The YoungWorld

Fort Europe · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:34 pm Post subject:

That is an awesome site, thanks scriv, I've just booked marked it so I can use it in future. Checking the quote on there, I only had one or two words misspelled... I'm quite pleased with that. Very Happy

Good idea to move this over here. I hope DS will copy her two quotes over as well so they can be stored in the same place... and I will try and find some more monologues for you when I get a second to hunt down my collection of them (there are far more that I can't remember all of than the ones I can!)
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scrivneria · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:43 pm Post subject:

Fantastic, for reference, this is the Henry V monologue I was considering:

This note doth tell me of ten thousand French
That in the field lie slain: of princes, in this number,
And nobles bearing banners, there lie dead
One hundred twenty six: added to these,
Of knights, esquires, and gallant gentlemen,
Eight thousand and four hundred; of the which,
Five hundred were but yesterday dubb'd knights:
So that, in these ten thousand they have lost,
There are but sixteen hundred mercenaries;
The rest are princes, barons, lords, knights, squires,
And gentlemen of blood and quality.
The names of those their nobles that lie dead:
Charles Delabreth, high constable of France;
Jaques of Chatillon, admiral of France;
The master of the cross-bows, Lord Rambures;
Great Master of France, the brave Sir Guichard Dolphin,
John Duke of Alencon, Anthony Duke of Brabant,
The brother of the Duke of Burgundy,
And Edward Duke of Bar: of lusty earls,
Grandpre and Roussi, Fauconberg and Foix,
Beaumont and Marle, Vaudemont and Lestrale.
Here was a royal fellowship of death!
Where is the number of our English dead?
[Herald shews him another paper]
Edward the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,
Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, esquire:
None else of name; and of all other men
But five and twenty. O God, thy arm was here;
And not to us, but to thy arm alone,
Ascribe we all! When, without stratagem,
But in plain shock and even play of battle,
Was ever known so great and little loss
On one part and on the other? Take it, God,
For it is none but thine!

Laskon · Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:12 pm Post subject:

Henry V is a good choice for the blood and thunder, but I think that most of the other histories are superior works, and provide better monologues! (Besides, Henry V always just reads to me like propaganda...and he only won the Battle of Agincourt because the French were idiots, essentially, and wore heavy armor while fighting in rain and mud)

The monologues in 'Richard II' in particular are of high caliber. You have both the determination of Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV) or the resistant and eventually broken down Richard II.

Of course, it all depends on what you're auditioning for.

I took both a Shakespeare and a Classical Acting class this past year, so this is my bread and butter right now. Midsummer is a little too popular in terms of people selecting monologues from it, so I would avoid that play if possible. I love the histories and think they offer the best monologues, at least in terms of variety and character choices.

Certainly Hamlet offers some outstanding works to choose from. In my experience, those monologues are some of the most exhausting and difficult things I have ever worked on, though, and I was only performing his first one ("Oh that this too, too sullied flesh") "Solid" changed to "sullied" as per my teacher's request.

And it's never a bad idea just to speak the language out loud from several monologues and see which tastes the best.

Fort Europe · Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:01 pm Post subject:

The greatest difficulty with Shakespeare is understanding it. To get the true sense of the monologue you not only have to comprehend the style of black verse with which most (but not all) of the plays are written in called iambic pentameter, but you also must comprehend the sometimes multiple meanings of each word.

If you can hit the nail perfectly upon the head, then you can not fail but to succeed. Get it wrong, and you can look quite foolish. In most amateur monologue festivals adjudicators will give highest marks in the category of difficulty for Shakespeare than the vast majority of others... miss the meaning or the pentameter however, and difficulty may be the only marks you get.
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scrivneria · Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:38 pm Post subject:

Taking Shrew's advice to heart, and consulting with my actor friend I have arrived at the following monologue from Titus Andronicus, by Titus Andronicus, for...the people of Rome. (Which I shall agonize over in great detail with a friend doing her PhD in Ren. Lit)

Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!
Lo, as the bark, that hath discharged her fraught,
Returns with precious jading to the bay
From whence at first she weigh'd her anchorage,
Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
To re-salute his country with his tears,
Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.
Thou great defender of this Capitol,
Stand gracious to the rites that we intend!
Romans, of five and twenty valiant sons,
Half of the number that King Priam had,
Behold the poor remains, alive and dead!
These that survive let Rome reward with love;
These that I bring unto their latest home,
With burial amongst their ancestors:
Here Goths have given me leave to sheathe my sword.
Titus, unkind and careless of thine own,
Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet,
To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?
Make way to lay them by their brethren.
[The tomb is opened]
There greet in silence, as the dead are wont,
And sleep in peace, slain in your country's wars!
O sacred receptacle of my joys,
Sweet cell of virtue and nobility,
How many sons of mine hast thou in store,
That thou wilt never render to me more!
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With my seal and blessing -Scrivneria, Grand Master