The Vagina Monologues; The Monologue Play Project

Please turn in your homework (see post below for details!)

Take a few minutes to prepare the monologue exercise we started last class. I will ask that at least 2 groups share with the class the way they cut the monologue by doing a staged reading.

After viewing and discussing, let's see the original: Eve Ensler: My Angry Vagina

Use your time in the lab to begin your monologue play project. You may also read "Spic-o-Rama" (which you should complete for homework--see below).

LAB TASK: Choose a premise for a monologue play. Once you have a premise, conduct any of the following tasks:

• Interview a person who has experience with your subject matter. Take notes and listen to the way the interviewee tells the story. Try basing a character on this person or this personality.
• After conducting interviews, use your notes to write a monologue. You may have combine the ideas of more than one interviewee. The idea is to have a coherent through line for your monologues. 
• After choosing a premise, conduct research and take notes. Monologues can use factual information or be informative for the audience. If your topic is "lions" for example (probably unlikely) knowing more about lions might be appropriate for your monologue. Research biologists, for example, who might write about their work with lions or search out stories about lions to help you create a monologue about them.
• Remember that monologues help develop character. It is helpful to have characters who want something (to achieve a specific goal)--so give your character a goal to try to achieve.
• Better yet: make sure your character's goal has a dramatic risk involved: what is at stake for this character? Why might this character NEED to tell us this story? What does the monologue reveal about the character's personality or history or beliefs or goals?
• Research historical time period or delve into the past of a character. Take notes. Use your notes to flesh out your character and provide backstory and development.
• Connect your monologues by theme or idea. A play about lions might be told from a zookeeper, a child at the zoo, a villager who has suffered from a lion attack, a cartoonist inspired by the lion king, or a lion tamer. Each character will be different but could be played by the same actor or a group of actors.
• Use the plays we've read as samples or models: Talking With, The Vagina Monologues, or Spic-o-Rama.

The nitty-gritty: you will need to write at least 3 monologues for your "play". When you have the play written, give it a title. Review format for plays:

Sample Script Format (PDF)

How to Format a Play (video)

Tips about writing plays (video)

Your play should have a title page (with your name on it--no need for the full address just yet) and a list of characters (names of your characters & perhaps a short description of them) and an indication of the time and place. These things can be put on the same page if you like, or on separate pages (your choice) but they do not count as # of pages for this assignment. 

See the handout for more information.

HOMEWORK: Please complete Spic-O-Rama by John Leguizamo for Friday's class. Please bring your scripts with you to class for a discussion.