Evaluation of Monologue Performance

When I decided on my monologue at first I didn’t understand what type of monologue we were meant to choose.

At first I choose a scene from the film ‘Jerry Maguire’ not knowing what a monologue was. Then I search the Internet to find a monologue that lasted three minutes that would be best suited to my style of acting. I found a website that was best fix for actors called ‘Actor Point.com’ which had Monologues divided into men and women, ages and more importantly length of how long the performance is meant to be.

While looking at this website I discovered the best monologue that best suited my acting style. The one I ended up choosing is ‘Grant Me Serenity’ by Shannon McDougall. I fell in love with the script as I found the character challenging to perform and wanted something different from what I would normally play.

In my rehearsal process I had to learn how to perform an American accent. While it the past I found putting on a Belfast and Austrian accent was easy to me, an American accent would become tricky for me
From reading to Monologue I understand the accent has to sound like I come from Oklahoma and live in New York recently. Looking at movies and television shows which had characters from these places in America, I was able to pick up the accent from these sources and felt good about the accent I picked up from these films. Now I can’t get the main song from the movie Oklahoma out of my head but it’s worth it for this project.

Other problems I have it rehearsal is learning the lines. As this was the first monologue I have ever learnt, finding tricks in remembering lines was one of my best ways of learning the monologue.
I started off saying each of the lines four times to get myself to remember then I read paragraphs very fast to also remember. I repeated this system for each of the lines and paragraphs and then the whole monologue. This helped my confidence in knowing my lines ready to perform my monologue on the final date.

On the date of the main performance, we had the chance to practise are pieces and I chose the stage to run through my monologue. With the teacher seeing me on the stage, I was chosen to perform first.
So I was ready to perform my monologue “Grant Me Serenity”.
After my performance was done and I pick myself from the floor, I then thought about the minor improvements I would make to my performance because I believe I performed one of my best drama pieces.

While I didn’t forget much of my lines I did pause a couple of more times than I actually planned. Another thing I did was repeated certain lines twice in a row without meaning too simply because of slight nerves I had while performing the monologue.With the tricks I learnt about remembering script gave me no trouble and judging the audience reaction, I believe my performance was really strong and well received by my fellow classmates.


THIS WAS THE MONOLOGUE I PERFORMED

Grant Me Serenity by Shannon McDougall

Character:
Adam

Gender:
Male

Age (range):
45

Style:
Drama

Length:
3 minutes

Background Info: The character, Adam discussing and contemplating suicide. His speech is directed at God.

God grant me wings to fly, so I can fly far above the heavens and reach a state of heavenly bliss. Can’t you at least give me that? I mean, I’ve been bleeding ever since I arrived on this miserable planet...... I know you aren’t listening, but hey that's fine that's fucking fine, your absence is almost comforting. I was once hopeful. I wanted to be a dancer in a world where people surrendered themselves to the music, felt the beat and lived the passion. My dreams came crashing down every time father said "Men don’t dance, I ought to belt you, you little bastard," But that never stopped me. I fell in love 20 years ago, I was so desperately in love but that didn’t last, ha nothing ever does, you should know that.

After I left her, I earned enough cash to buy a guitar. She was brand new and perfectly tuned. She was my first love. My second was a bottle of whiskey. I thought of who I might give my greatest possession to when death took me. I left suzie in Oklahoma with the promise that I would come back. I broke my promise and now the guilt has eaten me inside out. I can hardly breathe. The memory of leaving her is burnt into the back of my head and now regret consumes my soul. I never forgot about her, never, I was consumed by evil. I turned into a lost soul, wandering into the dark places.

All I needed was the courage to triumph over the evil, but it was easier not to. You gave me all the talent I needed, but I was unable to nurture it. Once upon a time, I would hear Buddy Holly’s music on the wireless and it always inspired me, reassuring me that I had reason to live. He is like a comet blazing brightly, I am a sleepy planet, a candle burnt out, desperate to reach the surface.

New York was a mistake waiting to happen. The city of dreams they say, they lie. This stinking city has brought me misfortune and from that I keep bad memories. So many people have left this city as failures, I am no exception I just never left. The very stench of failure crowds my air. New York swallowed me whole and then spat me out, numb. I would sit alone at night playing my guitar softly being careful not to wake anyone. Although my vision was hazed from so many sleepless nights I pressed on trying to reach perfection, but their was no love in my heart, it had already set to stone.

I would do anything to go back. Do you have any empathy? Any regard for your people? Do you like to watch the torment, the suffering, the pain ?! I am bleeding, I am pained, I am the walking dead! Please excuse me, for this world does not have room for people like me.

I was merely a visitor. Now I will sit amongst the stars and watch the world as it continues to spin without me. My death will end the pressure, and I will float. I will float away into the distance until I reach a state of heavenly bliss with or without your help.


BRIAN