Midsummer Nights Dream - Children's Theatre Presentation

Here is a link to mine and Katrina's Slide show on Children's Theatre:

https://prezi.com/uycvckex7hjd/childrens-theatre/

And here is the script to this presentation:

Slide 1 – What is it?

Theatre that is aimed at children and their families which hopes to take children on a journey, educates, entertain and inspire. Children’s theatre is targeted to children ages 3 to 12 and tends to be very colourful, vibrant, fun and loud. They include singing and dancing and interaction throughout the play. Here is a clip of what children’s theatre should look like. This clip is the Cbeebies pantomime version of Aladdin.

Workshop

The acting style of children’s theatre does sort of mirror the behaviour of children. For example if a character is annoyed, they will stomp around grunting and moaning, sort of like how a toddler might act if they were annoyed.

 So now we want you guys to act as children according to these different emotions we are giving you.

·         Bored

·         Tired

·         Happy

·         Angry

·         Excited

·         Love

Now pick your favourite emotion and go wild with it.

Now you know what children’s theatre is about, I am going to tell you a little bit about the origins of children’s theatre

Slide 2 – history

Children's theatre originated from Russia and Britain in 20th century the most recognized practitioner was A.V. Lunacharskii who headed the first state theatre for children in Moscow.

Only the best actors were allowed to perform in front of the children in Russia due to the respect they held for their young minds

·         1904

The first notated performance of children’s theatre was of the play peter pan by J.M.Barrie

·         1920

Britain only really showed children’s theatre around Christmas as a special gift for the season.

·         1940

British children’s theatre companies began to tour in schools and theatres.

British children’s theatre companies drew upon Russia’s original model work for children’s theatre.

·         1960

Theatre in Education (TIE) was created in Britain.

·         2016

There is children’s theatre festivals held all across the world as you can see it has expanded greatly.

Children’s theatre has turned into children’s TV

Children’s TV programmes have now been transformed into children’s theatre productions

Slide 3 – Elements

·         Small cast of versatile actors

·         Portable productions

·         Audience Participation

·         Narration

·         Music, dance and singing

·         Heightened acting

·         Bright, vibrant and interesting set.

·         Set characters

·         Clarity

·         Magic and mystery

·         Puppetry

·         Educational objects – most children’s theatre companies aim their work to suit school curriculums or have some kind of educational moral with in them that designed to make the children think.

·         Colourful costumes – as you saw in the clip previously children’s theatre aims to be bright and colourful and they defiantly don’t forget the costumes. Costumes can be miss matched with clashing patterns and horrendously bright colours which are all ingredients to create a visually stimulating show for the children. In our show some of the costumes include a moon, an orange and yellow lions main, a colourful sparkly fairy dress and many more.

·         Slapstick comedy/silliness – a very appealing element to children’s theatre is the slapstick comedy scenes that explore the silliness of characters. A very famous slapstick scene is when someone throws a cream pie into another person’s face. Slapstick is predominantly used in pantomime however we also use it within our play. For example in the scene change song sparks hits Shakespeare in the face with a mop

·         Various topics- So children’s theatre covers a lot of topics and they can be educational , like a play about the romans , relevant to today’s society a play about pollution they can be about sensitive subjects like divorce and all of these aim to educate and teach the children about the topics that are surrounding or on day may be they also do  folk law and fairy tale children’s show and theses a lot more about fun and entertainment.

Slide 4 - Suitability

When making a children’s production here are things to contemplate…

·         Mental ability – this is important because if the play is not suited to their mental ability then they will not understand or take anything away from the performance

·         Timescale – the timescale of a children’s play is so important as if it is far too long then you shall lose their focus and the will start become fidgety and bored and will yet again take nothing away from the experience

·         School needs – you must be able to suit your play to the schools needs whether it be to their educational curriculum or to their students if for example a student had a learning disability they would need extra support during the performance.

·         Context – the context of your play has to be suitable for the children for example you can’t be doing a play about sexual abused however a play about fairies is suitable.

·         Age – the performance must be age appropriate and there can be no use of foul language or anything inappropriate that could taint their youthful minds

·         Venue – the venue is important to consider if you are touring and going from school to school or place to place. Your set design has to be suitable and able to adapt to its surroundings as well as you actors being prepared for performing with or without light, or with and audience up close, on the floor or in actual seating.

