What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? - Shakespearean play "much ado about nothing" - monologue 4

What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band;
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.

END OF MONOLOGUE

I also like this Shakespearean monologue as is a comedic monologue. The short sentences allows time to break and take my time between lines.

O, I know where you are - shakespearean play "as you like it" - monologue 3

Rosalind: O! I know where you are. Nay, 'tis true: there was never anything so sudden but the fight of two rams, Caesar's thrasonical brag of 'I came, saw, and overcame:' for your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy: and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage. They are in the very wrath of love, and they will together: clubs cannot part them.
END OF MONOLOGUE

i like this monologue as it is shakespearean but also comical, the comical side of it helps me to understand what they are saying.

I Ate the Divorce Papers - Comedic female monologue from the play Goodbye Charles - monologue 2

(Monologist stands in front of her soon to be ex-husband)

I ate them. That’s right. I ate the divorce papers, Charles. I ate them with ketchup. And they were good...goooood. You probably want me to get serious about our divorce. The thing is you always called our marriage a joke. So let’s use logic here: If A we never had a serious marriage then B we can’t have a serious divorce. No. We can’t. The whole thing’s a farce, Charles – a farce that tastes good with ketchup.

I mean, wasn’t it last week, your dad asked you the reason you walked down that aisle with me, and you said “for the exercise.” Ha, ha. That’s funny. You’re a funny guy, Charles. I’m laughing, not a crying. Ha, ha. I’m laughing because you’re about to give up on a woman who is infinitely lovable.

For instance: Paul. He has loved me since the eighth grade. Sure, he’s a little creepy, but he reeeeally loves me. He’s made one hundred twenty seven passes at me, proposed forty seven times, and sent me over two hundred original love sonnets. He sees something in me, Charles. And he writes it down, in metered verse!

And that’s not something you just find everyday. Someone who really loves everything about who you are as a person. Paul may be insane, but I value his feelings for me.

I would never ask him to sign his name to a piece of paper promising to just turn off his feelings for me forever. But that’s what you’re asking me to do, for you. To sign away my right to...to that sweet voice Charles, those baby brown eyes, the way your hands feel through my hair before bed...

Those aren’t things I want to lose. In fact, I won’t lose them. I won’t lose you. I’ll woo you. I’ve written you a sonnet. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day. Thou art more lovely and more temperate, rough winds do shake the darling buds of may and...”  I’m not crying. I’m laughing. It’s all a big joke. It’s very funny, Charles. I keep waiting for you to say “April Fools.” Then I’ll rush into your arms and... But you’re not going to, are you? No. Of course not. It’s not April.

I, I didn’t really write that sonnet, you know. Paul did. I think it’s good.

You see, the truth...the truth is, Charles, I ate the divorce papers, I ate them, because I can’t stomach the thought of losing you.

END OF MONOLOGUE

i really like this monologue because it allows me to make this comical.

The Not So Perfect Child By: D.M. Larson from the published play "flowers in the desert" - monologue 1

JAMIE MOIRA

(Quiet anger)

You hate me don't you? I am never good enough for you.

(Anger builds)

No matter what I do it's not as good as my sister.  I always have to hear how she would have done it better.  Or how she already did it better.

(Hurt)

Why does she want to ruin my life?  She just wants to blot me out like I was some sort of mistake... I'm just a copy... A copy of a copy... Not as good as the original... Not as good as you.

(Sarcastic and bitter)

You are so perfect... Everyone around me is so perfect... And there was nothing left over for me... I am the leftover failures... I am the fatty waste you toss to the dogs.

(Fury)

Everyone hates me!  Why does everyone think I am so horrible... (Shakes and tries to hold back the fury) Probably because I am.  A horrible creature doomed to walk this earth and suffer... For you.

(Cries uncontrollably... Struggles to speak)

I'm hurting... Hurting so bad inside.  Cut off from everyone ... Punished for some past life wrongs... What did I do in a past life to deserve this... Or am I paying for the sins of my father... And mother... Am I your sin?  Or do I remind you of some sin you want to forget?

