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We started our study on monologue 2 weeks ago. Monologue is a personal performance acts out by the actor or actress by using languege, motion and facial express to present a scenario.

In my first monologue, I was mostly a play creator than someone who actually act it out. That time, I was focusing on how to make the plot interesting but I ignored the quality of performance. Part of the reasons is the time was so limitied in class so we were not able to prepare well. But I think I was the only one who really put almost all attention to imagine my plot.However, the pressure of performing in the classroom is less than in the black box because I feel I am in front of many audiences. In this first monologue, the most difficult thing I found is to organize well in a short time and to hit a balance on the plot and acting.

The second monologue, which we put a lot of efforts, was fun and inspiring. In this scenario, I am Austin, a boy who accidentally see his friend who is probably bully by others put a gun in his own locker and report this to the principal. The first time I got my plot, I just read it insipidly without thinking what can I do with it. After I saw others’ performance I decide to think more about how to act this better. Here are some of my discoveries. First, you can act the same plot in many different ways, including different gesture, mood, motion, facial expression. I tried 2 ways to act Austin. One is a brave, responsible boy who does not want anybody gets hurt. The other one is a scared coward who is in a shock and care more about the stability on campus and his own security. Finally, I tried a combination of the both. At first, Austin was scared by this so he decide to report. And at the turning point of saying out the fact that Jesse Kotch put a gun in his locker loudly, Austin turns into a brave, responsible, calm man who made a choice between betraying his friend and be responsible for the community.So combination is usually a good selection when you do not know which to choose between two. My second discovery is that you are not who you imagining, which means when you trying to act out in your ideal way, usually you are not in your ideal way. For example, when I watch the video of my performance, I am so confused why my movements are not what I was thinking about. My motion to open the principal’s door is so unnatural. Then here is the third lesson. We should watch our performance video regularly to adjust our movement and motion. Fourth, I think we really need to “be” our characters for a while when we are performing. We need that empathy to figure out what would I do if I am the character in the story. If we do not do this, we will never be able to act a character out naturally.

These are the lessons I learnt from the monologue study. I had a good time on preparing and acting it.

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sources

http://www.tim-shane.com/Commedia-Dottore.htm https://prezi.com/m/z1b1p24wy6j9/the-stock-characters-of-commedia-dellarte-in-modern-enterta/ https://theatreiblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/il-dottore/
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