Slide 5 – midsummer

We have been mentioning our play and so now is a good time to tell you what our play is and how we have made it suitable for children.

We have chosen Shakespeare’s a midsummer night’s dream and adapted it to make it suitable for ages 3-6. We chose this play because it has an educational aspect through learning about Shakespeare and the language he used but at the same time the story is magical and light hearted as long as you remove the death threats

Which is exactly what we have done? Not only have we have we cut the running time down to 50 minutes by removing unnecessary lines we have also replaced any remotely negative words with lighter hearted ones. For example Demetrius’s line “I am sick when I look on thee” we have changed to “I am sad when I look on thee” to avoid any possible offence. We have also added 3 characters sparks, gaffer and Shakespeare himself. They have been added to explain what a play is who Shakespeare is and they also help the children understand what is happening in the scene with the complex language.

So the end result is a fun play that teaches children a little about Shakespeare and how the theatre works. Sparks and gaffer are also the goofy slapstick characters that we touched upon earlier. 

Slide 6 – skills

·         Dance – dance is included in almost every children’ theatre play, you don’t have to be a great dancer you just need to have some rhythm to manage the light dancer that come hand in hand in children’s theatre

·         Sing – just like dancing, you don’t have to be amazing because a lot of the songs can be sung as your character. For example sparks and gaffer in our play don’t have to be the best vocalists as they have goofy farmer accents. However some characters will have to be able to sing for example the fairy in our production of midsummer night’s dream which is why it is important to have this skill.

·         Act - it is quintessential and almost absurdly obvious that you need this skill to do children’s theatre or in fact any theatre at all.

·         Projection – being able to project is a lot more then shouting it is being able to hear throughout your performing space without shouting and for children’s theatre this is a vital skill as there is a lot of audience of interaction and they need to know what they are meant to be doing.

·         Accents – accents are not always used within children’s theatre however you may be required to put on a funny voice as it is quite funny for the children. This would therefor require you to be clear whilst talking in a accent as the children may not understand what you are saying and you must be constant with your accent as the children may become confused if your voice keeps changing.

·         Stage combat – this sounds a bit odd as you wouldn’t expect any fighting in a children’s show but the reason stage combat is an important is due to the slapstick moment that may appear throughout the show so you must know how to react, or throw yourself or hit someone with hurting them or you

·         Good Memory - learn you lines!

·         Good stamina – it is important to have good stamina because you need to have a high amount of energy in a children’s show and this level of energy must be sustained throughout

·         Attitude – having a positive attitude or the right mind set to the production will enable for the whole experience to seem a lot more enjoyable for the children and yourself.

Slide 7 – creative ideas

Here are some of the ideas that we have had to further develop our play for children’s theatre...

·         Audience participation – we feel that audience participation is lacking in our play and there is missed opportunities to get the audience involved for example the repetitive scene change song, the final chorus could be sung by our audience

·         Interactions – there are many points through the play where the actors on stage could interact with the actors on stage and the audience for example when the mechanical are on stage snug could wave shyly to the audience and then cower when they wave back and also any point when the trio at the back are speaking the other actors on stage could have a bit more interaction with each other

·         Makeup –we also thought that adding specific make up to certain character would enhance the children experience for example we could apply mud to the Faces of the mechanicals in order to show they are work men and not of the same statues of the Athenians  also the fairy would have glitter to heighten the magic element of the play

·         Handouts- as an extra interaction with the audience, we thought it would be fun idea to place glow stick underneath the seats before the show so that the audience can use them during the magical songs when sparks and gaffer tell them to.

·         Set- our current set is minimalistic and with better budget could be extreme and over the top with every single thing represented.

·         Dance- we could further develop of dances by placing actors amongst the audience to break into dance and get everyone dance to the end song, also we could have a simple dance that only involves your arm that they could follow.

·         Multimedia- the use of a projection screen could be very interesting and fun and would also allow the scene to be set without having to use a black out to bring new set on.  Also lyrics to some of the songs could be projected onto to the screen so that the audience could sing along. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Developing scenes

In Act 1 Scene 2 we first meet the Mechanicals and we thought it would be a good idea to have the workmen enter the stage in a cool eccentric way as it will immediately show that they are the funny characters and it will catch the audience attention straight away. We originally thought that the mechanicals could walking in, following Quince and they would come to a sudden stop and the rest would fall into each other. I think this was a very effective entrance as it is very large and visual on the stage however on some of our rehearsals we would not fall into each other at the right moment and so it sometimes hurt us and it looked very messy.

