Week 3

Option: MONOLOGUE

Your monologue could be internalised ( a stream of consciousness), it could be addressed  directly to the listener, or it could be a speech directed to other non-speaking characters .  Your character could be talking on the phone, keeping an audio diary, talking to a pet, talking to an interviewer, talking to a captive listener.

You will have the opportunity to hear radio monologues and speeches in different styles and genres.  

The script should evoke a specific person confronting or responding to a particular situation.  (You could try writing against character, i.e. adopting a role of persona very different from your own).  

Suggestions:

You are Mrs Anthea Hepplethwaite, 55, Head of Biology at a large secondary school. Your relationships with pupils and colleagues are problematic. You can’t understand why…

You are Boris Strugatski, 29, Russian cosmonaut in orbit in a space capsule. There is a problem in your life support system and you only have sixty minutes of oxygen left. Will  help arrive in time?

You are Cyril, aged 60. You collect old radio sets and you like Yorkshire pudding.  You’ve always been very shy with the opposite sex but now Aggie, the attractive widow next door has asked you to go to bingo…What do you do?

You are Kraal,  a Dogon from Ganymede, one of the moons of Saturn.  You’ve come to Earth to seek help for your dying race, but despite your effective humanoid disguise you find Earth customs very confusing.

You are Samira, 18 at college.  You’ve fallen in love with Mervyn, a 28 year old computer programmer.  He’s Israeli, and wants you to live with him in Tel Aviv.  Your uncle Ahmed, Imam at the local mosque, is not happy…

You are Sir Lionel Norrington DFC. You fought in the Battle of Britain, losing an arm when your Spitfire was finally shot down. It’s April 2003, and your grandson Peter is with the Paras in Basra.

You should explore the expressive qualities of the spoken word - the music of the language - and  you should try to create a mental picture for the listener through the selection of  vivid detail.

Whatever approach you take, you should try to explore the possibilities of sound effects and music to create ambience and/or signify a location.