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BYU Theatre Education
Monologues And Auditions

Understanding Our Monologues

February 27, 2021 12:00 AM

Lesson Six: Understanding Our Monologues

Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of how culture, community, and personal beliefs impact their selection and presentation of a monologue by presenting background research on their monologue.

  • Informal. Share with a group the impact of culture, community, & personal beliefs on our art.
  • Formal. Conduct research into the background of the play from which their monologue is selected.
    • 25 pts possible.
    • Playwright, storyline of play, setting, character background; Cultural, community, societal structures/implications of the period of the play, how that affects the character
    • 15 points will be given to students based off of the depth of their research (including many, if not all, of the elements listed above), 10 points will be given for presenting their research to the class
  • Adaptations:
    • If students have monologues from the same play or playwright, they may work together. Students may present their findings to the teacher(s) instead of to the class. If students need extra time, they may continue their research at home and present at the beginning of next class.
  • Formal. Appropriate selection of second, contrasting, dramatic monologue.
    • 15 pts possible
    • Points will be given for choosing a monologue that is dramatic. Students will find this monologue on their own. Points will be taken off it is not contrasting with their first monologue. 10 points for appropriate selection, 5 points for justification
  • Adaptations:
    • If we have students who are unable to memorize a full monologue, we may have then memorize a short poem instead, or perhaps we will not require memorization. Perhaps, we will only require them to select one monologue, so they can devote all of their focus to the first piece.

Facets: Interpretation, Application, Perspective, Empathy

Standards: TH.CN.10.HSI a. Investigate how cultural perspectives, community ideas and personal beliefs impact a theatrical work. TH.CN.11.HSI b. Use basic theatre research methods to better understand the social and cultural background of a theatrical work.

Materials:Rubric https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Eay-_uAEdUntp_jyujvFwQWjiJ0UQbkeb_mf9RyH0Xc/edit?usp=sharing

 

Warm-Up Activity: Questions Only (15 Minutes)

  • Ask students to gather to the front on the class in one line.
  • Explain that we will be playing a game. At first, we will have people come up and do it in front of the class, but eventually you will get the chance to practice with a partner. Explain the game, then ask for 2 volunteers to go first.
  • This is an improv activity. It starts with one person walking up to the other and asking a question. Then the partner responds, with a question. The conversation continues, but they are only allowed to respond with questions. Explain that their goal is to find a beginning and an end to the conversation. Help them to dictate when the conversation is over. Encourage them to have a goal of about one minute.
  • After a few students have had the chance, ask everyone to turn to a partner and try the activity. Give them a one minute time limit. See if they can come up with questions.

Discussion: (5-10 Minutes)

  • Why do we ask questions?’
  • How do you find answers to the questions that you ask? What if nobody has the answer for you?
  • What are some questions that you have about your monologues?
  • Ask students to write down three questions that they have about the monologue.

Homework Check-in (5-10 minutes)

  • Were you able to find a second monologue?
  • Have students close their eyes. Ask them to raise their hands if they found a comedic monologue. Ask them to raise their hands if they tried, but couldn’t find one. Ask to raise their hands if they completely forgot.
  • Give students a short break where they can come check off their monologue with us or get time to talk about resources.
        • This website has a pretty good search filter
      • http://stageagent.com/monologues
        • This one has the best filter for searching monologues
      • http://www.monologuearchive.com
      • Remember: not all of the monologues on these websites will be great. You still need to read them and make sure that they are active, working through a partner, and appropriate for you as a person. And if a monologue is too long, you can cut out some lines to bring it back down, so it’s only 60-90 seconds long.

Oral Presentations (25 min)

  • Divide the class into 3 groups.
  • In these groups, students will share orally the information they found about their play.
  • Each student will get up in front of their peers and present their research for 1-3 minutes. If the presentations are really short, let other students ask questions. If presentations are really long, give them a cut off. If one group’s presentations are far longer than other groups, maybe switch one student who still needs to present to a group that has already finished. At the end of the presentations, each teacher should approve the dramatic monologues for each student in their group. You can discuss some of the students’ plays and presentations if there’s extra time.

Conclusion (5-10 min)

  • What did we learn today?
  • Why are questions important to ask?
  • How do we find answers to our questions?
  • What are important questions to look into about a monologue?
Tags
acting skills performance practice