We decided to experiment with this entrance as we wanted this to be a very iconic moment in the play so we then tried the idea that we would enter by doing some kind of a chant. We all stood in a line and entered by clapping and clicking at the same time as each other. we would then finish by standing in a pose with everyone out of breathe and proud of what they had done. It worked in the sense that it was visually captivating however we thought that is was missing something so we decided to add a song in which we could sing every time we entered onto the stage. We messed around some of the words relating to the play and we finally came up with...

"WE ARE MECHANICALS AND WE ARE PROUD, WE ARE CLUMSY AND VERY LOUD!"

This works very well as we could clap it along to a simple rhythm, it is very catchy and it states exactly what type of characters they are. But once again the way we were entering onto the stage was too tidy even though these characters are meant to be clumsy. So we experimented with more slapstick sketches that would look more appropriate for the play.

So our final entrance is Quince enters singing the chant and everyone else responds by chanting the same line back to her. then after Quince snout walks in and realises his shoe lace is undone so he bends down to tie his shoe. At this point Bottom then leap frogs over Snout and Bottom caries on walking to Quince. Then Flute jumps onto Snout's back and the sort of fumble around and Snout drops him onto the floor. And finally at the back Starveling drags on Snug who is trying to escape off stage.

Midsummer nights dream - rehearsal process

When we started rehearsing we realised that this play would not take long to block simply due to the fact that it is only a 50 minute play however it was crucial that we got the right setup on stage if not the audience would not be able to see or hear us. So when we were deciding  where to put sparks, gaffer and Shakespeare we thought it would be best to have them at the back centre stage as the audience are in a semicircle around the stage as that position would enable everyone to be seen and enough space for the actors to perform.

We then had to think about where the actors entrances and exits were going to be. Since the audience are in a round we thought it would be nice for the actors to enter in between the audience so that the children feel completely emerged into the performance. So we have 5 entrances 1 at the centre back of the stage which is called entrance A, then there is one at upstage left called B, one at downstage left called C, one at downstage right called D and a final one in upstage right called E. Within all of our scripts we have written in each letter so that we will know where we and entering and exiting from.

During the play Titania has fallen asleep on the ground and stays there from page 25 till page 36. This meant that we had to place Titania so that she could still be seen but also so that she doesn't get in the way of the other actors on stage. So we decided to put her centre stage originally as we though it would be the best place for her to be seen however we lost a lot of space for the actors to perform in so instead she is still centre stage but she has been pushed up against the blocks that Shakespeare, sparks and Gaffer stand on so that she is not in the way of the scenes going on. She is also covered in a green blanket which the mechanicals can now reference as the green plot where they can rehearse their play in the woods.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Children's theatre

Children's Theatre is a type of theatre that bases its production for an audience of families and children usually under the age of 12. It's main criteria is to educate children in a certain subject which the play is about and also to entertain them through slapstick comedy and large theatrical dances and songs. children's theatre has become extremely popular that some children's TV programmes have gone on to become theatre productions so that they can enhance the children's enjoyment of the favourite TV programmes.

There are many elements to children's theatre and they can also be found in children's TV programmes as well. For example in the TV programme Balamory uses elements such as ...
. Catchy songs to explain different themes
. Interesting names such as Miss Hoolie
. Charming accents for different characters such as spencer the painter was an American
. Colour matching for each character
. Sound effects
. Facial expressions
. Audience interactions
. And many more
Here is a link to a song that has nearly every element in it from Balamory
https://youtu.be/FlhPre4j1ss

