Composite Paper : Monologue

Allie Boettcher
3/20/11
Acting 2
Component Paper
Character Analysis: Monologue
Dying Light

A. Play Analysis
    1) The Situation:
 The character that I was portraying was from Jason D. Morgan’s Dying Light. Jenny, the character, is a nineteen-year old young woman that has Glioblastoma cancer, which in the play is a cancer that has a track record for being deadly. Jenny is a charismatic young woman that accepts the fate she knows soon awaits her; her death. Although she knows that she will die she doesn’t focus on that but on the more positive things within her life. Cancer has affected her life, and she is aware of these affects, “You wouldn’t believe how hard it was in high school to deal with all that crap. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was for the girl with no hair to find a date for the prom. Nobody asked me. Nobody wanted to take the bald chick out. No big deal. Ended up just hiring someone to go with me…Just kidding.” This quote is directly from Jenny’s monologue. In the quote she expresses the affect that her condition has had on her, but she knows how to deal with it or make light of her situation. Ultimately, cancer has become part of her day-to-day life and although she has learned to live with it she strongly resents it at the same time.
    2) The Objective:
This character’s objective, within the monologue is to portray that she is a strong young woman. Although she is scared, she is willing to face her ultimate fate. Also, he objective is to explain this new person that has entered her life; Tom is his name. She met him at the cancer ward. They both understand each other’s situation and both share the same light-hearted charismatic outlook. Ultimately Jenny’s objective is to explain that she is falling for this young man named Tom.
3)    The Obstacle:
Jenny is excited to be falling in love but her obstacle is that she doesn’t have
much time with Tom. Her obstacle is the limited time that they both have. This is what contributes towards her resentment for her condition; she is falling in love for the first time and it frustrates her that her condition is putting a limit on the time that she has with Tom.
B. Change of Character in the Monologue
1) Character arc:
Originally the monologue is approximately three minutes long but Rafi helped me cut it down to about one minute and forty-five seconds to two minutes. Jenny’s character tries to make light of her situation by being comical in the beginning of the monologue. But, we removed that part of the monologue because we wanted to get straight to the core of what she is saying while being able to keep the piece to about two minutes. There are two changes in the monologue for the character. First, she is talking about how a doctor told her she should consider putting her estate in order; that is the first change, Then, later in the monologue after she talks about her struggles in high school she transitions into talking about meeting Tom. This is the biggest change for the character. Her whole physicality and emotion changes when she begins to explain this young man that has changed her life in a sense. Tom is the character that motivates a change within the character that I am playing. Tom has given Jenny a valid reason to want more time to live because she wants to fully experience the feelings that she has for him.
C. Monologue break down   
It's strange the way people treat you when you're dying.  My Mom try's to pretend nothings wrong...  Maybe that's for the best. (quick beat)  Recently a doctor told me I should consider putting my estate in order.  Estate in order! What's that?  Some clothing, make-up, and a beat up bicycle.  I'm not going to be leaving a whole lot behind to prove I was here. (It is with this previous line that the character’s emotions start to build, to escalate.) 
Cancer! (Cancer is what she resents because it has affected her life to a great extent.)
 Brain surgeries!  (Its not the actual condition she has, the cancer, that scares her but all of the operations she had to endure.) You wouldn't believe how hard it was in high school to deal with all that crap. (Character is very frustrated at this moment remembering the struggles she went through in her past.)  You wouldn't believe how hard it was for a girl with no hair to find a date to the prom. (quick beat) (Connecting my personal narrative to this aspect of the novel; the character is no longer the cute little girl that got stuck in the snow in the morning.)  Nobody asked me. (beat) Nobody wanted to take the bald chick out.  No big deal.  Ended up having to hire someone to go with me... (quick beat) Just kidding. (beat) (Shaking it off, making light of the circumstances.) Well, I'm still alive. (After all that she is still here AND she has met a great guy.) And I have Tom. (Complete emotional transition when she is picturing Tom; the entire mood and physicality of the character changes.)  He took me out again last night and we had a blast. We've been gong out every night for a week now.  It wouldn't surprise me if this becomes very serious,very fast. (quick beat)  Last night we rented a really stupid Shwartznegger sequel.  Usually I would have been annoyed to have wasted my time on such a lame flick; but Tom made it funny. (Running away in thought about Tom; he can make her laugh. He has taught her how to laugh again.)  He kept talking to the screen.  When the hero said, "I'll be back;" Tom responded by saying, (Imitates accent.) "Don't bother, we won't be here." (beat) When he brought me home last night...(Transition after this line, she is thinking about her first REAL kiss.)   He gave me a kiss I'll never forget.  It was so romantic.  I've never felt this way about a guy before. (beat) (Excited and scared at the same time because its her first love.) Well, when you're nineteen years old, and you know you're going to...  There's no time to waste. (Scared of the limited time she has with Tom; wants more time.)  And Tom is such a good guy.  I think I might be... (quick beat) (The idea is coming to her right there.) I think I might be falling in love. (She admits that she is falling for this great guy Tom; the only scary realization in her life that she is happy about.)
