at your own portrayal. Just one change in emphasis can alter the meaning or tone of a speech.
RHYTHM
Many of the monologues in this collection are written in iambic pentameter. Make sure you know which monologues feature this rhythm:
But mercy is above this sceptered sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings
(Portia from The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I)
Often when a line is one beat longer, for example, it presents an opportunity for you as an actor to capitalize on that change by adjusting your delivery. I learned from my colleague Michael Tolaydo, Professor of Theatre, Film, and Media Studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, that the iambic pentameter rhythm is like a heartbeat: ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum. When the iambic pentameter structure is disrupted, perhaps the character’s heart skips a beat, and he has an emotional reaction that informs the speech. Look into the rhythm carefully, and when it varies, see if you need to change with it.
Feel the iambic pentameter, but do not fall into the habit of stopping your words at the end of each line. Speak them as sentences, naturally. This can be a challenge with longer lines since you may run out of breath before the end of a passage. Carry the vocal energy to the end of the sentence. To do this, you will have to find beats in the text.
BEATS
A “beat” is a pause in your speech. Proper use of beats can turn an ordinary monologue performance into a great one. Not only does the “beat” allow the actor to present a dynamic speech, but it also gives your character the opportunity to process the words and absorb them internally before moving on to the next phrase. Give the audience a chance to watch your character think and respond emotionally to what she is saying. A well-placed beat gives the speech shape and nuance. Go through your monologue with a pencil and draw a line wherever you want a beat. When you observe other performances, notice where the actor pauses. Just as in great music, the silence between the words in a Shakespeare monologue can speak volumes.
PERFORMANCE
TURNING POINTS
A great monologue has a beginning, middle, and end. As the actor, you must determine where the turning points are. The Monologue Notes in this book will help you identify these moments. You might discover instances where the mood shifts and the character takes on a new attitude or makes a new discovery. Perhaps the first part of the monologue is a question, and the second part is an answer. Maybe the mood moves from hate to love or from despair to hope. Study the text and watch performances, then experiment on your own to see if you can unearth a turning point to give your speech a dramatic arc. Your character undergoes a change in the speech, and you will want the audience to see this.
MOVEMENT
Movements and gestures in a monologue should not be forced. At the same time, you cannot speak your monologue completely still (unless the text calls for it, of course). The best movements are motivated by the text and can range from a simple hand gesture to a tumble, a leap, or a fall. The scenes in this collection have stage directions written into them. These are meant to be starting points or suggestions to get you moving. Your own movements will evolve as you begin to take ownership of your character’s words.
The more you study your character by mining the text for clues and studying others’ performances, the clearer a picture you will gain of how your character walks, stands, speaks, sits, and moves on the stage. If a movement or stage direction feels odd to you, try something different. Develop a physical vocabulary that is economical and expressive. You do not need to move on every word or phrase, but you do need to decide how to physically illustrate your words.
TRY IT ANOTHER WAY
Somewhere in the rehearsal process you will find an interpretation of your character and speech that works for you, and you will be performance-ready. Until that time, feel free to experiment. Try the speech softly, then loudly. If you have recited the words with great tragic emotion, then try the monologue as a comedy just to shake things up. Vary your word emphases, beats, word colorings, and movements. There are always alternate interpretations of any speech. Allow yourself at least one different way to play a speech, sentence, phrase, or word before arriving at your definitive version. You won’t know what interpretation works best for you until you have tried a number of possibilities.
BRING YOURSELF INTO IT
How do you make a Shakespeare monologue or character your own? You have read the text carefully, studied film or stage versions, and experimented with delivering the speech in different ways. The wonderful thing about your role as an actor is that there is only one of you. Nobody can perform Shakespeare like you can.
Does anything about the speech make you feel something emotionally? We hope that it does, but if it is leaving you unmoved, use your imagination. If you had lost a brother and missed him terribly, how would you feel? We all feel love, jealousy, confusion, excitement, joy, anger, and sadness. We have all lost something (or someone) and missed them. If you are lucky enough never to have experienced the same tragedy as your character, try to sympathize with her plight and identify a time when you felt a similar emotion.
If you don’t feel anything, then simply let the text do the talking for you. These monologues are full of beautiful, expressive phrases. Give them their due. Shakespeare’s words possess a magic of their own that touches people’s hearts and awakens their imaginations. Trust the words. Express them with as much care and artistry as you can. The work you put into preparing to perform a Shakespeare play will reap its rewards. Shakespeare has a tale to tell, and you are the one to tell it.
CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY
The following is a list of characters that appear in this scene of As You Like It.
SET AND PROP LIST
SET PIECES:
Tall stool with burlap or paper covering to look like short tree Short stool with burlap or paper covering to look like tree stump
PROPS:
Leaves
Rock for Duke Senior
Packs for forest dwellers
Bread and fruit to put in packs
Sword for Orlando
The Forest of Arden.
SOUND OPERATOR plays Sound Cue #1 (“Forest music”).
Enter NARRATOR
