Without You

Today we ran through Santa Fe which we had created last lesson before we moved on to have a look at the next number "without you" and for this number we wanted to try to show the story of all the couples in this number, so we split into groups and were given a section of the song to create a routine too while Mimi sings. We decided my character would not be in this number as Mark has no developing love story in the show so I help Freya create the movement for Maureen and Joanne.

"The stars gleam
The poets dream
The eagles fly

Without you

The earth turns
The sun burns
But I die 

without you"

Freya and I were given this section from the song to come with movement that Joanne and Maureen can do in the background of the number. During the first four lines Maureen and Joanne walk to each other at the back of the stage from opposite sides, they then use there back facing hands to grab the others before Maureen twirls into Joanne were they embrace each other for a moment before Joanne lets go to try and leave.

During the second four lines Maureen turns Joanne back to face her before running her hand up to Joanne's face the both going into each other before they both step away to go. they both then freeze until the end where they turns to face Angel as he dies.

in the verse after this Carl and Dom set up a hospital bed which Collins walks Angel while he slowly dies. Tom and Meg created a movement style dance which is happening at the front of the stage during Angels death.

Santa Fe

Today we wanted to try and get a start on several different numbers in today's lesson. We set our welds the target of look at at these numbers from the show in these groups:
I'll cover you= Toby and Dan M
Voicemail 2= Meg and Dan S
One song glory= Tom
Christmas bells= me, Carl and Dom

Our objective of running our rehearsal like this was too see if we could start several number in a rehearsal and then have us finish them ourselves outside of lessons, so with each number our goal wasn't to finish them today but to have at least several ideas on what we wanted to happen with them. Everyone went off to do their independent worker on the songs while Me, Carl and Dom talked about ideas for Christmas bells. This version of Christmas bells start after the end of the song "rent" and used everyone except Mark, Roger and Angle. So looking at where everyone ended in Rent we looked at what we could do with the member we had who were spaced out the stage and audience. We decided to try having the people on stage cross in front of the table while singing so that Mark and Roger wouldn't be seen, during this Bennie and Collins come from the audience to join in and make a line with everyone at the front of the stage while singing before walking off.
After working independently for a while we came together to work on the number Santa Fe.
We all decided that Meg should choreograph us a part of this dance that starts from the second "Let's open up a restaurant". For our dance we're in 2 groups of 3, Meg, Dom, Carl on stage right and me, Tom, Dan S on stage left. Meg's side starts the dance first. They walk on with a 2 step turn step then on the next line of the song we walk on doing the same as them. We then walk around the room to our new position for the dance that we wanted to try and make flow with the movement.
We start but side stepping right and reach our arms round in a circle then move them in a figure of eight while we push our left leg out and back in. We then do a step change into and spin over our right shoulder while travelling to the left. We then turn back the way we just came doing a gallop spin which goes into gentle walking upstage right while sweeping our feet round.We then sweep our right foot all the way round before goin to walk into a semi circle to end the movement side of this number.

You'll see

Continuing from last lesson where we set our selves targets for next lesson we started to look at "You'll see" which me, Carl and Tom looked at for this lesson. This number continues after "Today 4 you" so in the background of this number we have Collins and Angel listening in on Roger, Mark and Bennie's talk. Carl playing Bennie enters through the audience at which point I say my line about his character to the audience as he comes up onto the stage. The number was simple to stage as it was mostly a conversation between the three of them. We reached the part of the song where Bennie leave which is where we had decided to cut the rest of the song as the second half isn't needed for the progression of the story so we have removed this from our version of Rent.
After this we ran through "Goodbye love" into "what you own" so we could recap what we had done in the past lessons so we can move on to work on more numbers in Act II next lesson.

Run act 2

Today we decided to run every thing we have done in Act II so by the end of the lesson we can have a list to look at that shows us what numbers we still have left to do. So we started with "Seasons of love" then reached "Happy New year B" which not everyone knew but that was fine as we had only just recently looked at this number so we continued through skipping "take me or leave me" as we hadn't set this number yet in to "seasons of Love B" which we sang through as we weren't sure how to set this number yet. Which then lead into "Without you" which we ran through without no problem vocally or physically. We moved past "I'll cover you reprise" as we hadn't set this number yet which ment we straight into "Goodbye love" through to "What you own" both numbers ran well with no problems arising. We then moved past "Finale A" as we hadn't set that yet to go into "Your eyes" and then "Finale B". Miss had told us for next lesson she will have the backing tracks for every number next lesson so we can practice with them.

Happy New year

Today we continued to look at the start of Act II. We had already done "Seasons of Love" in lessons before so we skipped past that to look at "Happy New Year A" which we had decided to cut from our version of Rent as well as cutting Mark's mum in "voice mail 3" and the first little part of "Happy New year B". So after "Seasons of love" it goes into Alexi Darlings voice mail which is done Dom and then starts "Happy New year B" which skips the little bit to go straight in with "5 4 3... Open". The rest of "Happy New year B" we kept the same and was simple to set as it was mostly dialogue. The difficulty with this number was as group we struggled with the timing of our lines for track so we had gone over this number several times in the lesson so we could practice our timings. After practicing this number a few times we started to go over "Seasons of love" into "Voice mail 3" into "Happy New year B". We practiced over  these three songs a few times as well as our transitions between the songs.

Run Act 1

Today we decided to run through all of the songs we had stage and few we hadn't in act 1 as it had been a while since we done anything from Act 1 for the past few lessons. We started through "Tune up 1" - "Rent", then we quickly set "Tune up 3" as its half a page of dialogue between Mark and Roger before Mark leaves to find Collins. We then continue through to "one song glory" and then "light my candle" which we hadn't fully staged yet, so we let Tom and Meg work through the number to create the piece so they can improve it in another rehearsal. We continued to work through the show and reach "You'll see" which is another number we haven't set probably yet, me and Carl have listen to this number before but hadn't set it before. We then continued through Act I to the song "We're okay" which we still need to create so we pushed forward and reached "La Vie Boheme" which we got to the end. Continuing from this number we still need to set "I should tell you" but have  also decided to cut"La Vie Boheme B" from our creation of Rent. So we only have "light my candle", "you'll see", "we're okay" and I should tell you" left to set in Act I.

Your eyes and Finale B

Today we had a quick look at "your eyes" and then staged our "finale B". We quickly went through "your eyes" as its only Roger singing, we quickly ran through it so we all would know where we would be for "finale B". During the first half of the song Roger moves to cuddle Mimi on the table while the rest of us surrounds them singing and when the boys and girls split into their two songs we are joined on stage by everyone even Angel as its the finale. At the end of the song we all huddle together and make like a photo finish of the whole group for the end. We spent most of this lesson going through the vocals and harmonies for boys and girls in this finale before we ran through "your eyes" and "finale B". During "your eyes" all our characters present are backed off around the edges of the stage so the audiences focus is on Roger singing to Mimi. We ran through both the numbers with no problem and have now stage the end of our performance workshop of Rent.