    1) Objectives: Action Verbs:
    First line: Attitude Second Line: Awareness, confessing Third Line: Annoyed Fourth Line: Irritated Fifth Line: Angry Sixth Line: Resentment Seventh Line: Afraid, scared of Eighth Line: Accusing Ninth Line: Frustrated, yet white flag moment in a sense Tenth Line: Resentment Eleventh Line: Ashamed, hurt Twelfth Line: Who cares attitude, I don’t care attitude Thirteenth Line: Joking Fourteenth Line: Made it through all that AND met a great guy attitude Fifteenth Line: Reminiscing Sixteenth Line: Admitting Seventeenth Line: Reminiscing Eighteenth Line: Reminiscing on Tom’s humor Nineteenth Line: Melting Twentieth Line: Twinge of worry, scared Twenty-first Line: Realization
D. Rehearsal Analysis  
    1) Statue Work:
    This is thorough instructions of how my statue should look; I created my statue during class time in an exercise. Legs slightly more then shoulder width a part. On releve, or balls of feet. Legs are locked and the core should be tight. Head is looking to the left at a forty-five degree angle and left arm is crossed over the right, making an “x.” Body/torso is twisted towards , or over, left shoulder. Hands are not tense but relaxed. Good posture should be maintained. Finally, feet are parallel, not turned out.
    2) Meetings:
    I Met with Rafi for a total of three times and met with professor Cirino one time in office hours. In my meetings with Rafi we were able to cut down my monologue from approximately three minutes to about two minutes. We found that are cut was perfect because it still kept the meet of the monologue; we didn’t lose too much. I had some breakthroughs in my meetings with Rafi; ultimately I found that meeting with him was very beneficial. Also, meeting with professor Cirino enabled me to find a connection between my narrative and my statue to my character within the monologue. 
    3) Narrative:
    MY NARRATIVE: A story that I thought of actually happened in my life a long time ago. When I was younger my grandparents would always take my cousin brother, and I up to Big Bear. We have a cabin up there and they would always take us whenever it snowed. One of my first trips up to Big Bear I was about 3 or 4 years old, so I don't really remember this incident. Anyway, my grandfather managed to get our car stuck in the snow and ironically enough we were on the same street as our cabin. When I was little I didn't really have much to say besides saying the word "no," in response to anything anyone would say to me. Well, supposedly I made quite the cute little remark, and it was an actual sentence. With the chaos of being stuck in the snow and with my grandparents bickering I just blurted out, "Uh oh, stuck in the snow in the morning!" From that day on my grandfather has never failed to mention that to me. He says to me, even now, "What happened to the cute little girl that said, 'Stuck in the snow in the morning!' " It has followed me my entire life, and has become my trade mark within our family. I'm the little girl that said 'stuck in the snow in the morning.' My grandpa still sees me as that little girl in his eyes and I think that he always will.
E. Performance Analysis
    1) Overall reaction:
    I was proud of the work that I did on stage. Although I am still developing as an actress I felt that I made leaps from my performances in the past. I felt well prepared, connected, and like I had a very good understanding for the choice that I made with my monologue. Unfortunately I was not comfortable with the comment that was made by one of my peers in the class, but I am not going to let that uneducated critique get me down. Although I do realize that I have room for improvement I am proud of the work that I did and am thankful to have been able to work with Rafi. I Look forward to performing a second piece for the class.
F. Short Evaluation
    Overall, I feel that I was successful in my monologue performance. Although I was not completely satisfied with the critiques I was given I will not let that hinder me from performing a second piece for the class.
G. Bibliographies
    Jason D. Martin’s Dying Light