In our production we also use these elements as well

• Catchy songs - we have 7 songs in our play that each describe some kind of element to the play for example the song "scene change" explains to the children what a scene change in the theatre is and also what types of set will be used in the scene.
• Interesting names - since our play is Shakespearean it will already have interesting names such as Lysander and Hippolyta but we also have added characters such as Spark and Gaffer which relate to their jobs as the are theatre technicians.
• Charming accents - in our production we have made it so only the mechanicals have accents as they are meant to be silly characters so in one cast the character Snout has a lisp but in the other cast he has a very deep and bored emotion to his voice.
• Colour matching - for our Athenian characters they will all be in white togas however for each of the couples that end up together they shall have a matching fabric that will show the audience who they are meant to be with.
• Sound effects - we use some sound effects for magic but we also have the characters Sparks and gaffer make some of the sound effects with their mouths like the trumpets that wake up the lovers.
• Facial expressions - since this used in all children's theatre productions we decided to use this to help explain some of the complicated emotions of the play and also to make the characters funnier to the children they will over exsagerate their facial expressions.
• Audience interaction - we use this throughout the play especially the characters spark, gaffer and Shakespeare. At one point Sparks and gaffer get children up from the audience to be fairies for queen Titania and they get to do a dance around the donkey.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Character Costumes

Egea's Costume:
Since Egea is a noble Athenian from Greece, she and all the other Athenians will wear toga's because it is a traditional garment of Greece. A toga is sort of a white sheet that wraps around your body so it looks like a dress once it is draped upon a persons body. It was a semicircular length of cloth about 12 and 20 feet long. This costume not only showing the Greek culture but it also gives the character Egea a high statues as it was considered a noble garment. 

Snug's Costume:
Since Snug is apart of the mechanicals and it probably one of the lowest statues characters, she is not going to be in the toga's like the Athenians. Instead she is in a matching set of waist coat and shorts that are white and blue striped and a yellow strips on the side. With this she shall wear a bright yellow to underneath her out fit. The reason she is wearing yellow is because in children's theatre, most characters will have bright colours and costumes to make it eye catching for the children. Also the yellow will also match the lion's main that she must wear for the play with in the play. The lion's main in a hat with orange, gold and yellow string attached to it that will match with the yellow colours already on her costume.

Sparks's Costume: 
Since Sparks is a part of the stage crew, she is going to be wearing a black pair of dungarees, with a colourful top underneath and a pair of trainers. This costume symbolises the handyman job aspect but it also has a hint of colour that will be suitable for the children's theatre style. Also she will have a head set which will also link to her job title. for her hair I thought that i would have two backcombed pigtails on each side of my head to show a more childish nature to my character and some spiky hair ties that sort of look like sparks which will be wrapped around my pigtails.

Midsummer Nights Dream - Sparks Character Profile

Name: Sparks
Statues: Narrator's helper (Stage Crew)
Relationships: Friends with Gaffer and Shakespeare
Play: Midsummer Nights Dream
Part Of The Play: appears through out the play however it is an extra character that has been added to the original play


Right to left: Sparks, Shakespeare and Gaffer

Sparks's Character:
Sparks is an extra character that has been added to our production as well as Gaffer and William Shakespeare. this three character's narrate the play for the children due to the fact that the original Shakespearean language would be hard to follow for children aged 3 to 6. So instead Sparks and Gaffer, who are considerably dumb stage crew, continually ask Shakespeare questions about what is going on which is then explained by Shakespeare in modern language so that the children will understand.
for example:
"Where is puck going?" - Sparks
"Don't worry Oberon has sent Puck to fetch a Magic flower, he won't be long" - Shakespeare

This device of having Shakespeare, Sparks and Gaffer narrating and asking questions throughout the play makes it more understandable as it breaks down what happens with each character and it reassures the audience on what is going on.

Sparks is a dumb comic relief in the play as he is one part of a double act with gaffer and they  pop up during the play to make jokes, sing songs and be silly for the children. I have decided to make Sparks a character who always tries to please Shakespeare and believes that she is smart but she actually gets most stuff wrong. 

for example:
"oh can we go and wake the Atheneninians?" - Sparks
"Athenians, no the duke Theseus is going to do that now" - Shakespeare

As you can see, Sparks says the word 'Atheneninians' which is wrong as she believes thats how you say Athenians. this joke is used throughout the whole play and both Sparks and Gaffer use it. I feel that it shows she is trying to be smart but she is still getting it wrong. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Snug Character Profile

Name: Snug the Joiner
Statues: Mechanical
Relations: friends with Bottom, Quince, Snout, Starveling and Flute
Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Part of the play: Act 1 Scene 2, Act 3 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 1

From left to right: Snout, Flute, Snug (Girl in Yellow), Quince, Starveling and Bottom