What you own

This lesson before we started anything we said that our next number we are going to stage is "What you own" which follows "Goodbye love" so we wanted to sort out what happens in this number so that we can run through "Goodbye love" and go straight into "What you own". We split our cast in half as we wanted to add more vocals into this number so while I as Mark sings the first chorus, Dan M, Lorna, Freya and Carl will join in with me when I reach "and when you're living in". They are space our around me as this song we have set up to be like a dream for Mark and Roger as this song shows them wanting to fix their lifes. In the secong chorus Meg, Toby, Dan S and Dom join in singing with me and Tom on the same line as my group did with the first chorus before on the ending chorus "Dying in America" which we have everyone singing in with. We set out the piece with our stage plan in mind of having our extension of the stage with Lower still decking. So during the first half of the song we have Mark in the apartment standing in front of his table, Angel, Bennie, Maureen and Joanne are spread out across the stage to help showcase the dream effect were trying to show. The same sort of idea is done with Roger but on the lower stage with Mimi, Collins, Paul and the Drug dealer. The song is more about the vocals then the action so we just have us stand and sing with Roger and Mark occasionally moving around. Me and Tom, as we both play Roger and Mark, have spent our time going the harmonies of the song.

Goodbye love

Continuing on from last lesson we we ran through "without you" and polished the number before we started the next number which was "Goodbye love".
We had decided to cut "Halloween" from our performance as it was just Mark and served no relevance to the plot of our show but we took the first couple of lines to use as Mark's narration leading into "Goodbye love". So before "Goodbye love" start Mark says:
"Hi. It's Mark Cohen. Is Alexi there? Uh, No need to bother her. Just let her know that I'm running late for my appointment... Yes, i'll still be there... Yes, I signed the contract... Thanks. How Did We Get Here? How The Hell...
Pan Left - Close On The Steeple Of The
Church"

"Pan left" is the que for everyone to start exiting the chapel for the start of the song. Mark is down stage right, Collins is down stage left with everyone else spread out between. During the song we see each of the characters start to fight until Collins tells everyone off for fighting at the funeral. Everyone leaves except Mark and Roger who both make their way centre stage for their confrontation between each other where we have made Mark appear as really nice person trying to help a friend while Roger is portray as a horrible friend to Mark, trying to make Mark feel as if he is the one who that has failed everyone. After this Mark goes back upstage while Mimi walks in for her goodbye to Roger before Bennie walks in and Mimi leaves. We then move on to the next scene where Dan S who is playing the priest throws Collins out, we quickly worked through this scene before we ended the rehearsal. Next lesson we decided to look at "what you own" as the number follows straight on from "Goodbye love".

Rent production meeting

Today we sat down as a group and had a meeting about our production of Rent to decided what we needed to disscuss about our whole story. In our meeting we were ask to work in pairs and talk about what we wanted our production to reprsent. I was paired with Meg to start writing what we wanted from the show, we came up with these ideas:
Dark and gritty
Dirty (Setting)
Conection with characters
Small cast (Personal)
Colourful cloths and characters

I didn't agree with all of what me and Meg came up with as I want our show to be centre around the issues in the show, not the characters themselfs. I wanted our show to focus on this to link back to Jonathan Larson original creation of Rent which was to create awareness of Aids but with our production I wanted to create awareness of more issues within Rent like poverity, drug abuse and reaching for your dreams. I would like this to be what our production of Rent was about as it would diversities us from other productions but everyone else wanted the show to be about the emotional invovelment of characters.
We started to talk about our roles in the production other then our characters and what we can do to help our improve our show. We talked about what roles we can be in our production:
Costume designer: Freya
Set crew: Tom and Dan S
Lighting: Dan M
Front of house: Dom
Fundraising: Me, Meg, Carl and Toby
We then had a quick talk about where we wanted to perform and what equipment we wanted for the show. We all agreed we wanted to perform our production in our school hall as our stage in the hall is black and dirty so it would help set our production in the realism we want for the show. We also talked about staging and said we wanted to have an extention of the stage but on a lower platfrom so we can get some levels in our performance. Finally we decided to have our audience set up in cabaret as we belived it would set a better atmoshpere for them instead of conventional sitting.

Seasons of Love

Today we started to look at the start of Act 2, Seasons of love but we were sadly absent 2 members of our production today. We sat down around a piano as we wanted to mainly focus on the vocal side of the number as it is a very powerfully vocal number number. The 2 main harmony groups were Meg, Lorna and Tom in the high group and the rest of us in the lower group.We sung through the number after we each learnt our harmony until we reached "Measured in love" which me and Dom split off from the lower group to pick a new slightly higher harmony compared to the lower group. When we reache "Seasons of love" we split into boys and girls to sing.
Girls: "Seasons of love"
Boys: "Seasons of... love"
This is repeat each time we sing seasons of love. We then started to decide who we wanted as our soloists, we decided to give the first solo to Carl and split the second solo with Freya singing the the whole solo but having Dan S join in on the line "In bridges". We sung through the rest of the number and removed the soloist that sings behind our vocals as none of us felt that we had the vocal range to reach and match the notes they sing so we removed the soloist. We sung through the whole number and after Carl asked if he could sing his solo as a duet with someone as he was strugling to stay with the tune, so I volentered to sing with him so it's now a duet with betwen me and Carl. We sung throught the number and then stood up in a line to perform the number again.

Run Through Numbers

Today we decided to look back over everything we had done in the past as we though that we had tage a large amount of the musical numbers. We looked over the number we had staged which are:
Tune up 1
Voicemail 1
Tune up 2
Rent
Tango Maureen
Life support
Another day
Will I?
La Vie Boheme

We also decdied to run through all our numbers in the order of our show so that it almost feels like a full show run through. So we started with Tune up 1- Rent without stopping as each number went in to each other without a break. We sung through Tune up1- Tune up 2 without any problem until we reach Rent, it became clear that not everyone in the number knew the words to the song so the ending of the number fell a bit flat. We kept moving though and set the target to learn the words for when we next run that number. We ran through Tango Maureen with no problem as it was the most recent number wehad stage so we quiclky moved on to Life support which went really well as we went through the number very quick until we reached Another day. Another day was fine other than not everyone was still confident on the words or tune yet, we decided to try this number a second time as we had already went over this number recently  so we wanted to get it done and not spend any more time on this number in future lessons. We ran through Will I? with no problem so we quickly moved onto La Vie Boheme with we went through with no problem until we reach Collins "In honor" which we hadn't stage yet so as we had a bit of spare time at the end of the lesson so we tried to improvise the last part of the number till we would reach the next I should tell you which we hadn't set yet.

Tango Maureen Part 2

Today we split off again to work on our indvidual numbers as we had done the lesson before. So me, Dan M and Freya contiued to work on Tango Maureen and sorting out our opening to the number. We kept the start of the number number simple in just having us stand and sing to each other until we reach the first "Tango Maureen" which is sung by me. I then wanted to start dancing like abit of an idot becaues ithough that Mark is that type of character who would just make a fool of himself. So when I start to sing, i swing my right arm above my head roll my waist and jump closer to Freya, I then do a quick step and turn on "merry-go-round" adn pretend to be on strings when  dsing "dangling". I follow this with a knee slide towards Freya and twist my body side to side. Then get up and move away for my next line where I act as a voice of torment wondering around her putting doubts about Maureen in her mind. After this we reach where we started choreagrphing last lesson so we decided to keep going forward and polishing the steps. We then wanted to change the ending movement where we all circle aroung the stage, we wanted to move me and Freya into the centre and had us moving around the oposite direction to everyone else so we can signal me and Freya out as we're the only people who are actually there. We then went over Another day with Meg and Tom new movement within the number while the rest of us went over the words with ur harmony lines in the background in the number.

