Monologues are fantastic and are a great test for any young person starting out on their journey in Drama and Theatre. I think that monologues should always appear somewhere on a young persons experience of Drama and Theatre because of the challenge they offer. To be successful in performing a monologue, one needs to do so much. You need to understand the context of the monologue for itself and within the rest of the play. You need to understand the characters psychology and personality. All of this understanding needs to be communicated to the audience through voice and movement, often in the most subtlest of ways. Performing a monologue is also so an unforgiving situation. There is no room to hide. You are on your own, reliant on your own skills and knowledge.

The success of a monologue is in the preparation. It’s eventual success is in the amount of research you do into the play and the character. The physical research of exploring how to communicate that understanding best through your movement and use of voice. The perseverance to keep rehearsing, refining and improving your performance.

Here I’ve put together a playlist of useful videos from YouTube, a mixture of great examples of student monologues and advice from others in the profession.

1. What is a monologue Guide
2. Blood Brothers, Mickey “when I’m nearly 8” speech
3. Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down, Lynette, monologue about domestic abuse
4. Shakers
5. Things I know t be true
6. DNA
7. Albert’s Bridge by Tom Stoppard
8. A Streetcar Named Desire
9. Tips and Tricks on acting a monologue
10. Best tips for monologues

If you think of any role that I’ve missed, or have a different YouTube clip you’d like to share, then pop it in the comments box below.