Snug's Character:
Snug is to be apart of a play that will be presented for Duke Theseus as he is getting married to Hippolyta. They will show it on their wedding day. Quince is the leader and writer for their amateur company  and within their first scene we see Quince giving each of the actors their parts. Snug is left till last as is given the role of Lion. However Snug is a very timid and slightly dumb character so playing the lion seems like a confusing concept as snug isn't brave or loud like a lion and he is scared about playing the character due to the lines. Therefore he says:

"Have you the lion’s part written? Pray you, if it be, give it me, for I am slow of study."
Act 1 Scene 2 - Snug

This line basically shows Snug's character to be shy, dumb and nervous about performing the play to people. Quince then tells Snug...

"You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring."
Act 1 Scene 2 - Quince

It shows how quince as been kind to Snug as he says that you can basically improvise the character as it is nothing but roaring. It also show that Snug is probably well looked after by all the mechanicals as they are considerate enough to put him into the play and they consider how hard it is for Snug to learn his lines. Therefor I believe that Snug is probably more confident with the mechanicals compared to when he is performing the play within the play as he is not comfortable with the lords and ladies.

Our Version of Snug:
Originally the play within the play tell the story of the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe who have been separated by a wall of their families land. They therefor plan to meet at Ninnies tomb so that they can be together. However a lion intercepts Thisbe and it tears of a piece of Thisbe's clothing which is now covered in blood.  Pyramus then finds the clothes and believes that Thisbe had died so he takes his life. Later Thisbe then finds Pyramus dead and she also takes her own life. It is sort of a take on Romeo and Juliet. 

Due to the fact that we are performing to children age 3-6, we have had to change the play within the play's storyline as it originally contains to many inappropriate themes for this audience. Therefor the story now goes ...

Pyramus and Thisbe hear a strange cat like sound and they see a tail flick through a whole in the wall. They decided to climb over the wall to see what the sound is and they find a 'cat'. They therefore bring up the cat as their pet but one night the moon shines on the cat and it actually shows that it is a lion. the lion then says goodbye to Pyramus and Thisbe and runs of to be free.

This version of the play within the play is a lot more suitable for the young audience as it not only doesn't contain the inappropriate themes but it also uses slapstick humour when Pyramus and Thisbe try to climb the wall but instead they go through the walls legs. 

Midsummer Nights Dream - Egeus Character Profile

Name: Egeus
Statues: A gentlemen of Athens
Relations: Father to Hermia
Play: A midsummer Night's Dream
Part of the play: Appears in Act 1 Scene 1 and the second to last scene Act 4 Scene 1

Egeus is the lady on the left, then Duke Theseus and Hippolyta 



Egeus's Character:
We first see Egeus in the house of the Duke Theseus where he appeals to the duke to allow him to be able to choose his daughter's (Hermia) husband. Hermia is in love with a man called Lysander but Egeus doesn't like him and Egeus wants Hermia to marry a man called Demetrius instead. 

In the original text it says:

"I beg the ancient privilege of Athens.
As she is mine, I may dispose of her—
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death—according to our law
Immediately provided in that case."
Act 1 Scene 1 - Egeus

This basically says that Egeus is so determine to choose for his daughter that he would rather her be killed then have her marry Lysander. Since he is a high gentleman in society he also is able to hold the law up against is word as he is educated and he has high statues and control over his daughter. to me this show that Egeus probably isn't a very caring father as he cares more about controlling her then considering her feelings on the matter. therefore I feel everything about his character should be upright and cold since he doesn't show any compassion to his daughter.

Our Version of Egeus:
Since our version of the play is based for children between the ages of 3 - 6, we are not going to say that Hermia must die instead of marrying Demetrius as this would be a very inappropriate theme to put to children of that age. Also the two actors who are playing Egeus (myself included) are both female so in order not to make the children confused we are changing Egeus to Egeia. So this means that references of Egeus must change so that they are female.

