Friday 14th september

Today we were looking for and researching monologues for both units. I found it really hard to settle on a contemporary monologue, so I borrowed some books from my tutor which contain plays for young people produced by the national theatre. 

I have watched "much ado about nothing" for character research but I can't find "as we forgive those" on any videos or the full version of "The seagull" but I am doing character research into these online to get a better grasp of the characters personalitys. 

The monologues I have chosen so far...

• Ninas monologue from "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov. I need to do further research on the play but so far I know she's 19 and is an actress. She isnt the best of actress's but gives it her best! the monologue I am doing is quite strange as its a piece that she has to perform in a play, she thinks its brilliant, but the audience think its a bit strange.
• Hero's monologue from "Much ado about nothing" by William Shakespeare. In this monologue hero knows that Beatrice is listening to the conversation between herself and her maid Ursula, she is deliberately saying nasty but quite comical things about Beatrice's personality and attitude towards men to make her realise what her behaviour is really like. The style will have to be quite over the top as its a comedy and she wants beatrice to hear everything shes saying.
•  Alex's monologue from "As we forgive those" by Andrew Smith. Alex is troubled girl in her late teens who left home after injuring her sister, she has appeared at her sisters house a few years later after an unfortunate coincident with   her sisters roommate Jenny of whom she had robbed the night before without realising!. she secretly regrets everything she has done but she can't seem to admit it for a while. the monologue is when she has finally cracked and she is telling her sister why she went to such extreme lengths, it turns out she thought she was ugly and nothing compared to her sister so it was done out of jealousy. She still feels worthless but she also feels deeply sorry for what she has done and wants forgiveness. The style is quite naturalistic and I will need to use the "Magic If" to portray it.  

Alex's monologue srongly contrasts with Hero's monologue, as Alex's is quite depressive and involves anger and negative emotions whilst Hero's monologue is sort of a comedy and involves humour and teasing. They are also from completely different time periods, contemporary and classical.

here are some links I found which will give you more information on the plays-
http://www.enotes.com/much-ado-about-nothing
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-seagull/study-guide/section1/
http://www.stageplays.com/products/as_we_forgive_those/Andrew%20Smith