Am often tempted to write monologues for my characters to help me get to know them -- "pre-writing," I guess. But what are the different KINDS of monologues, to be pedestrian about it?
1) I have a burning secret I need to tell you (See Masha Act 3 Three Sisters)
2) I have this one memory from way back which, when I tell you, will help you to understand me better (See Violet in the dinner scene in August:Osage County, when she talks about the Clawhammer)
3) You know, the thing about this other character we both know is / let me tell you the story that will help you understand this third character
4) Character A tells Character B what Character B's problem is
5) Character A tells Character B what happened to Character A today...and we find out it relates, somehow to the events of the play and how they will unfold
6) "Let me tell you how the world works, and how I know it"
7) Let me tell you a joke or a funny story (The Clean House)
8) The equivalent of an "I wanna" song in a musical -- this is everything I want, layed out for you
9) I am going to nervously go on about something esoteric that has nothing to do with what is happening between us at the moment, but which will reveal aspects of my character like what books or movies I enjoy, and which the playwright will probably use to draw some artful parallels to what will be happening in the play, unbenownst to the characters (See half of what Matt says in Red Light Winter)
10) Character A tells Character B a secret about Character C which Character C wouldn't tell of his or her own accord (See Davis talking about Matt's Giardia in Red Light Winter)
11) The Grand Exposition of everything that has happened to this point, so that the play can continue (see Olga, Act 1, Three Sisters)
What else? What are the other standard KINDS of monologues, or what are ways that we can use monologues in our work? Help.
1 comment:
I don't see where any of Hamlet's monologues fit in with this scheme. Perhaps you need another category along the lines of, "I need to articulate my thoughts, but none of these clowns in Elsinore is
intelligent or trustworthy enough to be worthy of
my confidence."
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