(Anger builds)

Or I am a disappointment that keeps disappointing.  I even disappoint myself.

(Furious)

I will never be my sister.  I don't want to be her.  I hate everything about her! 

(Cries... Sadness)

But I don't want to be me either.  Sometimes I want to fade away... Become a shadow... Fading away... Forgotten... Maybe if you forget about me I won't make you so sad anymore.
END OF MONOLOGUE

I like this monologue as it allows diversity within emotions. It also allows me to challenge myself as i havent done a sad monologue before.

Oxford School of Drama

What to Prepare

Auditions for all courses will also consist of some group work for which you will need to wear loose, comfortable clothing.

One Year Course and Three Year Course

For your first round audition you will need to prepare 2 contrasting monologues, each no longer than 2 minutes, one from Elizabethan or Jacobean drama (Shakespeare or Jonson, for example) and the other from a post-1950 drama.

Six Month Foundation Course in Acting

For your audition you will need to prepare 2 contrasting monologues, each no longer than 2 minutes, one from Elizabethan or Jacobean drama (Shakespeare or Jonson, for example) and the other from a post-1950 drama.

I also like this audition process beause it allows you to do 2 monologues showing your skills. Oxford does not give you tips on how to improve your performance.

ALRA

ALRA has a single audition process for all applicants regardless of course.

The audition will give us the opportunity to see what course is most suitable for your level of development.
We offer you feedback at the end of your day and discuss your options.
We offer you opportunities to talk to staff and students throughout the day.

We need you to:

1. Prepare 2 audition monologues (see below) – each lasting no longer than 2 minutes: 
   1. One from a contemporary play (after 1970)
   2. One Shakespearean/Jacobean (but not non-human characters like ‘Puck’ from A Midsummer Night’s Dream or ‘Ariel’ from The Tempest, or any ‘Chorus’)

      Monologues

      Please make sure you have read the whole play your monologue comes from. Be sure your monologue works as a stand-alone speech and does not require input from another character. Your speech must be taken from an existing play, and not a book of solo speeches. (Speeches found in monologue anthologies are acceptable provided you have read the whole play from which they are taken.)
2. Prepare a 30 second piece to camera, which tells us three interesting (non acting!) things about you. Examples can be found here and here.

We want you to: 

• Choose pieces that match your age & gender.
• Work without props or special costume. 
• Avoid using chairs. 
• Learn your pieces.
• Avoid using the panel for eye line.
• Use your natural accent.  
• Wear suitable clothes which enable you to move freely and to allow tutors to assess posture and movement. Female applicants should avoid skirts. All applicants should avoid low cut/hipster trousers cropped and low cut tops. For both the warm up sessions we advise you to bring movement clothes (leotard and tights). The movement session requires you to be bare footed and to work without any jewellery.

We are looking for these qualities: 

• Truth
• Preparation 
• Ability to create and sustain a character within an imagined world 
• Evidence of thought and feeling behind the actions and words 
• Ability to take direction (to hear an instruction and adapt own performance accordingly) 
• Ability to communicate text 
• Ability to express thought and feeling through movement and voice 
• Self-confidence, focus and concentration 
• Spontaneity and immediacy 
• Openness and responsiveness to others 
• Imagination and creativity 
• Evidence of stamina and co-ordination 
• An interest in the craft of acting and in the professional world of acting 

 I like this audition process because you have to do 2 monologues from 2 time periods, allowing you to show your different skills. It also gives you tips and qualities they are looking for.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea - Research

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a short children's story, first published in 1968, written and illustrated by Judith Kerr. The book concerns a girl called Sophie, her mother, and an anthropomorphized tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea. The book remains extremely popular forty years after it was first published, and a theatrical adaptation of the story has been produced.