Tango Maureen Part 1

Today we split off into groups to work on seperate numbers so that we can cover a large range of the show.
Toby, Carl, Dom and Dan S went off to create the staging for all three verions of "Christmas bells". Meg and Tom went off to work on "Another day" becaues they wanted to change soem of their movement in the number. Me, Freya and Dan M created "Tango Maureen" in this lesson, Dan create a Tango stylied dance for me and Freya to perform to "Tango Maureen". We started the song half way hrought going from "Where'd you learn to tango", where me and freya meet in the middel and she leads me back and we do a 180 step turn so then leads me the other way back to the centre. On the line "you should try it in heels", Freya lifts her leg and wraps it round me. Then me and frey waltz gown stage, spin then pull back into each other again. We then spilt off till "When your dacing" which is where me and freya hold hands doing an extended leg walk. I then try to turn her freya to which she then turns me, we though this would be humours to our audienece while fitting our characters personaility. After freya turns me we join again stepping foward followed by a rise hip twist. We then split off, moving to the centre of the stage until "I'll have tangoed at all", there is then a loud beat in the music following this in which i stamp my foot throwing my right hand out to pull Freya in. We were then inspired by the movies veion of the dance to Tango Maureen and decided we would copy some of the moves from their dance as well as having others join Me and Freya while dancing.

The groups we dancing are:
Me and Freya
Toby and Dan M
Tom and Meg
Carl and Lorna
Dan S and Dom
The groups were decided bassed aroung realtionships in the show as well as who was comfortable dancing the women steps in the number. The steps for the male side of dance break are two hop steps then step legs apart. Then we turn her out while letting go but then grab her to pull her back in with another turn. Those were the steps that we liked and wanted to borrow from the film but after those steps we are back with our partner in a circle shap around the stage in which we start to travel around the stage using the step left, right, up, up with our legs. Everyone else then leave while me an Freya split off to other sides of the stage to finish singng the song which is the end of our song.
Our target for the next lesson is to polish what we have stage as well as come up with a start to the number for me and Freya.

Life Support- Will I? Part 2

Today we decided that we would quickly run through "Life Support" and "Another day" before we moved onto "Will I?". We an through these numbers with little problem other than not everyone was confident with the lyrics in "Another Day" but we still decided to move on and stage "Will I?". In our version of "Will I?" we had Dom who is playing Paul start the song standingin the centre of the stage, the rest of us are spread out around him. We all decided we wanted to just stand and sing this number as we all the song is a very sentimental song that shouldn't have movement to accompany it after Dom sings through "Will I?" once, we split our selves into three groups to sing throurgh in the layers that get created during the song. Group one who sings through the song five times is me, Lorna and Tom. Group two is Toby, Dan M, Freya and Dom. The final group is Meg, Carl and Dan S.
After we had finished setting "Will I?" we went back to "Life Support" and ran all the way through to "Will I?". Having some speare time after setting these numbers we talked about what other songs in Act 1 we wanted to cut from our performance. The number we have cut from Act 1 rent are as followed:

• "You okay honey?"
• The end of "You'll See"
• "Out Tonight"
• "The streets"
• "Christmas Bells" except the starting verse
• La Vie boheme B

Life Support- Will I? Part 1

Today we looked at 3 different numbers to create over the next 2 lessons which are the numbers "Life support", "Another day" and "Will I?". We deided to cut "Out tonight" as we agreed that the song held no purpoes to the plot of story. We all received the words for "Life Support" while Tom and Meg went off to work on staging "Another day", we stage Life support sitting in a full circle and assigned the names of the members to our cast except we decided we would keep Meg as Mimi in the meeting to sulttlely tell our audienece that Mimi has Aids as well. Life support was resenable easy to set as we all decided to have everyone stay sitting with Tom at the appartment behind us.
After we finised setting "Life support" we brought back Tom and Meg and added them to our performance after inform them what we do during the song.
After we ran through "Life Support" with Tom and Meg and then moved onto have look at what thoes two created for their "Another day" piece. We all learned the last verse of the song to sing in the wings as we didn't want to create a dance on stage or create anything on stage to distract away from Tom and Meg's growing drama throughtout the song.

"I can't control
My destiny
I trust my soul
My only goal is just
To be
There's only now
There's only here
Give in to love
Or live in fear
No other path
No other way
No day but today...
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today"
These are the lyrics we all sing as a company at the end of another day, we spent the last half of our lesson singin through the lyrics trying to learn them. After we had finished learning "Another day" we ran out of tme to start looking at "Will I?" so we decided to go home and learn the words ready for the next lesson so that we could set the number quickly.

This is a video of our version of "Life support"

Rent Opening

Today we quickly ran though La Vie Boheme with no problems so we decided that we would move on and work on the opening of the show as Tom and Toby had planned out what they wanted to happen during the opening so weall agreed to let them take charge of the lesson.
Tom and Toby descrided as wanting the opening to be manic and unorganised to show off the fact that were all poor and almost homeless. So for the starting instramental they want everyone running on stage being frantic an bring on rusty junk. So we all talked about what kinds of objects we would find in a a rundown building.

Chairs
Ladders
Boxes
Industrial lights
Bin
Posters/paper
Stools

We came up with these ideas of what the others could brig on during the intramental, so from the strat of the song everyone is bring all this stuff on and moving it around the stage while I as Mark, am at the front of the stage singing. After im done singing I run and sit on the table while Tom starts his solo, on my next lryic of "We're Hungrey" I grab the table and Tom dose the same on "It's the life". On the next 3 "How we gunna pay" me and Tom get up of the table put our arms on each others shoulder and then sing out to the audience on "Last years rent". I run to stage right and Tom goes stage left to where Meg, Dom and Dan i tyring to burn his posters for heat while Tom is singing, i then run over to them for my verse. On the next "How we gunna pay" we go down low and start to rise for the "Last years rent", we then jump into slow motion for Freya's verse which we then freeze after for Toby's solo as collins. I then grab my camera and start to film Tom playing guitar as the others rise around the table during the next "How we gunna pay", a intramental starts which is the queue for Toms idea to have a live feed coming from my camera projecting him playing guitar on the table. Also during theinstramental Tom Choreographed a dance for the others to do behind his guitar playing that was inspired by broadway musical American idiot. when we all start to sing agin i jump on the table and Tom is crouched in front while everyone else starts to crowd around us until the end of the song where they all spread out to the back leaving me and tom at the table ending the song.

