How to Act a Monologue Part 1

Acting a monologue is, in my opinion, one of the toughest elements of the actor’s technique. I often look over people’s monologues on YouTube for sadist/masochistic fun. I see the same problems over and over.

They seem very uniform all the way through in terms of pace and the amount of energy used. They include desperate emoting of generalised states. We often see tyrannosaurus rex arms (arms flapping about as the gestural system is unmotivated by anything real to do). They usually have a very ‘acted’ feeling.

‘Acted’ is not the required effect.  Entirely believable is the required effect, the audience want the opportunity to believe you are the character, so sensing the presence of your acting will ruin that illusion in your monologue.

The first decision when acting a monologue is WHO are they speaking to? Whom the character is speaking to in their monologue changes how they behave.

• Themselves

• An individual who is present

• An individual who is not present

• A group or crowd present

• A group of crowd who are not present

• God or Some Other Unseen Power

• The Audience or An Audience

And are they speaking the monologue to that person as:

• A friend?

• A family member?

• A stranger?

• A parent?

• An employer?

• An authority figure?

• An inferior/superior?  

How your character views the person they are speaking to changes their behaviour towards that person. So work out WHO they are speaking to and what type of relationship the character has to that person.

For an example, let’s look at Sonya’s monologue at the end of Uncle Vanya. Prior to this Serebryakov, Vanya’s brother in law has announced that he’s going to sell the home and estate that Vanya and the rest of the family have worked so hard to keep afloat. Now, with Serebryakov and his entourage returning to Moscow, Sonya speaks to her uncle as they return to balancing the books and paying the bills.

Who is she speaking to and what is her relationship to them?

She is speaking to an individual present, her Uncle Vanya, and depending upon your feelings about the scene, she is either speaking to him as a friend, or as a much loved family member.

Next answer some simple scene analysis questions:

What is your character’s dramatic action? - in other words what does the writer have your character doing on a dramatic level throughout the speech. 

Why is she doing that? What does she want her Uncle to do? Link what the writer has the character dramatically doing with why the character is doing it.

What’s the obstacle to her achieving that? What in the other character is preventing Sonya from achieving what she wants?

Answer those questions for this monologue and I’ll catch you tomorrow with the answers and the next step in acting a monologue.