DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES
MONOLOGUE
& SOLILOQUY
WRITING
For Devising Drama
ENTER
Definition: A monologue is a long speech delivered by a character to other characters in the scene or to an audience. Audience: The character is addressing other characters on stage or directly speaking to the audience (e.g., breaking the fourth wall). Purpose: Often used to persuade, inform, explain, or express feelings to others.
WHAT IS A SOLILOQUY?
WHAT IS A MONOLOGUE?
Definition: A soliloquy is a speech delivered by a character who is alone on stage (or believes they are alone). It reveals their inner thoughts and emotions, often things they wouldn’t say aloud to others. Audience: The character speaks only to themselves, as if thinking aloud, but the audience overhears. Purpose: To provide insight into the character’s private thoughts, conflicts, or motivations.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Are you ready to start writing?
Title
Title
Write a brief description here
Write a brief description here
WRITING A MONOLOGUE OR SOLILOQUY
STARTING LINE RANDOMISER
CHOOSE A MOMENT Pick a significant moment in your devised piece where your character has something important to express. This could be:
- A turning point in the story.
- A moment of emotional intensity (e.g., anger, sorrow, joy, fear).
- A time they are reflecting on past events or debating a difficult decision.
PROMPT EXPLORER
DECIDE ON THE FORMAT
- If your character is speaking to another character or the audience, write a monologue.
- If they are speaking their private thoughts, write a soliloquy.
PRACTICAL EXPLORATIONS
EXPLORATIONS
Clarity
Key Lines
Subtext
Emotional Depth
Pacing
Physicality
Rehearsal
Physicality
Consider how your character delivers the monologue or soliloquy physically. Are they sitting, pacing, leaning, or standing still? How do their gestures, posture, and facial expressions reflect their emotional state? Try performing your work in different ways. Annotate your work with a physical score. A physical score is a detailed plan of how your character moves and uses their body during the monologue or soliloquy. This helps you connect specific physical actions to your character's emotional journey. Experiment with these movements and see how they enhance the meaning behind your words. Avoid overacting. Keep your physicality rooted in your character’s truth.
Rehearse
Practice your soliloquy or monologue as if you’re performing for an audience. Focus on vocal choices: How can your tone, volume, and timing reflect your character’s emotions? Experiment with where to emphasise certain words or phrases. Combine this with your physicality (e.g., gestures, posture, or facial expressions) to create a fully realised performance. Perform your piece for a partner, your ensemble group, or the class.
Reflect on feedback
Consider how your ensemble can incorporate monologues and soliloquies into your final devised piece. These moments can reveal key themes, deepen character backstories, or mark emotional turning points within the narrative. Experiment with layering ensemble movement, soundscapes, or stillness to support the text and add visual or auditory depth
Edit for Clarity
Read through your monologue or soliloquy carefully. Are there any lines or phrases that feel repetitive, overly long, or unclear? Focus on tightening the language to make your piece more concise and impactful. Replace vague words with more precise or vivid ones. For example, instead of saying, “I’m scared,” you might say, “My heart races like it’s trying to escape my chest.” Cut anything that doesn’t add to the emotional or thematic core of your piece. A shorter, sharper monologue will have more impact than one that drifts or repeats.
Emotional Depth Analysis
Ask yourself: What is my character feeling in this moment? Identify the dominant emotion—anger, fear, guilt, sorrow, joy, or another strong feeling. Reflect on how this emotion drives your character’s words and actions. Rewrite a section of your monologue or soliloquy to amplify this emotion. Use vivid details to show how it feels in their body (e.g., "My chest tightens with every word"). Strengthen the language to make the emotion more immediate, raw, or intense. Think about how this emotional state changes as the monologue or soliloquy progresses. Does it build, collapse, or shift completely?
This interactive exploration has been designed to guide students through the process of understanding, writing, and performing monologues or soliloquies as part of their devised piece. Students will first learn the key differences between monologues and soliloquies, then create their own based on a character they have developed. Following this, they will engage in seven practical explorations to refine their writing and deepen their characterisation. These activities include examining emotional depth, experimenting with tempo and subtext, developing a physical score, and rehearsing for performance. The aim is to help students connect text, emotion, and physicality, ensuring their monologue or soliloquy is fully realised and impactful within the ensemble's final piece.
Subtext
Think about what your character is saying on the surface and what they’re really thinking or feeling underneath. Subtext adds layers of complexity to your performance. For example, a line like, “I’m fine” could mask deep sadness or anger. Rewrite a section of your monologue or soliloquy to include subtle hints of this subtext. You could use contradictions (e.g., “I don’t care what they think… but I can’t stop thinking about it”), or double meanings. Imagine your character is having an internal debate. What might they want to say but can’t? Let this tension shape your words and delivery.
Strengthen Key Lines
Identify the three most important lines in your monologue or soliloquy. They should be lines that carry the most emotional weight or reveal key truths about your character. These lines should stand out to the audience and stick with them. Rewrite these lines to make them more powerful or poetic. Consider using techniques like:
- Metaphor (e.g., "My heart is a storm").
- Alliteration (e.g., "She stole my spirit, shattered my soul").
- Contrast (e.g., "I am both the hero and the villain of this story").
Experiment with the rhythm of these lines. Could a pause or sudden change in tone make them even more effective?
Tempo and Pacing
Break your monologue or soliloquy into short sections or phrases. Ask yourself: Where does my character need to pause to think or collect themselves? These pauses might reflect hesitation, doubt, or deep reflection. Then, consider where the pace should quicken to show urgency, excitement, or rising anger. Perform your work aloud, experimenting with tempo changes. Slow down reflective or sorrowful moments to make them more poignant, and speed up moments of intensity to create energy and tension. Pay attention to how these choices affect the meaning and emotional impact of your words.
