our monologue to improve it so that it was better for when we performed it to the class. I chose to start and end my monologue slouched down by a wall. However, in between this, I would walk around the room slightly. I wanted to show that my character was extremely lost and alone. Also, I needed to show that he had done something wrong and that he regretted it. I started very quiet, increased the sound of my voice, but ended very quietly too. This was to show that I was confused and didn't really know who I was. I felt as though writing this monologue helped me to get a deeper understanding as to who the character was. I was able to interpret him in ways that other people might not have. It helped me to fully figure out how the character was feeling and the reasons for it. I really enjoyed writing this monologue as it helped to develop my writing and theatrical skills.
When watching my peers' work, I thought that they were all very good and I could see that everyone put a lot of effort into writing and performing them. I especially liked Michelle's monologue. She wrote from the perspective of the woman who was being abused by her partner. I felt that Michelle had taken a lot of time to write her monologue as it was very dramatic and full of emotion. One of the quotes she used in her monologue was "If you put a frog in boiling water, it will quickly jump out - but if you put a frog in cold water and slowly raise the temperature, it will eventually die". I really like this quote as she compared it to domestic abuse. I thought that this was good as it gave a better insight on what some people see violence and abuse as. She used facial expressions to show her emotions and you could tell that she was upset and on breaking point by listening to her voice. I think that Michelle's monologue was very successful.