Okay so I'm preforming a monologue for a project at school. It's about a girl who's best friend who committed suicide and shes describing how she felt. I need some tips on how to make it seem more realistic.. (facial expressions, movement, gestures, what to wear, etc.) Thanks(:
I'm currently writing a drama to be shown soon and it is a collage of monologues and even when writing I try to picture all the things you are asking about. I always try to completely become the individual in question. Try to picture this girl vividly, try and get in her mind. Create her as a whole person. How was she before her friend died, what did they share before, what were some some of their secrets? What music does this girl listen to, what did she listen to before her friend died. Listen to these songs. Create the memories, become her. I hope this helps at least a little? :)
Clothes wont matter, all u have do is play the part. just read through ur piece and pick out specific sentences to do certain facial expressions of fear or sadness, or about-to-cry faces.Try not to be overdramatically active. u'll do fine
For that I would: Act like it was hard to talk about Look nervous (biting lips, wringing hands) It doesn't matter what you wear (as long as you don't wear something that looks crazy or it'll be distracting) Also, if you can cry on cue, it'll help.
First of all, forget the old pretend-the-judge/audience-is-in-their-... thing. It only makes you giggle and giggling isn't good! Clothes won't matter, but I find it fun to wear make-up appropriate to the scene. For your situation, some dark eyeshadow would be cool. But totally not required and not necessarily recommended. Just fun, and it gets you in the mood. Don't look at the audiences' faces too often, and especially not at one person. Even if the monologue is creepy, this is just unnecessarily creepy. I'm imagining you can totally put yourself in this girl's place. So when you're performing, forget who you really are and BE the girl who's friend committed suicide. How would the words you're saying make you feel? Let your personal experinces/imagination appear in your facial expressions and gestures. Take wings!
This is really dependent on how you want to play the character. What does the character feel? Is there shock? Obviously grief would be prominent, disbelief would be a good thing to show emotional wise as well. As the other answer said, clothing isn't that important, but if you want to step it up a bit, perhaps dress like you were going to a funeral. As for movements, that's completely up to your character and how you want to play the girl. Sorry I can't be more specific on this point.