La Vie Boheme Part 2

Today we contiued to collectivly choregraph La Vie Boheme, we started at the beging so we could decide on how we get to our seats. Bennie is already sat at a table in the restruant when we are all stopped as a group for the waiters line "Oh no, please not tonight" but everyone starts to walk to their seats after Roger goes "What", this happens to show that the group aren't bothered by the waiter and believe him to be having a joke with them. Mark and the waiter exchange a few lyrics to each other where the waiter is still trying to convince us not to stay but Mark (I) still believes he is joking. We are all standing our the table and take our seats on the lyric "The enemy of Avenue A will stay". Bennie comes over to us and starts his solo on how he is trying to clean up the streets, we're stopping him and the bohemia is dead. As i get up on the table to start Mark's eulogy we decided as a goup that Angel would lay down on the table pretending to be dead as he is a more flamboyant character who wouldn't care what peopel think so he would just lay down on the table. In the background the rest of the cast start to act out the nativty with Johanne (Freya) givning birth, Roger cradeling a crying baby and Collins mking barn yard noises until we reach La Vie Boheme where start the choreography from last lesson.

Continuing from where we got up to in our last lesson for La Vie Boheme, we talked and came up with the next couple of steps to follow for the last part of my solo. On the next "La Vie" everyone turns their head to me, then on the one after that they point to the left and slowly start to rise. On the last "La Vie" they all drop back to their seats except me while I sing "To any passing fade", I then proceed to get up on the table while the others start to rise again for the lyric "Instead of one of them". We all dance for a little bit the take our seats again which we decided was a good idea so that Maurine and Johanne could have their conversation without having any distractions. After maurine and johannes dialogue we decided we didn't want any group choreography now and instead wanted to freestyle what we do in our solo's or group singings until we reached Mark and Mimi's "Why Dorapht" lyric. After this we all starting at Dan S ends cross our legs in cannon down the line and then on a loud beat in the music we swap leg. Maurine and Johanne have a second conversation infront of us and then it goes into group singing. We discussed and decided that we would freestyle the last part of song until the end of La Vie Boheme.

La Vie Boheme Part 1

Today we started work on our next production in double drama which is going to be the rock opera called "Rent". our cast list is:

Mark: Ashley

Roger: Tom

Collins: Toby

Angle: Dan M

Mimi: Meg

Joanne: Freya

Bennie: Carl

Maurine: Lorna

Paul: Dominic

Waiter: Dan S

We started working on choreographing La Vie Boheme and disscussed as a chorus what we would like to do. We decided from the first "la vie boheme" we would create 8 different pose times for each "la vie boheme". We then started a hand movement from the la vie boheme that followed Mark's line "To loving". The hand movement was agreed that we'd start with arms straight out crossed, left above right and then on each step of the best Wed do the following movement:

Cross arms infront

Move L hand to L side

Move R hand to R side

Lay arms on to each other (L on top)

Rotate L arm up

Rotate L arm down

R hand to under chin.

We ran through these movements with and we needed to change our starting poses so that our 8 pose We'd all be sat down. After that we continued with more hand movement following where we left off:

Stretch R arm forward

Grab and pull R back using L arm

Link arms with person next to you

Look Left

Look Right

Unlink arms

We talked what we wanted to do next and as a group we said it was too early for us all to get and start dancing now so we continued hand movements but a more reptative vibe to the next set of movements so we came up with the following choreography:

Raise R shoulder

Raise L shoulder

Look Right

Look Left

Shoulder shrugs

Repeat again doing the opposite direction of what we had just performed.

This was our first Rent lesson as a group we had managed to collectively go through each other's ideas and work a choreography for a section of La Vi Boheme.

Berowne character profiles

These are several character profiles from different sources on Berowne form "Love's Labour's lost". I had research and these profiles on my character so that I understand my characters personality and can answer questions about him if needed to at an audition.

(http://www.novelguide.com/loves-labours-lost/character-profiles)

Berowne- In the beginning, Berowne is the main person against the strictness of the rules for his study. He is also the first, however, that is shown to fall in love with the woman Rosaline. Berowne plays an important part because he is the only one to justify their love for the women and tie it into their studies.

(http://www.shmoop.com/loves-labours-lost/berowne.html)

Berowne is the second in command, but some people think he's way more interesting than the King. We wouldn't hold it against you if you told us you believed him to be the protagonist of the entire play. But Berowne wouldn't want the King's job. He's more of a sideline commentator, a chorus, a class clown whose job is to take note of everything going on around him and reflect on it.

We might argue he's even a truth-seeker. He's creative, impulsive, anarchic, and articulate. And he'll always say what's on his mind. He keeps the King sharp. Let's look at several key aspects of Berowne's character as a means of getting to know who this man really is.

In the first place, Berowne is something of a wise figure in Love's Labour's Lost. Among the men, Berowne seems older, more experienced, and seasoned. He doesn't seem have the same naiveté that characterizes the other lords. For example, Berowne alone argues that the King's plan to shut out women and focus on studies might be problematic.

Lastly, let's look at Berowne and language. The man can talk. He performs some verbal gymnastics in this play, the likes of which leave us (and people around him) a bit awestruck. He's one of those people who is so witty and quick that you are often left speechless by him, later beating yourself up for having nothing to say, and no words to throw back at him. Berowne's mind is a wonderland of words, images, rhymes and jokes that spill out every time he talks (he can't help it!). He is Shakespeare's double, a man exceptionally gifted with language.

(https://www.playshakespeare.com/loves-labours-lost/characters/2946-berowne)

Berowne is a lord at the court of Navarre, among the King’s best friends and one of the three who agree to join him on his scholarly retreat, though he is rather skeptical of the feasibility of the plan.

He has a well-earned international reputation for mockery, and is accepted to be the most intelligent of the courtiers of Navarre, a fact that pleases him. He is looked up to by others, including the King, when it is necessary to get out of a tight spot, as he is able to rationalize anything if need be. He does not expect Rosaline’s ability to match him in wit, and is put slightly off-kilter by her ability, though even more so by having fallen in love with her. He recognizes that she is unfashionably dark-complexioned, and is amazed that he could fall for her even so. Love has long been the chief subject of his mocking, and he especially likes to comment on bad love poetry, though he commits some himself. Extremely long-tongued, he can riff for hours on a theme when he takes it up, and his linguistic extravaganzas continue even after he swears to give them up. His joking can be extremely nasty at times, and he is called on this by both Holofernes and Rosaline. He accepts Rosaline’s prescription to take the edge off his humor by spending a year comforting the dying.

Shakespeare monologue practice

Today I researched how to effectively perform my Shakespearean monologue from Love's Labour's lost by Berowne. I research my character and I first interpreted him as a romantic character dealing with the idea of being in love. I performed my monologue with this idea of my character in mind but I was still not comfortable with my performance of the monologue. I talked with my teacher miss McSherry about how I could perform my monologue. We read through the monologue and miss helpped me realise that a lot of the dialogue in the monologue is very dirty and full of innuendos. This development help me realise that my character is dirty minded and prefers to be a stereotypical "player". Knowing my character had these character traits helped me to develop my character to be a bit of a big head nars. Which helped my overall development of my character of Berowen. Miss McSherry also help me on my physicallity of my character and how he would at times walk around and at others he would make inappropriate gestures. Overall this has helped me to set my my monologue as well as find the humour in my monologue which I had not seen before

FFE Speaking in role 2

(Sitting on the edge of his bed, paused in thought)

I have been fired… they fired me... Mr Harrington thinks I’m bad for Clive, he believes I’m turning his son into a cissy, I’m not turning Clive into anything I’m trying to help him learn about something the boy cares deeply for. Clive is my friend and Mr Harrington thinks I’m trying to turn Clive against him. He threaten me, said he was going to send me back to Germany, write to the immigration office saying I’ve been trying to fraternise with his daughter, Pamela. He called me a “filthy German bastard”; I am nothing like them… I am not one of those German. I’ve tried to help his son… his daughter with their life, I’ve been teaching Pamela French, History and to play piano and he repays me for this by threatening me. I have helped his Son discover who he is and what he needs to do to help his future and Mr Harrington calls me a filthy German bastard. He’s going to send me home… he’s going to send me to Germany, I can’t go to Germany, I can’t go back there… but they won’t let me stay here. I have nowhere to go, no one to turn too. I have nothing.