For example...
"Be advised fair maid:
to you your father should be as a god;"
Act 1 Scene 1 - Theseus

it will change to...
"Be advised fair maid:
to you your Mother should be as a Goddess;"
Act 1 Scene 1 - Theseus

Classical Monologue 3 - Hamlet

Play: Hamlet

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Ophelia 
Part of the Play: Act 2 scene 1
Setting: In a room in their castle, alone
Play's Context: King Hamlet has recently died and his brother Claudius has taken his throne and King Hamlet's widow Queen Gertrude. King Hamlet's son (Hamlet) is visited by a ghost of his father and he says that he was killed by his brother Claudius. Hamlet there forth seeks revenge on his father's death and slips into a melancholy state of madness. Polonius believes that Hamlet is in love with his daughter Ophelia so Claudius sets up their marriage but Hamlet doesn't love her and wants all marriages to be banned. however when Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, Ophelia drowns herself in the river and Hamlet confesses he did love her. Hamlet's uncle then gets Ophelia's brother to duel with Hamlet out of revenge and the blade is poisoned inevitably killing Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius and Ophelia's brother.

Ophelia's Monologue:
'My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd,
No hat upon his head, his stockings foul'd,
Ungart'red, and down-gyved to his ankle;
Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell 
To speak of horrors- he comes before me. 
He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
Then goes he to the length of all his arm,
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so.
At last, a little shaking of mine arm,
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being. That done, he lets me go,
And with his head over his shoulder turn'd
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes,
For out o' doors he went without their help

And to the last bended their light on me.'

Ophelia's Character:

She is a very young and sweet girl who is confused by two fronts. her father and brother believe that Hamlet is only using her and when they are married she would be pushed aside however Ophelia believes that Hamlet does truly love her even though he swears he doesn't. of course she was right because Hamlet grieves her death and he confesses his love for her. She is one of the purest Shakespearean characters as she dies a virgin and she leaves the world due to grief and love for her father. 

My View:
I really like this speech as it is one of the few times that Ophelia actually speaks. I like how the monologue expresses her true feelings towards Hamlet but it also shoe her true vulnerability as well as her true love for Hamlet. I don't believe that she would be overly emotionally unstable and she is mainly explaining what had happened in order to make it make sense in her own head as well as they other characters around her.

Contemporary Monologue 3 - The Table Laid

Play: The Table Laid

Playwright: Anna Langhoff
Character: Galina Duvidowitsch
Part of the Play: page 157
Setting: A kitchen of a German refugee hostel in the early 1990's
Play's context: The story follows many different refugees who explain their past of illegal border crossing, corrupt officials, crooked migration agents, beatings and abuse demonstrating the magnified problems of unemployment and racial intolerance for woman and their families in the post communist period.

Galina's monologue:
"Serb. Croat. What is that? What difference have you found? What is your shit problem? Maybe you know? But how can I explain to my son. His grandmother still wore a veil. Had both her arms covered down to her wrists even on the hottest of days. She understood no Russian. In her house there was no water. She brought it from the stream. Day by day. The buckets were heavy. But then the men came. And girls in light blouses. They laughed loudly on the dust track. Shoes stained grey. The men and the girls. They called meetings in the village square. Made speeches. Said. Moscow is ruled by the working class. It is a revolution! But Moscow was distant. My grandmother hadn't even noticed the revolution. Still. Everyone there knew that in dark kitchens. They would bring water and electricity. Women called one girl. Are like men. Have the same rights and same duties. Women can't flee from the new age. No longer shall you wrap in veils to inhibit and bind you. The veils fell into the dust. From now on laughed grandmother. Men must give birth to great pain. Must bleed and be alone. Have their stillborns ripped from their guts."

Galina's character:
Galina is a Russian refugee from Moscow. She is married to a Jew called Michail and she is also a mother to a young son. She is strongly against war however she has been caught up in a conflict that has made her have to leave her home to move to the German refugee hostel. Galina ran away from her home with her husband with false documents so she has to hide is German as a fugitive. She dreams of her life before she moved and how the idea of a revolution was wonderful but now it all seems like a mistake.

My View:
I personally think that Galina is a well lived character and there is a lot of depth and grit to her life. So I feel that I would need to play Galina with a very earthy and grounded voice as she has lived through tough experiences. I also will need to put on a Russian ascent in order to show her thick heritage from Moscow.  Even though this is only an extract of the original monologue, if feel that Galina goes on an emotional journey as she starts of arguing with another man, then she reminisces  on her grandmother, then she expresses the hope of the revolution but then she drops down to express the realisation of her life.

