My final decision

The two monologues I have chosen are:

• The Tempest - Trinculo
• Private Peaceful - Tommo Peaceful

The reason I chose The Tempest is because it is the one monologue, out of all I had read these past weeks, that I have enjoyed the most and had the best image of performance for.

The reason I chose Private Peaceful is because most people around me are choosing monologues that will shock the audience by swearing and using sexual references, and don't get me wrong this will shock the audience, but I want to shock the audience in a completely different way and I believe, if this is done correctly could shock the audience in the way I want it to. 

Private Peaceful

Private Peaceful plot:

The story is of a young teenager named Thomas "Tommo" Peaceful, who tells the story in account format from the past to the present day events of his experiences living in the village of Iddesleigh during World War I. His oldest brother, Big Joe, has learning difficulties and is always looked out for by his younger brothers. The earlier part of the story tells of his doings before the war, the tale of his love for Molly – a beautiful girl he met on his first day at school and grew to love – and Charlie Peaceful, Tommo's brother. .
The trio had grown up together; their mischievous adventures included braving the beastly Grandma Wolf to their mother's despair and skinny-dipping. The latter left a large impression on Tommo. Charlie, being older than Tommo, had always protected and looked out for his younger brother. Also, he and Molly become closer as they are both older than Tommo, while Tommo begins to become left out. Later on, it is revealed that Molly and Charlie were secretly seeing each other, and that Molly had become pregnant with Charlie's child.
Tommo became extremely heartbroken after the couple married a short time later in the village church, before Tommo and Charlie were forced off to Belgium to fight in World War I. All through this time, Tommo recorded his feelings in the novel. The rest of the story describes the brothers' experiences of the war: their Sergeant Hanley, the near misses during battle on the front line, and Charlie's continued protection of Tommo.
During a charge of the German lines, Charlie disobeys a direct order from Sergeant Hanley and stays with Tommo while he is injured on No-man's-land. As a result, Charlie is accused of cowardice and given a court martial. The book's chapters countdown to dawn when Charlie will be executed. At dawn, Charlie is marched before the firing squad, where he dies happily singing their favourite childhood song. Oranges and Lemons

Tommo ends the story in the present tense with Charlie's execution and the promise of looking after Charlie and Molly's new baby, Little Tommo.

Characters:

Tommo                                                     Charlie

Joe                                                           Molly 

Mother                                                     Grandma Wolf

Sergeant Hanley                                       Mr Munnings

A brief description of Tommo:

Thomas Peaceful is a young teen from Iddesleigh village in Devon, England. He is the youngest of three brothers. When Thomas is very young, he and his father go out to cut some wood. A tree falls, right where Thomas is standing. Thomas's father yells at him to run, but he doesn't, being frozen in place by fear. When his father throws Thomas out of the way, the tree falls on his father instead. Thomas never tells anyone exactly how it happened, but holds onto this terrible secret his whole life. Thomas feels as if he has killed his father.

The Monologue:

TOMMO: 

Word has come down from headquarters that we must send out patrols to find out what regiments have come into the line opposite us. Why we have to do this we do not know - there are spotter planes doing it almost every day. MY turn soon comes up. Charlie's too. Captain Wilkie's heading the patrol tells us 'we have to bring back a prisoner for questioning'. He gives us a double rum ration, and I'm instantly warmed to the roots of my hair, to my very toenails.

On the signal, we climb over the top and crawl on our bellies through the wire.

WE snake our way forward. It takes an eternity to cross no-man's-land. I begin to wonder if we'll ever find their tranches at all. We slither into a shell hole and lie doggo there for a while. We can hear Fritz now, talking, and laughing - and playing music.

We're close now, very close. I'm not scared - I'm exited. I'm out poaching with Charlie. I'm tensed for danger.

Then we see the wire up ahead. We wriggle through a gap and drop down into their trench.

It looks deserted, but we can still hear the voices and the music. I notice the trench is much deeper than ours, wider too and more solidly constructed. I grip my rifle tight and follow Charlie along the trench, bent double like everyone else.

We're making too much noise. I can't understand why no one has heard us. where are their sentries, for god sake?

At that moment, a German soldier comes out of a dug-out. For a split-second the Hun does nothing and neither do we. We just stand and look at one another. Then he lets out a shriek, blunders back into the dug-out. I don't know who threw that grenade in after him, but there is a blast that throws me back against the trench wall. There is screaming and firing coming from inside the dug-out. Then silence. The music has stopped.

My view:

I thoroughly enjoy this monologue because it was made to shock the audience for all the right reasons, it has no foul language or sexual references. I can see this monologue being performed in complete silence.

