so I finally found a monolouge for my antigone audition. i read a couple of monolougues from greek plays such as medea and helen, but when i read this monologue from electra I knew, it has the perfect amount of strong language that the director suggested. Hopefully I can be vulnerable enough but something about the monologue spoke to me when I read it so here's to hopeing.
any how I know that the director who is casting, likes very full acting with a lot of movement and thats the one thing I might need some help on in this particular peice.
So I'm gonna post my monologue in the hopes that somebody might be able to give me some suggestions of how to put in movement in it. I tend to be a stand in one place kinda girl, so I need to work on it for sure.

here it is, I'd really appriciate some help. any would help.


"ELECTRA: Let me then speak; but where shall I begin.
Thy insults to recount? With what conclude?
Or how pursue the train of my discourse?
I never with the opening morn forbore
To breathe my silent plaints, which to thy face
I wished to utter, from my former fears
If e'er I should be free: I now am free.
Now, to thee living what I wished to speak,
I will recount. Thou hast destroyed my hopes,
Made me an orphan, him and me bereft
Of a dear father, by no wrongs enforced.
My mother basely wedding, thou hast slain
The glorious leader of the Grecian arms,
Yet never didst thou tread the fields of Troy.
Nay, such thy folly, thou couldst hope to find
My mother, shouldst thou wed her, nought of ill
To thee intending: hence my father's bed
By thee was foully wronged. But let him know
Who with forbidden love another's wife
Corrupts, then by necessity constrained
Receives her as his own, should he expect
To find that chastity preserved to him,
Which to her former bed was not preserved,
He must be wretched from his frustrate hope.
And what a life of misery didst thou lead,
Though not by thee deemed ill? Thy conscious mind
Of thy unholy nuptials felt the guilt:
My mother knew that she an impious man
In thee had wedded; and, polluted both,
Thou hadst her fortune, she thy wickedness.
'Mongst all the Argives, this had fame divulged,
The man obeys the wife, and not the wife
Her husband: shameful this, when in the house
The woman sovereign rules, and not the man.
And when of children speaks the public voice
As from the mother, not the father sprung,
To me it is unpleasing. He who weds
A wife of higher rank and nobler blood,
Sinks into nothing, in her splendour lost.
Thus truth unknown, thy pride was most deceived,
Thyself as great thou vauntedst, in the power
Of riches vainly elevate; but these
Are nothing, their enjoyment frail and brief;
Nature is firm, not riches; she remains
For ever, and triumphant lifts her head.
But unjust wealth, which sojourns with the base,
Glitters for some short space, then flies away.
To women thy demeanour I shall pass
Unmentioned, for to speak it ill beseems
A virgin's tongue; yet I shall make it known
By indistinct suggestion. Arrogance
Swelled thy vain mind, for that the royal house
Was thine, and beauty graced thy perfect form.
But be not mine a husband whose fair face
In softness with a virgin's vies, but one
Of manly manners; for the sons of such
By martial toils are trained to glorious deeds:
The beauteous only to the dance give grace.
Perish, thou wretch, to nothing noble formed;
Such was thou found, and vengeance on thy head
At length hath burst; so perish all, that dare
Atrocious deeds! Nor deem, though fair his course
At first, that he hath vanquished Justice ere
He shall have reached the goal, the end of life."

I don't believe that a message board is the most effective place to seek proper guidance on a monologue like this.

Hefty material requires a well-qualified coach equal to the task, preferably one with experience steeped in the classics.

www.robertkim.com

Ok, I know this is sometimes considered taboo, but if you can, pick up a film version of the play, and see how it was tackled in the past. That does not mean copy the same thing, it just may help open some doors on what you would want to do. Im more of a shakespeare fan than the greek work, so I don't want to say there's a set formula to approach this work. If you pick up kott's "the eating of the gods", it may shed some ideas, but Im not sure you have time to read that before your big day. Look at the queen in "300" when she addresses the council. She is powerful, yet vulnerable. Just giving some ideas as to what can parallel your situation. I hope all goes well and break a leg!

quote:

Originally posted by avidactor:
Ok, I know this is sometimes considered taboo, but if you can, pick up a film version of the play, and see how it was tackled in the past.