FFE Speaking in role 1

I ran in to Clive today. He’s a nice boy, I was searching for his mother when I ran into him and he told me that Mrs Harrington was in the music studio. I was astonished to learn that the Harrington’s had a music room in there cottage, I thought it’s a rather odd thing to have at a cottage but Mrs Harrington dose love her music. Clive informed me that the music room is actually in the back of the cottage because; in his words “His lordship doesn’t care much for music”. I Clive, I think he is a charming young man but he doesn’t show much pride towards his farther. His father’s dislike of music worried me as I was practicing my gramophone last night so I feel bad knowing I may have irritated him during the night. Me and Clive proceed to talk, he asked me about how his sister tutoring was going, he then asked me if I lived with my family, I informed him how I actually stayed in a Paddington that resembled a basement. I then told him how I felt that he and his sister are my first family; upon learning this he proceeded to tell me that “This isn’t a family. It’s a tribe of wild cannibals. Between us we eat everyone we can”. His view on his own family puzzled me as I couldn’t stop thinking what he meant by this.

WIRG Speaking in role 2

(They exit.  Paul stands staring after them.)

I’m confused… what else is new, I’m always confused. I thought I had made a friend today, I mean I have friends but not friends like Chris and Angus but like a proper friend. Emily was crying while I was studying so I went over and talked to her. I found out that she had a teddy bear for when she’s upset. I talked to her about the posters Rose had been putting up around school… about Emily being pregnant. Emily was really nice… I mean really nice because she actually talked to me. I know all the girls like me and everything, they’re just shy which is why they avoid me but Emily actually talked to me. She was so upset about Chris telling rose about the baby. Chris really annoys me; sometimes I wish that Chris would just vanish… that he would be gone forever and that he’d never come back and that they would find the body a few weeks later, it would be broken, decayed, covered in maggots and rats eating away at his flesh. (Painfully long pause)Emily hugged me, she actually hugged me I told her that we could skip school tomorrow and then she hugged me. She even kissed me… on the forehead but she still kissed me and she held my hand until Alysa shouted out her. They talked a bit about how I was bad for her to be around and Chris would be annoyed at that. Emily then said that she was using me to get a day off; Alysa then proceeded to call me “Fatty”. Emily then left after saying “Thanks for taking my name off the list”, so Emily is grateful for what I have done for her but chooses those mean girls over me… I don’t think I will ever understand girls.

WIRG Speaking in role 1

(Paul enters.  He holds a tray of food.  He sits by himself.  He watches the kids at each table.)

Paul: Sitting by myself… again. It’s not that I have no one to sit with, I have loads of friends but I just want some alone time at the moment because the guys, Sean, Angus and Chris are talking about girls and I don’t have much experience in that area so I wouldn’t really contribute much to them. It sounds like Sean has got a date with Dayna and Chris has just made a gesture about her boob and ass size… she is nice… I guess. (Looks over to the girls table) I think Emily and Alysa just found out that Dayna is going out with Sean. Emily doesn’t seem impressed with this buy Alysa is encouraging it I think. I could go over and talk to them but it been unfair on the other guys because I know what they think of me, they’re always inviting me to parties where it’s just me and all the girls. I think they all kind of like me but they can’t decide which one of them should get me. (Looks over to the Annie) Annie is trying to find out which one of the girls Jessie likes and Jessie is saying how he wishes he was in a different social group. I could go over and sit with them but who wants to sit with a group where the people in that group don’t even want to be a part of the group. Jody is alright though; he’s a nice guy but not much to say about him, I don’t really know him. I have lots of friends but like I said I just don’t like hanging out with all them… especially Chris. I mean I like Chris… sometime it’s just he is always bullying me, in know he joking but it sometimes hurts me. I wish I could joker around with Chris like he does with me, I wish I could put his head in a toilet while I laugh or slam him into a locker as I walk away sniggering or even laugh at him while other hold him down and repeatedly punch him in the stomach, again and again… and again and AGAIN until he starts to throw up vomit and blood. Then I’ll see if he’s still laughing.

My UAL Audition

What UAL is looking for: We look for students who are ready to take on an extremely demanding profession, who are mature and self-confident, and who are willing to take criticism and turn it to their advantage while preserving a sense of humour (This shows that they want me to be confident in myself as well as willing to put this first before a social life. Their also looking for me not to take offence to any comments given to me about my performance as well being able to adapt to the criticism given). Above all, we look for people who can express themselves freely and with confidence (They want me to be confident and comfortable in who I am and what I can do).
We're looking for potential student actors who are committed, sensitive, imaginative, curious and resilient, with a passion for acting and a serious approach to the art of acting in the classical tradition (They want me to be able to adapt with creativity in what I’m asked to do as well as show commitment towards it). We're looking for people who are not afraid to take creative risks, who respond to stimuli and who are excited by the idea of being in an ensemble, working generously and openly with others (They would like me to be able to be accepting of what I am given and respect others judgement as well as acknowledging my own).

UAL School Audition: One speech should be in verse and from a play by Shakespeare or one of his contemporaries.

Name of play: Love Labour’s lost
Plot: A King and his lords form an austere academy, swearing to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are in smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity.
Character: Berowne
Monologue:
And I, forsooth, in love!
I, that have been love's whip,
A very beadle to a humorous sigh,
A critic, nay, a night-watch constable,
A domineering pedant o'er the boy,
Than whom no mortal so magnificent.
This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy,
This signor-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid,
Regent of love-rimes, lord of folded arms,
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans,
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents,
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces,
Sole imperator and great general
Of trotting paritors -- O my little heart!
And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colors like a tumbler's hoop!
What? I love, I sue, I seek a wife!
A woman that is like a German clock,
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame,
And never going aright, being a watch,
But being watched that it may still go right!
Nay, to be perjured, which is worst of all;
And, among three, to love the worst of all;
A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch balls stuck in her face for eyes.
Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed,
Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard.
And I to sigh for her, to watch for her,
To pray for her! Go to, it is a plague
That Cupid will impose for my neglect
Of his almighty dreadful little might.
Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, groan:
Some men must love my lady, and some Joan

 

