In theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, a monologue (or monolog) is a speech

Speech

Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...

 presented by a single character

Character (arts)

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience

Audience

An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...

. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

s, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s, animation

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

, etc.). It is distinct from a soliloquy

Soliloquy

A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...

, which is where a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters. It is also distinct from an apostrophe, wherein the speaker or writer addresses an imaginary person, inanimate object, or idea.

See also

• Dramatic monologue
  Dramatic monologue
  M. H. Abrams notes the following three features of the dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry:-Types of monologues:One of the most important influences on the development of the dramatic monologue is the Romantic poets...
  
  
• One-person show
• Oratory
  Oratory
  Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
  
  
• Performance poetry
  Performance poetry
  Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
  
  
• Soliloquy
  Soliloquy
  A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...
  
  
• Rhetoric
  Rhetoric
  Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
  
  
• Stand-up comedy
  Stand-up comedy
  Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
  
  
• Storytelling
  Storytelling
  Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
  
  
• Diseuse
• Apostrophe (figure of speech)
  Apostrophe (figure of speech)
  Apostrophe is an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, when a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea...
  
  

Notations

• Cohn, Dorrit, Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction, 1978.
• Edwardes, Jane, The Faber Book of Monologues, Faber and Faber, 2005.
• Hirsh, James, Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies, Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003.

External links

• Humorous Monologues in Lancashire Dialect in the 'Stanley Holloway' style
• MonologueDB.com - Comprehensive collection of monologues from film and plays
• Actorama Monologues Database From Films, Television, Plays and Books
• Monologue Search Free Monologue database
• StageAgent Audition Monologues
• Monologue Archive
• Shakespeare's Monologues
• The Monologue Database
• ActorPoint Monologue Directory
• Free Monologues for Women
• Free Monologues for Men
• Monologue Blogger - The Actor's Free Monologue Service Provider
• Free Monologues from Ace-Your-Audition.com