Hell, that's a great idea avid, particularly if our girl's under the gun. And on your point -- who really cares if using new mediums of communication are considered "taboo" or unconventional when researching a role! Your suggestion is as valid as any. I only wonder how many times Mel Gibson watched Laurence Olivier's filmed version of Hamlet before he finally took it on?

Whatever works.

While it's hard to give advice like this on the forum I would suggest breaking it down by emotions. Read through it and decide what emotion you would be feeling at that point and then focus on how the emotions transition into each other and that will help with the flow.

Addendum:

The ultimate answer to Snuffle's question still lies in the usual forms of acting education. Watching films can be a valuable aid in discerning character and quickly gaining insights into how others have approached difficult roles, but certainly is no subsititute for my initial remarks. I think there is a tendency for actors, particularly less seasoned ones, to simply copy the attitudes of what they see performed on the screen and without a deeper understanding of proper technique and backstory can fall into the trap of simple mimicry. I believe avidactor and I are on the identical page on this.

"Whatever works."

When I choose a monologue, I NEVER want to see it performed if I can avoid it as imitating it to some degree is likely, even on a sub-conscious level Better to make a choice of your own and stick with it.

I agree with miss stone. I never want to see how any role I'm playing is played by someone else, until I've done my own analysis. I find it limits my choices.

Here's a trick I use to help especially with the heightened language in Shakespearean monologues. After you've done the your character analysis and broken the monolgue down into beats, objectives, intentions, etc... As you say the monologue add whatever movement comes to mind, whatever the language inspires your body to do...make the movement as big as possible! Don't think about it, don't judge the movement.

It can be really simple gesturing from ticking points off on your fingers for "Thy insults to recount" to becoming a flying bird, soaring around the room for "If e'er I should be free: I am now free." You should go from one movement into the next as fluidly as possible so that you're not thinking too much about the next thing you're going to do. It should be sort of like a dance.

You should find that when you perform the monologue some of the movements from the exercise will find their way into the performance. Obviously, they won't be as big and you won't use everything, but you're body should feel freer performing the monologue. You might find a gesture you really like, or a way of standing that feels like the character. It's amazing what you can discover.

I hope this helps!

Thanks Robert! I sometimes use films as a visual aide, but not to mimic the actor, as I know thats what you were saying as well. Everyone has valid points. This, I think, is more of a matter of stylistic choices that the director presented for the actor here. If the director is going for a stylistic approach, then we need to determine exactly what "stage picture" he's going for. The idea of making your gestures bigger seems to imply "overacting". I know thats not what it was meant to imply by the poster, but you have to be careful in your physical choices. If your movement is going to be "heightened", then the inspiration to do so must be there; otherwise, it'll look forced. If the director is going for such a style, then he needs to make his vision clear to the actor at the audition. I would say, go for what's in your gut, and if he wants to see it differently, he'll ask. But for the actor, keep in mind to free yourself from any preconceived notions and let yourself discover the movement in the piece when you rehearse it. This is where using film as an aide can hinder you, IF YOU LET IT. I remember doing a production of "burn this" and I just couldn't feel Pale's inner beast. My friend, who saw John Malkovich's performance said it looked like his pain was a self inflicted cut that he just loved to scratch. So I sat down and watched some films that I thought would be educational in that sense, rather than filling the character itself. I think it pushed me in the right direction. It is difficult to see a film version of something, and NOT use some of the actor's little hints, but the way I see it, is, if it can help motivate you to get to the right place, why not? I mean, we use it when we observe people in an everyday state, so what would be the difference? Johnny Depp uses real people all the time when he creates characters and by God if he isn't one of the most prolific performers of our time! I can see both sides of the spectrum here, but I think if you distance yourself from the idea of using past performances as a tool to help your influence, in at least a slight sense, you're losing some opportunities for an even greater performance. I believe, if you don't fear comparison, then there would be no need to want to compare because your performance would be strong enough to hold on its own.

You can only figure out the movements if you know whan the text is saying. If you need some help you should take out the big words that stand out to you, and circle all the words you don't know. Use all the words you do know and the words that stick out, and write a "translation" to this writing. By "translation" write what you would say, like you are turning Shakespeare's works into something a 1st grader could understand. Now figure out what movements go with your translation. Once you know for sure what exact movements you want to do, stop using your translation, and use those movements for the original writing. Your director will be impressed with your understanding of the text and that you were sure of your movements and not just randomly walking places.