UAL School Audition: The other speech should be from any play written later than 1830.
Name of the play: When it rains gasoline
Plot: When it Rains Gasoline is a dark piece about the reality of being a high school student in the world today.  There are some kids who don't fit in; some kids who have been abused so badly that rage seems to be their only way out.  Paul is one of these kids.
Character: Paul
Monologue:
I get along with pretty much all the kids.  I know there are a lot of girls that really like me, they're just shy.  I'm kinda' shy too.  I know what they're going through.  I don't expect them to jump out and tell me how they feel, especially with Chris and...  Well, you know.  This one group of girls...  Really popular girls, invited me to a party.  I got all dressed up.  I was the only boy there.  We played a game where they giggled and dared each other to kiss me.  None did...  I'm sure they were just shy.  I...  I can really get people to laugh when I do things sometimes.  I'm...  I'm not really sure what those things are.  I mean, I get up from eating lunch and a whole group of kids at the next table starts to laugh.  I've thought about becoming a comedian...  Especially since I'm so good at making people laugh.  Chris and Angus and...  I don't like making those guys laugh.  Not really.  Sometimes they're...  I...  It's not fun to make them laugh, they...  (A painful pregnant pause.) Sometimes I wish that their little hearts would just freeze.  I have fantasies about that.  Sometimes in my dreams I see people like Chris choking on something.  He's motioning for me to help him.  He wants me to give him the Hiemlick maneuver or something, but I just stand there.  I watch him fall to his knees holding his throat...  His face turning blue.  For some reason blood starts to come out of his nose and ears.  His eyes pop out and blood starts to come from there too.  The whole time I know I can save him, but I don't do anything.  I watch him die.  He's lying there not moving, not doing anything.  Suddenly his skin splits open.  I expect to see muscles and bones, but...  Instead, maggots and spiders and worms start to crawl out of his ravaged body.  Then I know what he was...  Nothing.  He wasn't worth anything to anyone but insects and maggots.  Sometimes I think about ending it.  It would be so easy to make a statement, to show the world that people like me aren't going to take it anymore.  Put a gun to his head...  Pull the trigger...  See if I'm right about his insides.

My LAMDA Audition

What LAMDA is looking for: Each piece should last no longer than three minutes and there must be a clear contrast between the two (This would be because they want to see my acting range and the levels of versatile you can bring to their school). After presenting your work to the panel, you will be interviewed briefly as part of the audition process (The interview can help the audition panel to get to know me as a person which would be useful for them as they will be able to judge if I am able to be a successful student). You should be prepared to discuss your reasons for wanting to take this course (This will also help the panel to better understand me as well as what I hope to get from the course I wish to take) and bring a portfolio showing examples of your work (This will help show my past experience as an actor as well as help them gravitate my past acting skills as well as my development since I started acting). We do not ask applicants for specific academic qualifications or grades (This shows they don’t want to judge me on your grade but on how well I can perform, the commitment I show and how much of a passion I show). Unsuccessful applicants may re-apply at any point during the same audition/interview period. There is no limit to the number of times an individual can apply to LAMDA (This also shows they believe in second chances as well wanting to see if I can grow as an actor after being turned down as well as how I improve myself).

LAMDA School Audition: one monologue from an Elizabethan or Jacobean play
Name of play: Love Labour’s lost
Plot: A King and his lords form an austere academy, swearing to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are in smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity.
Character: Berowne
Monologue:
And I, forsooth, in love!
I, that have been love's whip,
A very beadle to a humorous sigh,
A critic, nay, a night-watch constable,
A domineering pedant o'er the boy,
Than whom no mortal so magnificent.
This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy,
This signor-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid,
Regent of love-rimes, lord of folded arms,
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans,
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents,
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces,
Sole imperator and great general
Of trotting paritors -- O my little heart!
And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colors like a tumbler's hoop!
What? I love, I sue, I seek a wife!
A woman that is like a German clock,
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame,
And never going aright, being a watch,
But being watched that it may still go right!
Nay, to be perjured, which is worst of all;
And, among three, to love the worst of all;
A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch balls stuck in her face for eyes.
Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed,
Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard.
And I to sigh for her, to watch for her,
To pray for her! Go to, it is a plague
That Cupid will impose for my neglect
Of his almighty dreadful little might.
Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, groan:
Some men must love my lady, and some Joan
 
LAMDA School Audition: one monologue from a play written in either the 20th or 21st Century, but not a piece written by you or by an unknown or little-known author.
Name of play: Five finger exercise
Plot: The play focuses on the Harrington family, who are spending a holiday together in their cottage in Suffolk, England. There is a snobbish mother, Louise, who fancies herself a Parisian aristocrat; a working class father, Stanley, who has done quite well for himself and his family in the furniture business; a troubled and sensitive son, Clive, who is just entering college, drinks too much, and is trying to find himself; and a smart-mouthed, feisty, fourteen-year-old daughter, Pamela. The fifth character is a young German music tutor, Walter, employed by the Harrington’s to teach Pamela to play piano.
Character: Walter
Monologue:
Clive? What's the matter? Are you all right? Why are you sitting in the dark? I've been talking to your father. He thinks you hate him. Clive, listen to me. The Kings of Egypt were gods. Everything they did was right, everything they said was true, everyone they loved became important. And when they died, they grew faces of gold. You must try to forgive your parents for being average and wrong when you worshipped them once. Why are you so afraid? Is it - because you have no girlfriend? Oh, you are so silly. Silly. Do you think sex will change you? Put you into a different world, where everything will mean more to you? I thought so, too, once. I thought it would change me into a man so my father could never touch me again. I didn't know exactly what it would be like, but I thought it would burn me and bring me terrible pain. But afterwards, I'd be strong and very wise. There was a girl in Muhlbach. She worked in her mother's grocery shop. One night I had a few drinks and, just for a joke, I broke into her bedroom through the window. I stayed with her all night. And I entered heaven. I really did. Between her arms was the only place in the world that mattered. When daylight came, I felt I had changed for ever. A little later I got up. I looked round, but the room was exactly the same. This was incomprehensible. It should have been so huge now - filled with air. But it seemed very small and stuffy and outside it was raining. I suppose I had thought, 'Now it will never rain again,' because rain depresses me, and I was now a man and could not be depressed. I remember, I hated the soap for lying there in the dish just as it had done the night before. I watched her putting on her clothes. I thought: 'We're tied together now by an invisible thread.' And then she said: 'It's nine o'clock: I must be off' - and went downstairs to open the shop. Then I looked into the mirror: at least my eyes would be different. They were a little red, yes - but I was exactly the same - still a boy. Rain was still here. And all the problems of yesterday were still waiting. Sex by itself is nothing, believe me. Just like breathing - only important when it goes wrong. And Clive, this only happens if you're afraid of it. What are you thinking? (He pauses.) Please talk to me.

Choosing my 3 monologues

LAMDA                                       UAL

1 Classical                                     1 Classical

1 Contemporary                            1 Contemporary

 

MY STRENGHS

• Dark humor
• Panicky\doubtful Characters

MY WEAKNESSES

• Romantic characters
• Intense\serious characters

Monologue 1 (Elizabethan and Jacobean): I have to decide between my “Love Labour’s lost” monologue by Berowne and my “Richard III” monologue by Gloucester (Richard III).  I believe I will chose the monologue from “Love Labour’s lost” as this is a very silly and comedic monologue which is a play on my strengths in acting unlike the “Richard III” monologue which is very intense, being intense is considered to be one of my weaknesses so choosing the “Love Labours lost” monologue will help show off my acting range.

