Art form: Drama – Scripted Monologue (SM)

Title: Two Brothers by Hannie Rayson

What process did you take to make/start your Original Solo Performance (OSP) / Scripted Monologue(SM)?

When I started to seriously think about what I wanted my OSP to be, I thought back to the Performing Arts Perspectives I watched with my drama class in 2017. One piece about Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, inspired me to do something similar. My process thus began with researching interesting historical figures and trying to build an interesting narrative around them.

Three tips you would give to year 12 students this year:

1) Try to preform your pieces (OSP especially) to as many different audiences as possible. Whether it be your teacher, your classmates or even your parents, try and get as much feedback as possible before your exams. Getting different perspectives on your performance is key in creating a great piece.

2) Don’t get too hung up on creating an OSP with an amazing and unique idea. This may be very difficult to do but it’s important that you realise that ANY random concept/character could be turned into a great OSP. The idea you end up with is not the be all end all your piece, the script, character choices, your use of voice and movement etc. are what is going to set you apart in the exam.

3) MAKE SURE you test the acoustics in the exam room before you perform! During your minute of preparation, practice a few lines and see how they sound in the room; you’d be surprised how different the acoustics are in a regular classroom compared to the theatre space that you normally rehearse in (or vice versa). Making these small adjustments can help you a lot with achieving a high mark.

Which was more time consuming – writing/choosing your OSP/SM or editing/rehearsing the finished product?

The process of writing and editing your performance are both difficult and time-consuming tasks. However, I think the hours of rehearsing and perfecting my piece took up most of my preparation time. Once I was set on my piece/idea, the passion I had for those characters drove me to spend many late nights perfecting their stories.