Classical Monologue 2 - King Lear

Play: King Lear

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Goneril
Part of the Play: Act 1 Scene 3
Setting: Goneril's house
Play's Context: The play follows a man and his three daughters. King Lear has three daughters Goneril the eldest, Regan the middle and Cordelia. He is deciding to split up his land between his daughters so he asks each of them how much they love him. Goneril and Regan are hungry for Lear's power so the lie to his and say they love his with everything however the youngest Cordelia says that she can only love him as much as she can because she must also love her husband. Because Lear thinks Cordelia doesn't love him he sends he away. In doing so he gives his land to Goneril and Regan who abuse this power as they chuck their father out of their life. He goes made but Cordelia returns with an army to help return her father to the throne but she is killed and later King Lear also dies. During the play Both of the other sister's die due to their manipulation of power and the only people to survive is Cordelia's husband and King Lear's Best friends son Edger. 

Goneril's Monologue:

"By day and night he wrongs me. Every hour

He flashes into one gross crime or other

That sets us all at odds. I’ll not endure it.

His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us

On every trifle. When he returns from hunting,

I will not speak with him. Say I am sick.

If you come slack of former services,

You shall do well. The fault of it I’ll answer.

Put on what weary negligence you please,

You and your fellow servants. I’ll have it come to question.

If he distaste it, let him to our sister,

Whose mind and mine I know in that are one,

Not to be overruled. Idle old man

That still would manage those authorities

That he hath given away! Now by my life,

Old fools are babes again and must be used

With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abused.

Remember what I have said.

And let his knights have colder looks among you.

What grows of it, no matter. Advise your fellows so.

I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall,

That I may speak. I’ll write straight to my sister

To hold my very course. Go, prepare for dinner."

Goneril's Character:
Goneril is the oldest of three sisters. She only really wants power and she and her sister Regan both deceive their father in order to get it. Goneril is married to the Duke of Albany and they both are just as manipulative as each other as they both assist in taking out Gloucester's eyes and Goneril even goes as far as killing her sisters. Goneril is defiantly one of Shakespeare's evilest women as she kills her sister Regan with poison so that she can have an affair with Edmund even though she is already married. However her grief does catch up with her because when Edmund's half brother Edger mortally wounds him, Goneril runs off and commits suicide.

My View:
I believe that Goneril is so angry and hungry for power due to the fact that she is a woman in a man's world and she feels that she has been neglected by her father for so many years. She is also jealous of what her sister Regan and Cordelia have which is love so there forth her jealousy leads her to do horrible thing. I think the only way to make her natural to me if I was to play her would be to play on the idea that she actually is a very hurt and troubled person and she believes the only way to feel better is by going to the extremes. I i was to play her as just being angry fro power I think I would not find the characters truth as I am not angry for power. 

Contemporary Monologue 2 - Dying Light

Play: Dying Light

Playwright: D M Larson
Character: Jenny
Part of the Play: Act 1, Scene 3
Setting: A hospital ward
Play's Context:  the play follows the story of two young people (Tom and Jenny) who are both suffering from cancer. Both characters are trying to deal with their own morality and their struggles with cancer but they do it through satirical comedy and on going chats with each other and their nurse. There is only three characters in the play so most of the play is performed in duologues and monologues. 

Jenny's Monologue: 
'Glioblastoma.  That's what they say I have...  Glioblastoma.  Sounds like 
some kind of science fiction laser.  My Glioblastoma is set for kill.  Just 
give the word Captain and I will vaporise the alien beast.  'Course it's not 
from Star Trek or Star Wars or Star Blazers.  It's from real life.  But like 
one of those types of movies it seems like some kind of alien.  It snuck 
inside my head and began eating my brain.  It's no secret that it's set for 
kill either.  A Glioblastoma is probably the worst type of tumour you can 
get.  Nope, I wasn't lucky enough to only get one little tumour.  Instead I 
had a cluster of the damn things.  Every time I had an MRI - that's like a 
CAT scan but better - they managed to find a new one.  So three 
operations and a ride on the radiation rollarcoaster later, I'm still here.  It's
strange the way people treat you when you're dying.  My Mom try's to 
pretend nothings wrong...  Maybe that's for the best.  Recently a doctor 
told me I should consider putting my estate in order.  Estate in order! 
What's that?  Some clothing, make-up, and a beat up bicycle.  I'm not 
going to be leaving a whole lot behind to prove I was here.  Cancer!  
Brain surgeries!  You wouldn't believe how hard it was in high school to 
deal with all that crap.  You wouldn't believe how hard it was for a girl with 
no hair to find a date to the prom.  Nobody asked me.  Nope...  Nobody 
wanted to take the bald chick out.  No big deal.  Ended up having to hire 
someone to go with me...  Just kidding.  Actually I ended up asking Henry 
Schlatman.  The guy had glasses that were about a foot thick and he still 
couldn't see.  On the night of the prom he complimented me on my hair.  I
didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't have any.  Well at least for the 
time being I have hair again. Well, I'm still alive.'

