Monologue Process Reflection

At first, I was excited and nervous to help other students with their monologues. I didn’t want to be overbearing with suggestions, but at the same time, I wanted to offer helpful advice. My group was great to work with and and each April, William, and Robert’s pieces turned out really well.

A challenge that I faced working with my group was having them be focused on each other and thinking and being open to what they could improve upon. If I could do this project again, I would want to make sure that everyone was fully listening and watching each other, ready to give others advice and offer opinions on their pieces. I would also like them to be open to more change and collaboration with their pieces. I think that if an actor is not open to other’s suggestions (not just the director, but also other actors’) their piece will improve and change. However if they are close minded and only focus on their ideas, there is not a lot of room for improvement. That being said, it is vital that actors don't take criticism personally. When people suggest ways to change a monologue, it is often just helpful advice and is not meant to be a hurtful comment. In addition, as an actor, I feel that it is important to be open to new strategies and exercises. When I tried to have my group try a vocal exercise to learn about projection, a few people went along with it, but others struggled because it was a new experience. It is hard to try new, odd things, especially when you are in a group, but if you are able to focus on the exercise it will only help you and your technique.

My group did very well learning and memorizing their pieces in a timely manner. About three days after they had picked their piece, many of them started to practice off book, barely missing a line. I was happy because we were able to focus on body and facial movements, as well as vocal differentiation. My group also did a great job at encouraging one another, and showing each other support by giving back positive feedback and helpful advice. 

I learned in this process that many people have great ideas about what to do in their piece. It is helpful to ask them vague questions such as, “Who are you?” or “Where/what are you doing?” to get them to really think about their character development and to form their piece. Watching everyone on our class develop a monologue was a unique experience, one that I really loved.