Mini Monologue Performance Review

Performing the mini monologues taught me many things about acting and performing that I never thought about before. One thing I learned about performing through this activity was how important it is to pay attention to details in order to create a realistic scene. One way to do this is using pauses and reacting to what the other person might be saying. In order to create a believable conversation and scene, you need to think about what would happen during a regular conversation and let the scene flow in a more organic way. Another way to do this is by changing your tone of voice during your monologue so that you can show more emotion and not sounding flat. Facial expression and gesturing is also important so that you are not just standing there. In the monologue I performed, my character was nervous and kind of sassy, so I tried to make my talking speed faster and include attitude. I also looked down, gestured, and tugged at the clothes I was wearing to emphasize the fact that my character was having trouble deciding what to wear. I also learned that breaking down the monologue and really thinking about where to add the pauses and change of pace in the monologue is really helpful before performing. It is also really helpful to have a general idea of how you want to do your blocking ahead of time. I learned that when you are performing, it is easy to forget the things that you have planned, so the best thing you can do is try your best to be the character and be in their shoes. If you think too much or read too much into it, it can sound choppy so sometimes being natural is the best thing you can do.

Something I feel that I did well in is sounding like the character. I could relate to the monologue when the character was trying to find the perfect outfit and wanting to create a good image for herself. I think that I was able to make the flow sound natural enough that it was convincing. I think the fact that I was already nervous helped with the fact the the character was already mildly panicking about her clothes.

Something that I feel that I need to work more in on upcoming projects is slowing down. I was nervous so I feel like I sped past a lot of the dialogue, especially because I felt like the monologue should be fast-paced. Another thing I feel that I should work on is being more confident, I feel that I got nervous so my movements suddenly became slower and the parts that I had planned to be more emphasized was not. I think that if I just went up with the mentality of being a different person altogether instead of my playing a different person, the monologue would have a nicer flow. There was also an awkward pause because I accidentally said a different word and I panicked. I think in those situations instead of stopping, I could try to work it in or improvise instead of standing there.

There are alot of things I learned from performing our short monologues and although I feel that I made a lot of mistakes, I think that it will help with projects later on.