Creating your own monologue
Book - 1999
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
New York :
Allworth Press
1999.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- 193 p.
- Bibliography
- Includes index.
- ISBN
- 9781581150384
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction to the Second Edition
- Introduction
- Six Ways to Get the Most Out of This Book
- Part I. The monologue: writing, rehearsing, performing
- 1. A Definition of Terms
- What Is a Monologue?
- Types of Monologues
- What Is Performance Art?
- 2. A Brief History of the One-Person Show
- Samuel Foote (1721-1777) Creates the One-Person Show
- George Alexander Stevens, the Father of the Monologue
- Charles Mathews
- Ruth Draper Perfects the Monologue
- Cornelia Otis Skinner
- Historical Monologues
- The Solo Show Today
- 3. A Preliminary Look
- Questions to Ask Yourself before Starting Work on a Solo Show
- The Similarities/Differences between Being an Actor and Working as a Writer
- As an Actor, Do I Have the Necessary Skills to Create My Own Material?
- Pluses and Minuses, Assessing Specifically Where You Are Now
- Your Sense of Truth
- 4. Ways to Work, Selecting Your Tools
- Writing
- What Is Creative Writing?
- Fear of Writing
- Journal Writing
- Using a Tape Recorder
- Improvising: "Are Your Talkin' to Me?"
- Working Orally: In Front of an Audience
- Working Orally: Developing Your Stories Throughout the Day
- 5. Preparing
- For Those Actors Who Know Which Type (Style) of Monologue They Want to Create
- For Those Actors Who Don't Know What Type of Solo Material They Want to Create
- Perking with an Idea
- Exercises to Help You with Your Solo Show
- Deciding When to Begin
- 6. Guidelines for Creating Short or Audition Monologues
- 7. Fundamentals of All Good Monologues
- To Whom Is the Character Speaking?
- Questions Every Monologue Must Answer
- About Autobiographical Monologues
- Another Way to Approach Autobiographical Material
- Storytelling Monologues
- Narrative and Dramatic Style
- Your Personal Style: Your Voice
- Examples of Different Voices and Styles
- From An Evening with Quentin Crisp
- Winfred from Monster
- Craig from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 3
- From An Evening with Shelly Mars
- From Gray's Anatomy
- Cudjoe from The Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky
- From Safe
- Sam from Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop
- From Time on Fire
- From Comedy You Can Dance To
- From Full Gallop
- From I'm Breathing the Water Now
- From The Finger Hole
- From A Kiss to Build a Dream On
- 8. Using Your Acting Technique to Create Character Monologues
- Working from the Outside in, as an Actor and Writer
- Working Internally as an Actor and Writer
- 9. Starting to Write
- Two Scenarios
- Understanding Writer's Block
- Techniques for Dealing with Writer's Block
- Nothing, a Whole Lot of Nothing
- Writing about Painful Events
- Free-Writing: An Invaluable Exercise
- Clustering (or Webbing): Finding the Initial Core of Your Work
- Sal from Street Talk: Character Monologues for Actors
- 10. Creating Your Monologue: Structure and Process
- How We'll Be Working from Now On
- Comparing the Actor's and the Writer's Processes of Starting Out
- The Importance of the Narrator
- Your Opening Section: The First Paragraphs
- From Charlotte (from True Stories)
- Bernice from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 2
- From Swimming to Cambodia
- From Pretty Fire
- Blanka from Some People
- Jo from Eternal Pyramid
- Master of the Stale from the play The Dark String
- 11. Developing Your Monologue
- Developing Your Role (as an Actor)
- Developing Your Monologue (as a Writer)
- The Ongoing Day-to-Day Work
- Working on Performance Art Pieces
- A Word about Songs, Music, and Dance in Monologue Plays
- Mixed Media
- That Old Devil, the Self-Censor
- Taking Mini-Breaks, Breathers
- Looking Over What You've Written So Far
- After the Break: Two Scenarios
- Working Till the End of the First Draft
- 12. Developing Your Monologue II (The Ongoing Work)
- The "Who Wrote This Monologue, and What's It About?" Exercise
- Questions to Ask Yourself While Reading through Your Script
- At What Point Should You Have Someone Else Read What You've Written?
- Selecting the Right Person to Read Your Monologue
- Performing the First Draft for a Director
- Performing the First Draft as a "Work in Progress" for an Audience
- Making Repairs: Rewriting
- Revising and Reshaping
- The Three Golden Rules of Revising
- The Subconscious and Rewrites
- 13. Completing Work on Your Monologue
- Things to Keep in Mind in Your Closing
- Knowing When the Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed
- A Checklist to Decide Whether Your Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed
- 14. Preparing to Perform
- Selecting a Director
- Working with the Director in Rehearsal
- Rehearsing the Audition Monologue
- Performing the Piece
- 15. Marketing Your Solo Show
- Preparing Your Marketing Package
- Management/Booking Agencies That Handle Solo Artists
- Part II. Interviews with monologue writers and performers
- 16. Lanie Robertson
- 17. Sarah Jones
- 18. Spalding Gray
- 19. Mary Louise Wilson
- 20. Charlayne Woodard
- 21. Tim Miller
- 22. Danny Hoch
- 23. Dael Orlandersmith
- 24. Quentin Crisp
- 25. Marilyn Sokol
- 26. Evan Handler
- 27. Shelly Mars
- 28. Brian Dykstra
- 29. Penny Arcade
- 30. Kate Clinton
- 31. Ann Randolph
- Part III. Interviews with directors of one-person shows
- 32. Peter Askin
- 33. Jo Bonney
- 34. Christopher Ashley
- 35. Marcia Jean Kurtz
- 36. David Bar Katz
- Appendixes
- A. Artist Colonies Where You Can Develop Your Solo Show
- B. Theaters That Accept Solo Material
- C. Publishers of Solo Material
- D. Playwriting Competitions That Accept Solo Material
- E. Applying for Grants
- F. Literary Agents
- G. Recommended Books
- H. Internet Resources
- Permissions
- About the Author
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