The original artwork for the book is held by Seven Stories, a children's literature centre in the UK.

A little girl named Sophie is having tea with her mother in their kitchen. Soon they are joined for tea by a tiger who drinks all the tea, eats all the food in the house and drinks everything, even draining the water from the taps, so that Sophie cannot have her bath. Then he leaves. Sophie's father comes home and suggests that they all go out and have a lovely meal in a cafe. The following day Sophie and her mother go out to buy some more food, including a big tin of tiger food. But the tiger never returns.

The surreal plot allows the children's imagination  to expand and escape into a different world.

The Hungry Catipillar - Research

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children's picture book designed, illustrated and written by Eric Carle, first published by the World Publishing Company in 1969, later published by Penguin Putnam. It features a caterpillar who eats its way through a wide variety of foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. The winner of many children's literature awards and a major graphic design award,it has sold 30 million copies worldwide. It has been described as having sold the equivalent of a copy per minute since its publication. It has been described as "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time." It was voted the number two children's picture book in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar uses distinctive collage illustrations (Carle's third book, and a new style at the time), 'eaten' holes in the pages and simple text with educational themes – counting, the days of the week, foods, and a butterfly's life stages. There have been a large number of related books and other products, including educational tools, created in connection to the book. The caterpillar's diet is fictional rather than scientifically accurate, but the book introduces concepts of Lepidoptera life stages where transformations take place including the ultimate metamorphosis from 'hungry caterpillar' to 'beautiful butterfly', and it has been endorsed by the Royal Entomological Society.

The book contains a series of bright images to engage the audience as well as simple words to stop confusion.

In The Night Garden - Research

In the Night Garden... is a BBC children's television series, aimed at children aged from 1 to 6 years old. It is produced by Ragdoll Productions. Andrew Davenport created, wrote, and composed the title theme and incidental music for all 100 episodes. It was produced by Davenport and Anne Wood, the team that also co-created Teletubbies. The programme is narrated by Derek Jacobi. It is filmed mostly in live action, and features a mix of actors in costume, puppetry and computer animation. The characters include Iggle Piggle, Makka Pakka, Upsy Daisy, the Tombliboos, the Pontipines / the Wottingers, the Haahoos, the Ninky Nonk and the Pinky Ponk.

The series was announced in October 2006, and twenty episodes were first broadcast in March 2007. Two series were made, with 100 episodes in all. The BBC confirmed in 2010 that it would not be commissioning another series. The series cost a total of £14.5 million to produce.

The series was made to relax the audience.

The programme features a large cast of colourful characters with unusual names who live in a magical forest scattered with large daisies and brightly coloured pompom flowers. The characters mostly speak short, repetitive phrases and each has their own special song and dance. The garden is a sunny, colourful environment and the music is jaunty and music box-like. Producer Anne Wood said:

“

We wanted to explore the difference between being asleep and being awake from a child's point of view: the difference between closing your eyes and pretending to be asleep and closing your eyes and sleeping.

”

Each episode starts with a different child in bed, while the narrator introduces the episode. The scene cuts to Iggle Piggle, in his boat, travelling to the Night Garden. Then the camera pans up to the sky and zooms in, followed by blooming flowers. After the title appears under a hedge, either the ninky nonk or the pinky ponk appear. The episodes end with one character receiving a bedtime story, which is generated by the magical gazebo that sits at the centre of the Night Garden. This story is a summary of the plot of the episode. Sometimes the characters all dance together under the Gazebo.
Iggle Piggle does not go to sleep, and his goodbye sequence ("Iggle Piggle's not in bed!" ... "Squeak!" ... "Don't worry, Iggle Piggle! It's time to go") rounds off the programme. The Night Garden retreats into the night sky and Iggle Piggle is seen asleep on his boat as the end credits roll.
In the Night Garden... is intended to help children relax and achieve calming relationships with parents. Wood states: "We became very aware of the anxiety surrounding the care of young children which manifested itself in all kind of directions; but the one big subject that came up again and again was bedtime. It's the classic time for tension between children who want to stay up and parents who want them to go to bed... so this is a programme about calming things down whereas most children's TV is about getting everything up."