Monologue 2 (Contemporary): I need to decide my Contemporary monologue from the 5 monologues I have found which are Walter’s monologue from “Five Finger Exercise”, Dave’s from “It’s Ralph”, Richard’s from “DNA”, Paul’s monologue from “When it rains gasoline” or Phil from “Boy’s life”. I have decided that I will not choose Dave’s monologue from “it’s Ralph” as I do not suit the character personality or age as well as not having any familiarity of consequences going on with Ralph’s death.  I am also not considering performing Richard’s monologue from “DNA” as even though we are both in a similar age range to each other, our personalities do not match as Richard is a strong assertive type which doesn’t suit my personality. I am also not going to choose the monologue from “Boy’s life” by Phil as even though I suit the character type the monologue doesn’t play to my strengths as an actor because the monologue is considered to be a dark romantic piece as he’s trying to impress a girl just in the wrong way. I’m now left with 2 monologues to choose from for my main contemporary monologue, either Paul’s from “When it rains gasoline” or Walter’s for “Five Finger Exercise”.  I believe the monologue from “when it rains gasoline” is my strongest of the 2 as I suit the character as a teenage boy as well as the monologue plays to my strengths as it is a comedic monologue at the start but turn dark and twisted as it gets towards the end. My Contemporary monologue will be Paul’s from “When it rains gasoline.

Monologue 3 (Spare monologue): My spare monologue will be Walter’s from “Five Finger Exercise” as this monologue plays to my strengths as an actor of dark comedic scenes. Walter’s character doesn’t suit my age but we have contrasting personalities so I will be able to adapt myself to this monologues needs.

Audition monologues (Contemporary)

Name of play: Five finger exercise
Plot: The play focuses on the Harrington family, who are spending a holiday together in their cottage in Suffolk, England. There is a snobbish mother, Louise, who fancies herself a Parisian aristocrat; a working class father, Stanley, who has done quite well for himself and his family in the furniture business; a troubled and sensitive son, Clive, who is just entering college, drinks too much, and is trying to find himself; and a smart-mouthed, feisty, fourteen-year-old daughter, Pamela. The fifth character is a young German music tutor, Walter, employed by the Harrington’s to teach Pamela to play piano.
Character: Walter
Monologue:
Clive? What's the matter? Are you all right? Why are you sitting in the dark? I've been talking to your father. He thinks you hate him. Clive, listen to me. The Kings of Egypt were gods. Everything they did was right, everything they said was true, everyone they loved became important. And when they died, they grew faces of gold. You must try to forgive your parents for being average and wrong when you worshipped them once. Why are you so afraid? Is it - because you have no girlfriend? Oh, you are so silly. Silly. Do you think sex will change you? Put you into a different world, where everything will mean more to you? I thought so, too, once. I thought it would change me into a man so my father could never touch me again. I didn't know exactly what it would be like, but I thought it would burn me and bring me terrible pain. But afterwards, I'd be strong and very wise. There was a girl in Muhlbach. She worked in her mother's grocery shop. One night I had a few drinks and, just for a joke, I broke into her bedroom through the window. I stayed with her all night. And I entered heaven. I really did. Between her arms was the only place in the world that mattered. When daylight came, I felt I had changed for ever. A little later I got up. I looked round, but the room was exactly the same. This was incomprehensible. It should have been so huge now - filled with air. But it seemed very small and stuffy and outside it was raining. I suppose I had thought, 'Now it will never rain again,' because rain depresses me, and I was now a man and could not be depressed. I remember, I hated the soap for lying there in the dish just as it had done the night before. I watched her putting on her clothes. I thought: 'We're tied together now by an invisible thread.' And then she said: 'It's nine o'clock: I must be off' - and went downstairs to open the shop. Then I looked into the mirror: at least my eyes would be different. They were a little red, yes - but I was exactly the same - still a boy. Rain was still here. And all the problems of yesterday were still waiting. Sex by itself is nothing, believe me. Just like breathing - only important when it goes wrong. And Clive, this only happens if you're afraid of it. What are you thinking? (He pauses.) Please talk to me.

Name of play: It’s Ralph
Plot: Andrew and his wearily frustrated wife Clare are spending the weekend in their Gloucestershire cottage, which, like their marriage, is well in need of repair. Ralph, an old friend of Andrew's, visits and remembers their shared radical youth. Ralph brings Andrew face to face with his own spiritual bankruptcy and the latter finally unburdens himself to his visitor. Clare leaves, the house decays rapidly and Ralph helps Andrew to regain his integrity, but at a price as in the last few minutes of the show, Ralph is crushed by a falling celling.
Character: Dave
Monologue:
Poor old Ralph. I'd never seen anyone dead before. (Pause.) Actually, that's not true. There was someone. My Dad's auntie. She was funny in the head. She thought she could flap her arms up and down and fly like a bird. They had her put away. But then, when she got older, Dad thought she should come and live with us. We had a house in the country, in Essex. Dad thought she should end her days with the family and not in a loony bin. The house was very unusual. Tall and thin. And there was trees all round it. There was a gap in the trees, and through that gap you could see the Colchester to London railway line. My old aunt loved to watch the trains go by. They gave her a room on the top floor so she could see the trains clearly. They kept the window locked, just in case. One day she managed to prise the window open. She crawled onto the window-sill, flapped her arms up and down, and jumped. Poor old darling. Mum rushed out and found her. 'Don't look,' she said, but of course I did. Wasn't nasty or frightening. Just a funny bundle of clothes with legs and arms sticking out of it. Mum said it was a blessed release. She often said that about people dying. (Pause.) I suppose some people thought she killed herself because we kept her locked up and were cruel to her. Perhaps some people thought she was trying to escape and killed herself accidentally. Some people knew the truth, of course. And perhaps there was someone in a train going from Colchester to London. And perhaps he looked out of the window, and perhaps, through the gap in the trees, he saw an old lady in mid-air, flapping her arms up and down. Just for a split second, as the train rushed on, past our house. And he'd look through the window, that man, and he'd be amazed. He'd tell his friend, 'I saw an old lady flying', he'd say. So in a way, it actually happened. What she wanted. Perhaps she died happy. What do you think?

Name of play: DNA

Plot: DNA by Dennis Kelly follows the silent yet intimidating, 16 year old Phil, and his fearful following of misfits as they come to terms with the consequences of a practical joke that ends in tragedy. This piece deals directly and powerfully with hard hitting, relevant issues, such as violence, guilt, unrequited love, tyranny and solidarity within a group of adolescents who have placed themselves at the edge of society.
Character: Richard
Monologue:
Phil, Phil, watch this! Phil, watch me, watch me, Phil!
See? See what I’m doing? Can you see Phil?
When are you going to come back?
Come on, Phil. Come back to us. What do you want to sit up here for? In this field? Don’t you get bored? Don’t you get bored sitting here, everyday, doing nothing?

Everyone’s asking after you. You know that? Everyone’s saying ‘where’s Phil?’ ‘what’s Phil up to?’ ‘when’s Phil going to come down from that stupid field?’ ‘wasn’t it good when Phil was running the show?’ What do you think about? What do you think about everyone asking after you?

