2013 MonologuesUnit 1

Outcome 2• Apply acting and other stagecraft to interpret

playscripts from the pre-modern era for performance

This area of study requires you to: • Choose a monologue from the following

monologue list• Develop a theatrical brief that presents an

interpretation of a scene• Apply acting and other stagecraft to develop a

monologue for performance

Monologue 1

• Play: King Oedipus• Playwright: Sophocles• Character: CHORUS • Gender: Neutral (male or female)

Serves the expository function of a chorus• Implied Style: Ancient Greek Tragedy• Setting (TIME): Ancient Greece (around the time of Thebes civil war)• Setting (PLACE): In and around the palace at Thebes• Themes: The unwritten law of fate, the limits of free will, power

and determination, the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, willingness to ignore the truth

Monologue 2

• Play: Antigone• Playwright: Sophocles• Character: SENTRY• Gender: Neutral

A guard who reports to King Creon• Implied style: Greek tragedy• Setting (TIME): Ancient Greece (around the time of

Thebes civil war)• Setting (PLACE): In and around the palace at Thebes• Themes: betrayal, god and religion, choices andconsequences, fidelity, citizenship

Monologue 3

• Play: Antigone• Playwright: Sophocles• Character: ANTIGONE• Gender: Female

Daughter of King Creon• Implied style: Greek tragedy• Setting (TIME): Ancient Greece (around the time of

Thebes civil war)• Setting (PLACE): In and around the palace at Thebes• Themes: betrayal, god and religion, choices andconsequences, fidelity, citizenship

Monologue 4

• Play: Hagaromo (The Feather Mantle)• Playwright: (trans. Pound)• Character: HAKURYO• Gender:

A traveller• Implied style: Noh Theatre• Setting (TIME): Ancient times, around the 14th Century• Setting (PLACE): Japan• Themes:

• http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/PouHago.html

Yr 11 Monologues5

• Play: Aya No Tsuzumi (The Damasz Drum)• Playwright: Attributed to Seami, but possibly earlier (trans. Waley)• Character: THE GARDENER• Gender: Male

A poor old gardener from the palace who is in love with the princess• Implied style: Noh Theatre• Setting (TIME): Ancient times, around the 14th Century• Setting (PLACE): Japan• Themes:

• http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/WalAyan.html

Year 11 Monologues6

• Play: Matsukaze (Wind in the Pines)• Playwright: (trans. Keene/Taylor)• Character: CHORUS• Gender: Neutral

Serving the storytelling function of the chorus• Implied style: Noh Theatre• Setting (TIME): Ancient times, around the 14th Century• Setting (PLACE): Japan• Themes:

• http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/noh/matsuindex.html

Year 11 Monologues7

• Play: Macbeth• Playwright: Shakespeare• Character: The PORTER• Gender: Male

Porter of Macbeth’s castle• Implied style: Elizabethan Theatre• Setting (TIME): Elizabethan Era, around the 15th Century• Setting (PLACE): The moors of Scotland• Themes:

Year 11 Monologues8

• Play: Twelfth Night• Playwright: Shakespeare• Character: VIOLA• Gender: Female

• Implied style: Elizabethan Theatre• Setting (TIME): Elizabethan Era, around the 15th Century• Setting (PLACE): On an island, shipwreck of…• Themes:

Year 11 Monologues9

• Play: The Two Noble Kinsmen• Playwright: Shakespeare• Character: Prologue/Epilogue• Gender: Neutral

Porter of Macbeth’s castle• Implied style: Elizabethan Theatre• Setting (TIME): Elizabethan Era, around the 15th Century• Setting (PLACE):• Themes:

Year 11 Monologues10

• Play: That Scoundrel Scapin• Playwright: Moliere• Character: SCAPIN• Gender: Male

Porter of Macbeth’s castle• Implied style: Renaissance• Setting (TIME): 1700s• Setting (PLACE): Alleyways of France, on a dark street

corner• Themes:

Year 11 Monologues11

• Play: The Impostures of Scapin• Playwright: Moliere• Character: ZERBINETTE• Gender: Female

• Implied style: Renaissance• Setting (TIME): 1700s• Setting (PLACE): Alleyways of France, on a dark street corner• Themes:

• http://www.monologuearchive.com/m/moliere_025.html

Year 11 Monologues12

• Play: Tamburlaine the Great, Part One• Playwright: Christopher Marlowe• Character: TAMBURLAINE• Gender: MaleA Scythian shepherd and a nomadic bandit who takes control of the Persian Empire• Implied Style: Elizabethan Drama• Setting (TIME): 1590s • Setting (PLACE): set around Ancient Wars and royalty in Persia,

Egypt, Turkey and Babylon• Themes: Renaissance humanism, immense power, death,

revenge, war, religious

Monologue13

• Play: Tamburlaine the Great, Part One• Playwright: Christopher Marlowe• Character: ZENOCRATEDaughter of the Egyptian King who is wooed by Tamburlaine• Gender: Female• Implied Style: Elizabethan Drama• Setting (TIME): 1590s• Setting (PLACE): set around Ancient Wars and royalty in Persia,

Egypt, Turkey and Babylon• Themes: Renaissance humanism, immense power, death,

revenge, war, religious