In 2007 and 2008, the show won the Children's BAFTA for "Pre-school live action," as well as being nominated in 2009

Mr Tumble - Research

It was created and produced for 10 years by Allan Johnston. It is broadcast by the BBC. It is designed to introduce children to Makaton signing, and is specifically aimed at children with delayed learning and communication difficulties. It is aired on the CBeebies channel and in the past was also broadcast as part of the CBeebies programme strand on BBC One and BBC Two).The name of the programme derives from the idea that all children, irrespective of their position on the learning spectrum, are special.

Mr Tumble is good for children with learning difficulty or not. The bright colour's and multiple musical numbers help to engage the audience. The main character also signs along with what he says, allowing a diverse range of viewers to be engaged. In this TV episode they allow children onto the show, to be seen on TV, the children engage in different activities ranging from gardening to cooking.

Mr Tumble also does live shows, bringing in large groups of the public to watch his shows. In these shows he uses a lot of audience interaction, asking questions and bringing members of the audience on stage. His happy toned voice locks the audiences attention throughout the episode. Mr tumble also multi-roles to play different characters, changing costumes to fit the characters personality.

Unicorn Theatre

The Unicorn Theatre is the UK's leading theatre for audiences aged 2–21. The theatre has its home in a custom-built, RIBA Award–winning building on Tooley Street, in the London Borough of Southwark, which opened in 2005. The theatre was designed by Keith Williams, built by Arup and comprises two theatre spaces (the Weston and Clore Theatres), an education studio, rehearsal space, café and the John Lyon meeting room.

The theatre was founded in 1947, by Caryl Jenner, originally as a Mobile Theatre; In 1961, Jenner began presenting children's productions at the Arts Theatre in the West End, and in 1967 the company took over the lease of the theatre which then became Unicorn's permanent performing base until 1999; during this period the normal run of adult performances continued during the evenings.

The Unicorn is a registered charity and is an Arts Council England National Portfolio organisation.

From 1944 Caryl Jenner wrote Christmas Pantomimes for small time playhouses. During performances she would make note of the behaviour of the children, recording what scenes and sequences held their attention, and which did not. She began to formulate the principles that would guide her theatre and writing. In 1947 the ‘Mobile Theatre’ was born. Caryl's mission was to drive around the austere post-war towns of Britain, as well as isolated villages to bring theatre to new audiences. They supplemented their income by performing to adults in the evenings but their goal was always to captivate the minds and imagination of children.

The ‘Mobile Theatre’ continued to grow in reputation, gaining success and acclaim. In 1950 it changed its name to ‘The Caryl Jenner Mobile Theatre’, to signify Caryl’s influence. In 1962, the name changed again, to the ‘Unicorn Theatre Club’. In 1967, the company gave up touring and took up the lease at the Arts Theatre in London, receiving a £10,000 annual grant from the Arts Council, which remained its home until the present Unicorn Theatre was built in 2005. Caryl Jenner died on the 29th of January 1973 at the age of 55. She left behind a theatre with national acclaim and a clear set of artistic principles.

This research was found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn_Theatre

I believe Unicorn Theatre is interesting as Caryl Jenner actually researched how children responded to different things, after collecting multiple pieces of research on how children react, she combined all the evidence to create Unicorn Theatre.

Polka Theatre

Polka Theatre is a children’s theatre in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, for children aged 0– 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces - a 300 seat main auditorium and a 70 seat studio dedicated to early years performances. Polka Theatre is a producing theatre which also tours shows nationally and internationally.

The theatre houses part of the teddy bear collection of the former Teddy Bear Museum in Stratford-on-Avon. The building also features a creative learning studio, a garden, an outdoor playground, indoor play area, exhibition spaces and a café.