MONOLOGUE AND SOLILOQUY WRITING
Black Box Education
Created on September 17, 2025
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Transcript
DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES
MONOLOGUE
& SOLILOQUY
WRITING
For Devising Drama
ENTER
Definition: A monologue is a long speech delivered by a character to other characters in the scene or to an audience. Audience: The character is addressing other characters on stage or directly speaking to the audience (e.g., breaking the fourth wall). Purpose: Often used to persuade, inform, explain, or express feelings to others.
WHAT IS A SOLILOQUY?
WHAT IS A MONOLOGUE?
Definition: A soliloquy is a speech delivered by a character who is alone on stage (or believes they are alone). It reveals their inner thoughts and emotions, often things they wouldn’t say aloud to others. Audience: The character speaks only to themselves, as if thinking aloud, but the audience overhears. Purpose: To provide insight into the character’s private thoughts, conflicts, or motivations.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.
Are you ready to start writing?
Title
Title
Write a brief description here
Write a brief description here
WRITING A MONOLOGUE OR SOLILOQUY
STARTING LINE RANDOMISER
CHOOSE A MOMENT Pick a significant moment in your devised piece where your character has something important to express. This could be:
PROMPT EXPLORER
DECIDE ON THE FORMAT
PRACTICAL EXPLORATIONS
EXPLORATIONS
Clarity
Key Lines
Subtext
Emotional Depth
Pacing
Physicality
Rehearsal
Physicality
Consider how your character delivers the monologue or soliloquy physically. Are they sitting, pacing, leaning, or standing still? How do their gestures, posture, and facial expressions reflect their emotional state? Try performing your work in different ways. Annotate your work with a physical score. A physical score is a detailed plan of how your character moves and uses their body during the monologue or soliloquy. This helps you connect specific physical actions to your character's emotional journey. Experiment with these movements and see how they enhance the meaning behind your words. Avoid overacting. Keep your physicality rooted in your character’s truth.
Rehearse
Practice your soliloquy or monologue as if you’re performing for an audience. Focus on vocal choices: How can your tone, volume, and timing reflect your character’s emotions? Experiment with where to emphasise certain words or phrases. Combine this with your physicality (e.g., gestures, posture, or facial expressions) to create a fully realised performance. Perform your piece for a partner, your ensemble group, or the class.
Reflect on feedback
Consider how your ensemble can incorporate monologues and soliloquies into your final devised piece. These moments can reveal key themes, deepen character backstories, or mark emotional turning points within the narrative. Experiment with layering ensemble movement, soundscapes, or stillness to support the text and add visual or auditory depth
Edit for Clarity
Read through your monologue or soliloquy carefully. Are there any lines or phrases that feel repetitive, overly long, or unclear? Focus on tightening the language to make your piece more concise and impactful. Replace vague words with more precise or vivid ones. For example, instead of saying, “I’m scared,” you might say, “My heart races like it’s trying to escape my chest.” Cut anything that doesn’t add to the emotional or thematic core of your piece. A shorter, sharper monologue will have more impact than one that drifts or repeats.
Emotional Depth Analysis
Ask yourself: What is my character feeling in this moment? Identify the dominant emotion—anger, fear, guilt, sorrow, joy, or another strong feeling. Reflect on how this emotion drives your character’s words and actions. Rewrite a section of your monologue or soliloquy to amplify this emotion. Use vivid details to show how it feels in their body (e.g., "My chest tightens with every word"). Strengthen the language to make the emotion more immediate, raw, or intense. Think about how this emotional state changes as the monologue or soliloquy progresses. Does it build, collapse, or shift completely?
This interactive exploration has been designed to guide students through the process of understanding, writing, and performing monologues or soliloquies as part of their devised piece. Students will first learn the key differences between monologues and soliloquies, then create their own based on a character they have developed. Following this, they will engage in seven practical explorations to refine their writing and deepen their characterisation. These activities include examining emotional depth, experimenting with tempo and subtext, developing a physical score, and rehearsing for performance. The aim is to help students connect text, emotion, and physicality, ensuring their monologue or soliloquy is fully realised and impactful within the ensemble's final piece.
Subtext
Think about what your character is saying on the surface and what they’re really thinking or feeling underneath. Subtext adds layers of complexity to your performance. For example, a line like, “I’m fine” could mask deep sadness or anger. Rewrite a section of your monologue or soliloquy to include subtle hints of this subtext. You could use contradictions (e.g., “I don’t care what they think… but I can’t stop thinking about it”), or double meanings. Imagine your character is having an internal debate. What might they want to say but can’t? Let this tension shape your words and delivery.
Strengthen Key Lines
Identify the three most important lines in your monologue or soliloquy. They should be lines that carry the most emotional weight or reveal key truths about your character. These lines should stand out to the audience and stick with them. Rewrite these lines to make them more powerful or poetic. Consider using techniques like:
- Metaphor (e.g., "My heart is a storm").
- Alliteration (e.g., "She stole my spirit, shattered my soul").
- Contrast (e.g., "I am both the hero and the villain of this story").
Experiment with the rhythm of these lines. Could a pause or sudden change in tone make them even more effective?Tempo and Pacing
Break your monologue or soliloquy into short sections or phrases. Ask yourself: Where does my character need to pause to think or collect themselves? These pauses might reflect hesitation, doubt, or deep reflection. Then, consider where the pace should quicken to show urgency, excitement, or rising anger. Perform your work aloud, experimenting with tempo changes. Slow down reflective or sorrowful moments to make them more poignant, and speed up moments of intensity to create energy and tension. Pay attention to how these choices affect the meaning and emotional impact of your words.