Preparing Middle School Students to Perform Monologues

Do you notice any of these common issues when your middle school students perform monologues in competition?

• They’re overcome with nerves.
• They’re unable to grow their characters beyond memorizing lines.
• They can’t get out of their own bodies to physicalize the monologue character.

If you want your students to participate in monologue competitions, there’s three things that will set them up for success:

• Confidence
• Character
• Character-driven movement

Or more descriptively:

• An actor with the confidence to sell those two minutes with everything they can muster.
• A strong three-dimensional character.
• Gesture and movement that comes from the heart of what that character is going through in the monologue and not from actor nervousness.

These three elements are the bedrock of every great performance — not just in middle school, but on any stage. How can you instill them in your students?

Confidence

It is nerve-wracking to perform in front of others, especially in a competitive environment. Students can practice for days, know that monologue inside and out, then lose it all when they step in front of a panel of judges.

What can you do to help students rise to the occasion?

• Practice breath control.

  • Share with students: If you have control of your breath it means you’re calm, you can speak with a full voice, and your body is relaxed. These are all the elements you need to perform with confidence.
  • Practice breathing exercises with students so that when they are waiting to perform, they have something to focus on besides their fellow competitors.
  • Click below to download a breathing exercise.

• Have a mantra.

  • Share with students: Say your first line over and over in your head. The first line is always the hardest to get out and the easiest to forget. So repeat that first line like a mantra. Keep saying it until it’s your time to perform.

• Fake it till you make it.

  • Share with students: When you are afraid, don’t say anything. Don’t let on how scared you are. Especially don’t tell the adjudicators. Don’t use nerves as an excuse. Take a deep breath, smile, and go on stage and do your best. Never give anyone a reason to second guess your work.

Character

The text of the monologue doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the character. Emphasize to students that the more they know about their monologue character, the more the text will transcend being just words on the page. Focus on showing a character having an experience, not just being an actor performing a monologue.

What can you do to help students bring their character to life?

• Question and answer
  • Understanding the “what” in the monologue (i.e., the content) is important, but it’s not as important as the “who” and the “why.” The “who” and “why” are where you find the character’s depth. Have your students answer the following questions about their character:
    • Who is this character? What details do you know about them?
    • What details do you need to create to fill in any blanks?
    • Who are they talking to? What is their relationship with that character?
    • Why are they talking? Why is it important to share this monologue?
    • Why is this monologue important for this character? What do they want? How do they try to get what they want in the monologue?
    • How does the character transform from the beginning of the monologue to the end? What is their beginning emotion? What is their end emotion?
• Click below for a handout version of these questions!

Character-Driven Movement

More often than not, students stand and move like themselves when they perform. They shift their weight from one foot to the other. They fidget with their clothes and hair. They lean into one hip.These are all nervous movements that take away from a student actor’s performance.

If you do only one thing with your students, focus on character-driven movement. That means every single twitch, every single shift of the feet, every single hair twirl has to come from the character. Every gesture must be chosen. Every time a student stands or sits it has to be because the character wants to, not because the student thinks they should throw some movement into their piece.

This is how a monologue becomes more than memorizing lines. This is how a monologue becomes an experience — not only for the student, but for everyone watching as well.

What physicalization exercises can I do with students?

• Character Animal
  • Pretend your character is an animal. How would they move about the space as an animal? At what pace would they move? Would they creep? Would they pounce? Would they soar?
  • Do a “day in the life” non-verbal improv where students imagine their character in animal form. As an animal, what would they do all day?
  • Choose one animal movement and add it to your monologue. How does that change the piece?
• Pairs Performing
  • Practice monologues in pairs: one performer, one observer. Every time the performer shifts their weight or fidgets the observer will raise their hand. How often does that happen?
• Just Action
  • Perform the monologue with just the actions, no words. What does your character look like without the words?
  • Discuss with students what it’s like to perform the monologue with just action. Are they visualizing their character fully?

Confidence, character, character-driven movement. Bring these three elements into your middle school students’ rehearsal process and they’ll take their performances to the next level.