Position:Home>Theater & Acting> How are my monologues? Suggestions?

You did a good job, I liked watching your videos and they made me smile!. :) I do have some suggestions though, so do not take any offense!.

I found many of your monologues hard to believe!. My directors used to tell me that I would be so close to nailing a scene perfectly, but I would just need to commit!. That's a very important word when it comes to acting!. Commit!. You have to commit to everything you do; your emotions, your actions, your character, your movement, if not, sometimes it just doesn't make any sense!. Of course, it's easier said than done!. You have to do a lot of research into your character!. A lot of people will tell you to "be your character", but I don't believe in that!. I believe that you have to put some of yourself into your character otherwise the character with really have no depth!. It is the actor that gives the character depth, and that is why the character is always slightly different depending on the actor who plays that character!. You have to kind of get underneath their skin and really understand them!. How they think, or why they do the things they do, and then you must relate the character to yourself and truly believe in the character you are playing!. If you believe in your character, the audience will too!. Afterwords, the actor may add the little details and quirks, for example: how they move, how they speak, little habits or ticks!. That's the fun part!.

Yeah, you might have heard that a million times!.!.!. I know I have, but if you really think about it and, well!.!.!. commit to it, you'll see the improvement!. Of course, it will still take hard work and practice for every character you try to play, even for the most talented actor!.

Don't over exaggerate or take to many dramatic pauses, unless of course, that is the character you are trying to portray, if that is the case, really make it clear for the audience so that we understand!. Otherwise, try to make your sentences and words 'flow' so that we don't get bored every time you pause!. Sometimes it might happen subconsciously, so try to become aware of it!. also, if your using pauses to transition from one emotion to another, you'll find that you can actually transition faster without the pause!. It may seem awkward at first, but it really is more realistic!. If you still don't understand, watch your 'abandoned' monologue over and try doing it without the pauses, or try using shorter ones!.

One other suggestion is that you should try using more than one level when it comes to voice!. Voice is very important, as you probably know!. Try going higher and lower, louder and softer, and try using a combination of those in your monologues!. What I've noticed is that you tend to stay on one level rather than really use your voice!. It's much more interesting for the audience to listen to as well!. It may also define a character!. That doesn't mean you have to be all over the place and sound like a herd of sick cows, or a teenage boy going through puberty, it's just something to experiment with!.

Anyway, good job and I hope my suggestions have been helpful!. If you have a question about anything I said or if I haven't made myself very clear, don't hesitate to ask!. :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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