Polka Theatre is a registered charity number 256979  and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. It is also funded by the London Borough of Merton and a number of private charitable trusts and foundations, individuals and commercial companies.

Polka Theatre started life as a puppet touring company in 1967 under the Artistic Directorship of Richard Gill. The theatre venue (formerly the Holy Trinity Halls in Wimbledon) opened on 20 November 1979 and was the UK’s first theatre venue dedicated exclusively to children. The opening was marked with a Gala performance attended by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

By 1983 Polka was regularly programming and producing productions aimed specifically at children under 5 in its studio space, known as the Adventure Theatre. The Adventure Theatre hosts in house productions and visiting productions from the UK and overseas. Over recent years Polka has developed its Early Years work for children aged from 6 months.

Polka Theatre won the Vivien Duffield Theatre Award to begin the audience development initiative, Curtain-Up! in 1994. The scheme offers free theatre tickets to disadvantaged schools whose pupils would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience theatre due to financial or other difficulties, supplemented by money to cover transport costs and a free post-show drama workshop to support the visits.

This research was from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polka_Theatre

Polka Theatre is good for children of a younger age. The performances use different story telling techniques to engage the audiences attention.

Weeks Review

This week we finished the entire piece. We firstly finished Jack and the beanstalk, and then we were able to run the entire piece. We included another dance in Jack and the beanstalk, this is when Jack climbs up the stalk and asks for directions towards the castle. We made sure to include a lot of audience interaction in each piece, this will engage our audience in the performance, helping them to maintain focus whilst still being interested in our performance.

Overall I think Jack and the Beanstalk is a really interesting performance, we are able to include multiple song in the piece. We also started to rehearse the ending song, "I'm a believer". We all take it in turns to sing in our characters, mine would be Goldilocks. This will end our entire piece on a good and positive note, leaving our audience satisfied with the performance, and it will also put the audience in a positive mood.

Next week we will rehearse, preparing ourselves for the performance on Tuesday. On Tuesday we will have the day off timetable in order rehearse as much as possible to make sure our performance is as good as it could be.

Weeks Review

This week we started Jack and the Bean stalk. We were firstly assigned roles. After this we looked at the scripts we created last lesson and began to act them out. We started with the first scene were the audience first meets the characters in Jack and the Beanstalk. We decided to use narration in the play, this will help the audience understand what is happening.

In this play we also decided to include multiple songs. Our idea for the entire piece is include different ways to tell a story, as our unit is called story telling. The age group we are performing to, which is primary schools, makes it easy to tell stories in different ways. For the Jack and the beanstalk we decided to make it a musical. Musical's help to engage the audience in each scene. The songs would appeal to the our age group and we made sure they were appropriate.

We were able to choreograph a song to "magic" which we all sing and dance to when Jack gets the Beans from the Bean man. Next week we hope to finish the piece.

Weeks Review

This week we finished Goldilocks and the three bears and started creating Jack and the beanstalk. In the first lesson we created the inside of the three bears house. We started by creating the 3 chairs which Goldilocks breaks in the story. We created these chairs using our bodies, by kneeling down on one knee and raising the other. We used the light to create the illusion of bigger or smaller chairs. The closer they knelt to the light the bigger they looked, the further away from the light the smaller the chairs looked. Goldilocks was then able to sit on each chair until we reached the small chair in which both goldilocks and the chair would fall to the floor, making it look like the chair had broken.

We then went on to create the table which had the 3 porridges on. By doing this we first created a table using two people, who would bend down (heads facing one another) with a flat back. We decided to cut out the shape of 3 porridges, all declining in height, the people who make up the table will hold these pieces of paper.

Finally we created the beds. This was a matter of trial and error, we used multiple people to create each bed, combining bodies to build up each shape. Goldilocks is able to lay across, leaning on one person, creating the illusion that she is on the bed.

