Monologue Vocal Analysis

The Table Laid: 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."

Behind The Monologue:
the monologue show the story of a Russian refugee who has just had an argument with a man named Vedran. She doesn't support war and so she has made Vedran leave because of her argument. she then goes on to talk by her self about what her old life was like and starts to reflect about her families opinions on the revolution as well. this is only the first chunk of the monologue as it then goes on to talk about what Galina's life is like now she is a refugee. I felt that the first part of the monologue was a good part to use as she changes her emotions quite frequently through out the monologue. she starts of with being angry at Vedran but then she goes to a reflective state about the family and then into a state of pride about the revolution. I therefore feel that using this chunk will allow me to portray a range of different emotions vocally and physically.

Vocal Challenge:
As the character Galina is a Russian refugee it means that the actress playing her would have to use a Russian accent. This would defiantly effect my performance vocally as it means I will need to be able to do a Russian accent and I would also be able to pronounce my words clearly with accent so that the audience will understand what I am saying. when I researched how to do a Russian accent the main vocal tricks I found were:

• All of the W's are usually pronounced as a V sound e.g. weasel would sound like veasal 
• They use a rolled R sound
• They often talk lower, slower and louder then I usually would
• Use a starting word that will get you in the mood of Russian. One of the most commonly used words is Vodka as it already sounds Russian. It will help to get into the accent.