Jenny's Character:
She is a 19 year old girl who has been struggling from Glioblastroma (brain cancer) for years. She uses satirical comedy to deal with her pain but she is also used to suffering as she has had the cancer for years. 

"Glioblastomas (GBM) are tumours that arise from astrocytes—the star-shaped cells that make up the “glue-like,” or supportive tissue of the brain. These tumours are usually highly malignant (cancerous) because the cells reproduce quickly and they are supported by a large network of blood vessels" 
http://www.abta.org/brain-tumor-information/types-of-tumors/glioblastoma.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/

My View:
i really like this monologue because it deals with a very serious issue but it portrays it through comedic dialogue and so I therefore think that this monologue would be a great way for me to show some subtle comedy in an audition. for instance on the line "My Glioblastoma is set for kill. Just give the word Captain and I will vaporise the alien beast" I am going to use a Russian accent to show that the character has her own humour and that she has accepted her cancer for what it is. 

Classical Monologue 1 - Twelfth Night

Play: Twelfth Night

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Character: Viola/Cesario
Style: Classical
Part of the play: Act 2 Scene 2
Setting: Outside on the Path back to Orsino's house
Play's Context: Twelfth Night follows the story of a set of twins (Viola and Sebastian) who get shipwrecked and separated on the island of Illyria. Viola being a girl decides she would be safest if she pretended to be a man so that she would higher statues and so that she could work for the Duke Orsino. Orsino in in love with the Lady Olivia so he sends Cesario (Viola as a boy) to go and woo Olivia in his name. However, when Olivia first meets Viola she falls in love with her but Viola has now fallen in love with Orsino. The play becomes more confusing when people start to believe that Sebastian in Cesario but it all ends up as one merry case of confused identity. 

Viola's Monologue:
'I left no ring with her. What means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her.
She made good view of me; indeed, so much
That, as methought, her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord's ring? Why, he sent her none.
I am the man. If it be so, as 'tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false
In women's waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly;
And I (poor monster) fond as much on him;
And she (mistaken) seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love.
As I am woman (now alas the day!),
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe?
O Time, thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me t' untie.'

Viola's Character:
Viola is basically a very scared and lost girl who finds comfort in her Master Orsino which gradually turns into a form of love.   However she also sympathises with Olivia as they are both women in love with someone that they believe or know that they cannot have. She therefore envies and pity's Olivia all at once as she would love to be her but she relates to her heart ace. She originally seen in her female garments as a young sweet lady but to insure her safety she dressed as a man in which she finds a new found freedom. She originally seen in her female garments as a young sweet lady but to insure her safety she dressed as a man in which she finds a new found freedom.She also is blessed that she has been able to have this freedom as a man as she can speak her own mind so when she is cruel to people she is only trying taking advantage of her new found freedom and she may not necessarily be intending to be mean to those people. She is also quite young (17-22 ish) so she is constantly making mistakes and shows a sweet vulnerability around the male characters.

My View:
I think the main reason I choose this monologue was because it is a very personal speech were she is trying to understand her situation by talking it through to herself and I believe I related to Viola in that sense as I also like to talk through things I don't understand and I often talk to myself. I also choose this monologue as she is of a similar age and I can relate to the idea of young crushes. Plus I like the fact that this monologue could be performed in a comedic way as she is ridiculing her own sex 'How easy is it for the proper false In women's waxen hearts to set their forms' She shows how women are easily persuaded into the idea of love and she is not only laughing at herself but also all women. I think the comedic element will be quite interesting to show as the piece is meant to be Viola's real meaningful thoughts but the comedy would need to be quite unrealistic in order for the audience to understand the joke. so I think this monologue will be an interesting challenge to do justice to.