4.

Monologues

In the lesson we were asked to write a monologue based on our favourite character from the play that we've worked on so far. For me, I decided to write monologue for the Taxi driver seen in the prologue of the play. Here is what I came up with:

Original:

Drive. All I do is drive. Drive all day. Drive all night. Dont get me wrong, I love it an all. But some days its just such its just such a drag. Wake up, shower, full English, get in the car and of you go. Pick up the newspaper from Madge, 40p change. Come back later. see the misses. Simple. But its not that simple. I am responsible for hundreds of others. They rely upon me. So when I'm  sitting in my car at 4 am in the bloody morning with bags under my eyes and a warm coffee in my hand. I just have to remember. That they rely upon me. That's what keeps me going on those old, rainy mornings and those long dark nights. Not the pay-check at the end of the month. But the people I've helped. That's what keeps me going. And that's why I love my job.

After the lesson I have altered the original to this one as I had some ideas I preferred to the original.

New: 

Drive. All I do is bloody drive. Drive all day don't I. Don't get me wrong, I love it an all. I like picking up the paper in the morning from auntie Madges Corner Shop on Ayers Road for a discounted price of 12p. I like the sounds of the markets in the morning and the way the streets buzz with a sort of energy. Sounds nice and Simple dunnit? But you see its not that simple. I, 'the taxi driver' is responsible for hundreds people a day including 'oneself'. Ay? Oh yeah usually five or six o clock for me on a good day, some of the other lads have it much worse. See them them arrive at the drop of points with bags under there eyes like they've been in a bar fight with bloody West Ham supporters. Well West Ham are shit any ways son. Look at their side. Couldn't hit a donkey arse with a banjo. There a shame on British football. And sport in general. Me? West Ham? your avin a laugh! I Support the greatest team this side of the east end. The Os. The great Leyton FC.  Of course we are in the division one and statistically, we aren't the best team in the world, but in my eyes. My eyes. We could take on Manchester blindfolded. Where was it you wanted again mate? round eer? Upton Park. West Ham football ground. (gulps) What team did you say you supported. Oh right. West Ham. Shit.

We then worked in pairs and gave constructive criticism to each other. We also performed our monologues to each other and we both gave our input in directing both pieces.

- What choices did you make when staging your monologue? Think about how you used your voice and physicality. 

     When staging my monologue, I decided to have my character (the taxi driver) sitting down on a chair to show that he is at his most comfortable when sitting down. This indicates that he feels most at home when behind the wheel of his taxi. I also decided to have my character slouched back in his seat just as he would when driving the car. My voice has a very relaxed and quite tone. This is because my character is contemplating his working life throughout the monologue. 

- How did the monologue task help you to understand the play further?

The monologue task helped me to understand the play further by making me think about not 
just the characters storyline in the script,but what happens outside of the script e.g work, 
family, hobbies. This is effective for an actor as it helps you to understand the meaning behind the script and can help you to perform your scene with realism.

- What monologue performed by a peer worked well and why? What had they written about?

The monologue written and performed by Rory, in which his daughter had been killed, was very effectively written and performed. He had written about how his daughter had been murdered in a sudden turn of events.

- Who performed their monologue successfully and why? 

Rory's, as his staging was relevant to the scene and the environment. His performance was realistic, which helped me to visualise what the character had gone through to lead up to the events occurring in the scene. He had written the scene very creatively with a plot twist. This gave the audience a shock and is what inevitably led to what kept the audience wanting to continue to talk about the scene.

East End research devising task

In the end, we didn't have enough time to go on to this activity of devising scenes using news articles from the east end. But overall, I feel that my work this lesson had been at a high merit. I have created a new long term target for myself which is: To be aware of the performance space and to use the space more creatively.

I thought today I worked at a high merit or a low distinction today as I have shown a developed understanding of the play and have contributed consistently in lesson, which have been used in the performance groups.