Aren’t you interested? Aren’t you interested in what’s going on?
John Tate’s found god. Yeah, yeah I know. He’s joined the Jesus Army, he runs round the shopping centre singing and trying to give people leaflets. Danny’s doing work experience at a dentist’s. He hates it. Can’t stand the cavities, he says when they open their mouths sometimes it feels like you’re going to fall in.
Brian’s on stronger and stronger medication. They caught him staring at a wall and drooling last week. It’s either drooling or giggling. Keeps talking about earth. I think they're going to section him. Cathy doesn't care. She's too busy running the things. You wouldn't believe how things have got, Phil. She's insane. She cut a first year's finger off, that's what they say anyway. Doesn't that bother you? Aren't you even bothered?
Lou's her best friend, now. Dangerous game. I feel sorry for Lou. And Jan and Mark have taken up shoplifting, they're really good at it, get you anything you want. Phil? Phil!
You can't stay here forever. When are you going to come down?

Nice up here.

As I was coming up here there was this big wind of fluff. You know, this big wind of fluff, like dandelions, but smaller, and tons of them, like fluffs of wool or cotton, it was really weird, I mean it just came out of nowhere, this big wind of fluff, and for a minute I thought I was in a cloud, Phil. Imagine that. Imagine being inside a cloud, but with space inside it as well, for a second, as I was coming up here I felt like I was an alien in a cloud. But really felt it. And in that second, Phil, I knew that there was life on other planets. I knew we weren't alone in the universe, I didn't just think it or feel it, I know it, it was as if the universe was suddenly shifting and giving me a glimpse, this vision that could see everything, just for a fraction of a heartbeat of a second. But I couldn't see who they were or what they were doing or how they were living.

How do you think they're living, Phil?
How do you think they're living?
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Brighton beach.
Come back, Phil.
Phil?"

Name of the play: When it rains gasoline
Plot: When it Rains Gasoline is a dark piece about the reality of being a high school student in the world today.  There are some kids who don't fit in; some kids who have been abused so badly that rage seems to be their only way out.  Paul is one of these kids.
Character: Paul
Monologue:
I get along with pretty much all the kids.  I know there are a lot of girls that really like me, they're just shy.  I'm kinda' shy too.  I know what they're going through.  I don't expect them to jump out and tell me how they feel, especially with Chris and...  Well, you know.  This one group of girls...  Really popular girls, invited me to a party.  I got all dressed up.  I was the only boy there.  We played a game where they giggled and dared each other to kiss me.  None did...  I'm sure they were just shy.  I...  I can really get people to laugh when I do things sometimes.  I'm...  I'm not really sure what those things are.  I mean, I get up from eating lunch and a whole group of kids at the next table starts to laugh.  I've thought about becoming a comedian...  Especially since I'm so good at making people laugh.  Chris and Angus and...  I don't like making those guys laugh.  Not really.  Sometimes they're...  I...  It's not fun to make them laugh, they...  (A painful pregnant pause.) Sometimes I wish that their little hearts would just freeze.  I have fantasies about that.  Sometimes in my dreams I see people like Chris choking on something.  He's motioning for me to help him.  He wants me to give him the Hiemlick maneuver or something, but I just stand there.  I watch him fall to his knees holding his throat...  His face turning blue.  For some reason blood starts to come out of his nose and ears.  His eyes pop out and blood starts to come from there too.  The whole time I know I can save him, but I don't do anything.  I watch him die.  He's lying there not moving, not doing anything.  Suddenly his skin splits open.  I expect to see muscles and bones, but...  Instead, maggots and spiders and worms start to crawl out of his ravaged body.  Then I know what he was...  Nothing.  He wasn't worth anything to anyone but insects and maggots.  Sometimes I think about ending it.  It would be so easy to make a statement, to show the world that people like me aren't going to take it anymore.  Put a gun to his head...  Pull the trigger...  See if I'm right about his insides.

Name of Play: Boy’s life

Plot:
Character: Phil
Monologue:
I would have destroyed myself for this woman. Gladly. I would have eaten garbage. I would have sliced my wrists open. Under the right circumstances, I mean, if she said, "Hey, Phil, why don't you just cut your wrists open?" Well, come on, but if seriously... We clicked, we connected on so many things, right off the bat, we talked about God for three hours once. I don't know what good it did, but that intensity... and the first time we went to bed, I didn't even touch her. I didn't want to, understand what I'm saying? And you know, I played it very casually, because, all right, I've had some rough experiences, I'm the first to admit, but after a couple weeks I could feel we were right there, so I laid it down, everything I wanted to tell her, and... and she says to me, she says... "Nobody should ever need another person that badly." Do you believe that? "Nobody should ever...!" What is that? Is that something you saw on TV? I put my heart on the table; you give me Dr. Joyce Brothers? "Need, need," I'm saying I love you, is that so wrong? Is that not allowed anymore? (Pause.) And so what if I did need her? Is that so bad? All right, crucify me, I needed her! So what! I don't want to be by myself, I'm by myself I feel like I'm going out of my mind, I do. I sit there, I'm thinking forget it, I'm not gonna make it through the next ten seconds. I just can't stand it. But I do, somehow, I get through the ten seconds, but then I have to do it all over again, cause they just keep coming, all these... Seconds, floating by, while I'm waiting for something to happen, I don't know what, a car wreck, a nuclear war or something, that sounds awful but at least there'd be this instant when I'd know I was alive. Just once. Cause I look in the mirror, and I can't believe I'm really there. I can't believe that's me. It's like, my body, right, is the size of, what, the Statue of Liberty, and I'm inside it, I'm down in one of the legs, the gigantic hairy leg, I'm scraping around inside my own foot like some tiny fetus. And I don't know who I am or where I'm going. And I wish I'd never been born. (Pause.) Not only that, my hair is falling out, and that really sucks.
 
  

Audition monologues (Classical)

Name of play: Richard III
Plot:
Character: Gloucester
Monologue:
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that 'G'
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes.

Name of play: Love Labour’s lost

Plot: A King and his lords form an austere academy, swearing to have no contact with women for three years. But when the Princess of neighbouring France arrives with her female attendants, their pledge is quickly placed under strain. Soon all are in smitten and confusion abounds, as each struggles to secretly declare his love in this comedy of deception, desire and mistaken identity.
Character: Berowne
Monologue:
And I, forsooth, in love!
I, that have been love's whip,
A very beadle to a humorous sigh,
A critic, nay, a night-watch constable,
A domineering pedant o'er the boy,
Than whom no mortal so magnificent.
This wimpled, whining, purblind, wayward boy,
This signor-junior, giant-dwarf, Dan Cupid,
Regent of love-rimes, lord of folded arms,
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans,
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents,
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces,
Sole imperator and great general
Of trotting paritors -- O my little heart!
And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colors like a tumbler's hoop!
What? I love, I sue, I seek a wife!
A woman that is like a German clock,
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame,
And never going aright, being a watch,
But being watched that it may still go right!
Nay, to be perjured, which is worst of all;
And, among three, to love the worst of all;
A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch balls stuck in her face for eyes.
Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed,
Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard.
And I to sigh for her, to watch for her,
To pray for her! Go to, it is a plague
That Cupid will impose for my neglect
Of his almighty dreadful little might.
Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, groan:
Some men must love my lady, and some Joan