HOW TO MONOLOGUE

Chapter Six

How to Monologue

   Why do monologues? To establish a communication between one viewpoint and another. Any text information falls under the classification of communication, including texts from stories, plays, films, and SONGS. All communication occurs between viewpoints, whether real or imaginary. It is the performer’s job to create identities and points of view, so that communication can occur.    What is a monologue? It is an imaginary viewpoint creation from a source to a destination, and requires imaginative abilities to create those viewpoints. It is also more of a telling than a reading, as you are telling someone something, usually of increased importance, in order for something else to happen, a desired result of the communication. There is a point to the communication, a reason you are telling it, and a consequence of getting the message across.
   What are the steps in a monologue? There are three steps: First, the act of SEEING what is in a text, independent of your own thoughts about it. See all of the thoughts and understand what they mean. Next, there is the step of RELATING the information to what you know about the communication, the situation (which you may have to imagine), the person you’re talking to, and the reason why you are communicating the message. The last step is to SIGNIFY, or to attach a degree of importance to the communication, usually dealing with why you’re delivering the communication. To add significance to the thoughts makes them special to a viewpoint, and to match your viewpoint to an imaginary character’s viewpoint is why you want to monologue your songs. The more you monologue them, the more certainty you receive, and the more you groove into the viewpoint of the character.
   Once you have completed your initial investigation of the script or song, and have applied the SRS approach, you need to write out the thoughts to gain more understanding of the communication. I suggest you use a separate piece of paper to write out the thoughts that come to mind as you read the thoughts from the script or sheet music. Take advantage of each of the three steps, seeing, relating and signifying in this process. Essentially, you are getting familiar with the character’s viewpoint, what absorbs his or her attention, and what thoughts arise from that. 
   The next step is to isolate the thoughts from the music, especially in terms of rhythm, timing, rests, accents, and other musical demands. You need to approach the monologue from a timeless, even slower rate of absorption so that the thoughts have room to breathe and your understanding can occur. William Charles Macready, a well-known Shakespearean actor, in preparation for the leading role in Macbeth, secured his head to a wall by using rawhide nailed and hooked to the wall to restrict any motion that might distract his attention. He knew that having the correct focus was required to assume the viewpoint of the character. We don’t know if he wrote out his own thoughts, or if he just thought about them as he began the procedure of “monologuing”(a made up word for performers). Shakespeare’s language is often melodic and in a certain rhythm, and it’s wise to initially ignore it, for the sake of understanding the components of the communication, as we do with musical theatre. 
   Naturally, once a performer attains command of the communication, music and rhythm, and even rests can be added. All too often this step is either unknown or ignored by performers and the result is as Shakespeare said in the Scottish play, “…a poor player, acting his hour on the stage, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” In other words, we hear a singer or actor who has attention on the sound of the voice rather than on the meaning of the communication. 
    It is preferable to start the process of “monologuing” quietly, even a whisper as if you are introducing the thoughts to the situation. After twenty or thirty times, the whisper will evolve to normal speech. Over the years, students have asked how many times they should monologue a script or song, and my response is “only you know.” The process is done by you, for you, and not for anyone else. It is similar to the process of getting to know someone, even dating someone you are attracted to. You start by taking baby steps, little moves, small talk, and feelings. The secret to this is letting or allowing the thoughts to come out, not forcing, pushing or demanding.
    It’s a gentile process, as it is when you’re learning and experiencing a new person, one you’ve been drawn closer to. You want to avoid the interpretative traps we’ve discussed, anything which causes you to dislike the person, or be critical in any way. The true test of thought is, “If I said or thought something negative or bad about you, how would you feel? What would you do?” Chances are, it would repel that person from you so much, they would want to leave.
   Once you’ve “monologued” (another made up word) several times (Anthony Hopkins has said the best way to learn a script is to read and speak it up to 250 times!), you can experiment with ways to communicate the thoughts. I am a firm believer in shouting the thoughts as it raises the bar and often the importance of what you are saying when you shout or scream it out. It is an excellent way to increase vocal production and range, as well. You can try a variety of emotions, as long as you choose more than one emotion, because no one communicates in one emotional tone, even when a person is angry and full of hate, they go up and down the range of emotions according to the thought and what absorbs their attention. Angry people often have their attention on wanting to stop something or someone, and the only way to stop them is by summoning forceful means. Physical abuse starts this way, as the abuser is reacting to someone who is upsetting the situation and they feel they need to stop the upset. 
   Again, the purpose of monologuing is to discover how the three steps, seeing, relating and signifying contribute to the communication. You are working to achieve a state of unconscious competence, which happens by multiple sessions of monologuing, until you can feel the presence of the character, assuming his or her viewpoint, and focusing your attention on whatever is causing the character to respond. Acting is chiefly the process of reacting to something. The only reason we are not called “Reactors” is we don’t want to be confused with nuclear installations, although it may be helpful to consider ourselves explosive at times. However, nuclear reactors are unthinking entities, and we certainly are thinking and feeling beings.
   After completing these steps, you need to evaluate the experience, asking yourself “What do I like about this communication?” Be thorough, and pull out everything you like, as it helps encourage you to continue. Once you’ve done that, ask yourself “What would I like to change?” Usually, you know because you feel something’s missing or just not right. It may be on account of one of the four A’s present, causing you to be critical of the character, yourself or the situation. Find which of the four A’s is active, as there may be more than one, and address each of them one at a time. If you try to address more than one, the chances are you will become overwhelmed and think you need to quit or withdraw. If that happens, whatever you do, realize it’s a temporary feeling, and, just like a relationship, you don’t want to say or do anything that will make it permanent. It is wise to take a walk when that happens, get out, breathe fresh air (if you live where you can do that) or get on oxygen if you need to. But confront it, don’t simply shrug it off, because it will come back to haunt you. Treat this work tenderly as you would a serious relationship with someone you love. It’s difficult to maintain your composure at times, but know it is required of performers to keep a steady balance and control of your thoughts, emotions and effort expended.