After finishing Goldilocks, we started to create Jack and the beanstalk. We started by writing a series of scripts for separate scenes of the play. Next lesson we will start to create it.

Weeks review

This week we started creating "Goldilocks and the three bears". We were considering different ways to tell the story, not including just basic acting like we did in red riding hood. We decided to use silhouette to tell this story. We turned our drama room into a silhouette area.We hung a big thin sheet from the ceiling and placed a light behind it at the back of the room. We began by creating the three bears. Each bear was created by multiple people. I play the characer Goldilocks, so i cant be involved in creating the bears. I was able to help them by looking at what the silhouette looked like from the audiences view. By doing this i was able to direct each person into different positions to help the bears look more realistic.

The next lesson we went on to create the woods that Goldilocks walks through at the start. We created trees, plants and a small bird. I think that using silhouette is about trial and error, we had to try multiple different things, in different ways until we found something that worked. Goldilocks is able to interact with the trees and plants and birds.

Next week we are going to start the creating the objects inside the bear house.

Little Red Riding Hood week's review

Creating Little Red Riding Hood:
When creating thus story we decided to include slot of physical theatre. We used Physical theatre to create:

• Trees
• A bed
• The inside of a house

The first thing we decided to do was set the scene. We all picked an animal, and were told to be that animal. We then have narration over the top explaining what is happening. Narration tells the audience what is happening. We also included a song, using the melody of "off to see the wizard" from the wizard of Oz. We changed some of the words to suit the story. This engages our audience and keeps them interested in the story. 

To create the trees we each got in pairs and gave each other a piggy back in order to create the height we needed. We use our arms as the branches. We also included another song using the melody of the Grinch, changing the words to fit the story. We followed he basic children's story line.

weeks review

This week we focused on story telling to different audiences. We stuck mainly to different age groups. This ranged from 5-80 years old. We were told to walk around the room and say a line from a story or.just a line that the age group would be interested in the most. For example if the age groups was 5 years old you may begin with "once upon a time". You may raise your voice and use big and obvious hand and body gestures. We were then told to keep our body still and engage the audience by our voices. We were told to tell the story of "Little red riding hood". One by one we would come up and say line from the story, but how we say it depends on what age group we receive. I found myself thinking more about what to say rather than how to say it. After a while we all found it pretty easy. We were then told to tell the story of a typically adult book to children using body and vocal Techniques. We made a joke of it first but I found it hard to tell an inappropriate story to children and keep a straight face. After some practise I learnt how to adapt my voice to fit community's.

weeks lesson

This week we focused on how we can show emotions in different ways. In our first few weeks we did the basic story telling techniques. We focused on how to tell a story or show emotion through our body's. On Tuesdays lesson we focused on showing emotion through eyes. At first I didn't quite grasp the concept. I didn't understand how you can show emotion without changing anything on your face. We were asked to stand in a position and keep our face emotionless. We were then told an emotion for example "Scared". We were then told to show that emotion through our eyes. Almost instantly everyone's face changed. At first I found it hard to keep my face still, I rely on my facial expressions heavily when trying to portray an emotion. We were then told to think of a time when we were scared, and try to 're-live that moment. This is what helped me enhance my eyes. My problem was I was trying too change who I was, I was pretending to be some one else and I was thinking of completely unrealistic scare moments. But when I related it to my past experiences, it was easier to show emotion because I was actually able to 're-live the situation, remembering exactly how I felt. Without realizing my eyes changed and I was able to capture that feeling and skill. On Fridays lesson we focused on articulation in story telling. We were told to get into a line and sound out our vowels. We were told to really over pronotunciate each vowel. We then took it in turns to sound out a vowel. At first I got embarrassed and felt I looked stupid. I have a big problem with letting loose in lessons, I feel as though I look stupid if I do. But after seeing everyone else do it I felt better. I learnt that articulating your words make the audience more interested, forcing them to listen because you 're able to cature their attention.