New Boy

New Boy brief plot:

It is narrated by a Jewish student at the school, Mark, who does not have much success with girls. He finds himself drawn to Barry, who is incredibly handsome. The two become friends, and the book tells of the course of just over a year during which Barry discovers sex with girls and has an affair with a teacher. Mark struggles with his attraction to Barry, but has a relationship with Barry's sister, Louise. Barry, meanwhile, realises that he is, in fact, gay, and enters into a relationship with Mark's brother, Dan, which Mark is unaware of. The four all go on holiday together, and Dan and Barry tell Mark of their relationship. He reacts badly, and accuses them of not being normal. This leads to Barry storming off and Louise dumping Mark. Mark and Barry do have a rapprochement of sorts at the end of the book, but their friendship is over. Mark ends the book contending that he can't be homophobic, because he made it up with his brother.

Characters:

Mark                                                             Barry
Louise                                                           Dan

The monologue:

MARK:
 Parents evening, an Orgy of social embarresment, i love em. It's also a good opportunity to see who has the fittest mum, Jeremy Dorlin's is quite nice, so is Robert Konisbergs, which for an ugly boy comes as quite a pleasant surprise. Best post forty arse in the whole of Edgware. All Christians have ugly mothers, oh except yours I'm sure, and Peter Pillow's, the vicars son, who's mum has the subtle allure of a shaggable nun.  All the asian mums are occasionally horny with the odd fit daughter in tow. The jewish mothers go for the drab but over dressed combo, high heels, stone washed jeans, low cut top, hair curled and dyed red. Leaving only the goldern greeners to dress with any style. The fathers fall into two groups, brown and white, other than that their quite indistinguishable. The Christian fathers  divide into groups, Volvo drivers- Classy, BMW drivers- Yobs made good. My dad never listens to the interview, he spends all night flicking through my form list seeing who he is going to pump into next, besides my school work is always good. My dad's only said one thing to me after parents evening, never become a teacher.

My view:

The reason I like this monologue is because a lot of the people watching these monologues could relate to the majority of this piece, especially the social embarrassment part, additionally I would suit the age of this character.

P'Tang Yang Kipperbang

P'Tang Yang Kipperbang brief plot:

Alan Duckworth (known as 'Quack Quack' to his friends) is a socially awkward fourteen year-old who is obsessed with cricket and Ann Lawton, a girl in his class. Alan daydreams throughout his day showing up late for school and making little academic progress. He becomes friends with the groundsman Tommy who he sees as some sort of 'war hero'. Alan often follows Tommy around telling him how Tommy helped to win the war while making predictions about what the world will be like now the war is won. Among other things, Alan predicts there will be no more wars, everyone will speak Esperanto and everyone, regardless of race or creed, will have a Teasmade.

Miss Land, meanwhile, is worried she is pregnant with Tommy's baby, something that would result in her having to resign from her job as an English teacher. Tommy however is arrested and it transpires he deserted the war three weeks into his service, rather than fighting at Dunkirk, El Alamein, the Battle of the Bulge and Burma as he claimed.


While his friends are all interested in sex, which Alan refers to as 'the other thing', he is purely focused on kissing Ann Lawton. Ann, however, is not well regarded by Alan's friends as she is very straight-laced. When Miss Land casts them together in the school play, Alan and Ann have to kiss.

Characters:

Alan Duckworth                                                       Ann Lawton
Tommy                                                                    Miss Land
Geoffrey Whitaker                                                   Shaz
Abbo                                                                      Headmaster
Eunice      

A brief description of Alan Duckworth:      

  ALAN DUCKWORTH is 14 and a pupil at a co-educational school. He has all the usual adolescent worries about growing-up, and at present his life is a mixture of cricket and appearing in the school play, opposite the girl he loves, the unattainable and lovely Ann. In this scene, which takes place outside Ann's house, she has been friendlier than before, and this gives ALAN courage.                                            

The monologue:

 ALAN: 
You're beautiful, Ann. Sometimes I look at you and you're so beautiful I want to cry. And sometimes you look so beautiful I want to laugh and jump up and down, and run through the streets with no clothes on shouting 'P'tang, yang, kipperbang' in people's letterboxes.  But mostly you're so beautiful - even if it doesn't make ME cry it makes my chest cry. Your lips are the most beautiful. Second is your nape… The back of your neck. It's termed the nape… And your skin. When I walk past your desk, I breathe in on purpose to smell your skin. It's the most beautiful smell there is… It makes me feel dizzy. Giddy. You smell brand-new. You look brand-new. All of you. The little soft hairs on your arms… But mostly it's your lips. I love your lips. That's why I've ALWAYS wanted to kiss you. Ever since 3B. Just kiss. Not the other things. I don't want to do the other things to you.  Well. I DO. ALL the other things. Sometimes I want to do them so much I feel I'm - do you have violin lessons? On the violin.  Well, on a violin there's the E string. That's the highest pitched and it's strung very tight and taut, and makes a kind of high, sweet scream. Well, sometimes I want you so much, that's what I'm like I always wanted to tell you you were lovely. Personally, I always think it's dead weedy when Victor Mature - or whatsisname - Stewart Grainger - or someone says a girl's lovely. But you are.  And I know girls think it's weedy when boys call them sweet. But you are.  I don't suppose I'll ever kiss you now in my whole life. Or take you to the pictures. Or marry you and do the OTHER things to you. But I'll never forget you. And how you made me feel. Even when I'm 51 or something.

My view:

This monologue is quite enjoyable because I find it funny in a way that makes me cringe. Also it is a monologue and character that I believe I could portray quite well, the only problem I have here is the age, my playing range is 15 - 18, whereas Alan is 14 but there is a slight chance I might be able to push it and possibly play this character.

Hamlet

The plot of Hamlet:

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is visited by a mysterious ghost resembling his recently deceased father, the King of Denmark. The ghost tells Hamlet that his father was murdered by Claudius, the King’s brother, who then took the throne and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. The ghost encourages Hamlet to avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius.

Characters:

Hamelt                                                                    Ophelia
King Claudius                                                          Polonius
Laertes                                                                   Gertrude
Horatio                                                                   Fortinbras
Ghost of Hamlet's father                                          Yorick
Rosencrantz                                                            Bernardo
Voltimand                                                               Guildenstern
Marcellus                                                                Francisco
Osric                                                                      Reynaldo
Cornelius

A brief description of Hamlet:

The title character of the play, Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, who was thought to be aged between 17 - 22. He goes through many troubles and problems throughout the play, especially the discovery that his father was murdered by his uncle. Hamlet often thinks too much, and is not quick to make a decision. He does not like this quality in himself, and would like to be impulsive like Fortinbras. Hamlet is cynical, yet intelligent, and he is often difficult to tell if he is truly crazy or if he is just pretending to get revenge for his father's murder.

The Monologue:

HAMLET:
To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprise of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered.

My view:

Although I do enjoy this monologue, I do think that I would be able to play more and expand on the monologue from the Tempest because it has more of a comedic feel to it. Also the language used in this piece is harder to understand than the other. Not only do I find Trinculo's monologue easier to understand, but I also prefer Trinculo's piece.

The Tempest - Trinculo

The Tempest plot:

This drama is one of the great comedy plays by William Shakespeare. The themes illustrated in the play are freedom, friendship , repentance and forgiveness and feature different temperaments illustrating temperance and intemperance. The plot starts when King Alonso of Naples and his entourage sail home for Italy after attending his daughter's wedding in Tunis, Africa. They encounter a violent storm, or Tempest. Everyone jumps overboard and are washed ashore on a strange island inhabited by the magician Prospero who has deliberately conjured up the storm. Prospero and Miranda live in a cave on the island which is also inhabited by Ariel, a sprite who carries out the bidding of Prospero, and the ugly, half human Caliban. Various plots against the main characters fail thanks to the magic of Prospero. The play ends with all the plotters repenting the Tempest is calmed.

Characters:

         

            Miranda                                                               Prospero
            Iris                                                                       Juno
            Sycorax                                                               Trinculo
            Sebastian                                                             Stephano
            Gonzalo                                                               Antonio
            Ariel                                                                    Adrian
            King Alonso                                                        Ferdinand
            Francisco                                                            Caliban
            Ceres

A brief description of Trinculo:

A consistently drunken jester, who is a servant of Alonso's, and brought ashore in the shipwreck. He is a dull fool mostly, not capable of any real action, and providing a good deal of comic relief. When Caliban meets him, he immediately dislikes him and his inebriated insults; but, Trinculo does become a part of Caliban's plan to murder Prospero and take over the island, though Trinculo proves completely ineffective in this.

The monologue: 

TRINCULO: Here's neither bush nor shrub, to bear off any weather at all, and another storm brewing; I hear it sing i' the wind: yond same black cloud, yond huge one, looks like a foul bombard that would shed his liquor. If it should thunder as it did before, I know not where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot choose but fall by pailfuls. What have we here? a man or a fish? dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient and fish-like smell; a kind of not of the newest Poor-John. A strange fish! Were I in England now, as once I was, and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver: there would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man: when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Legged like a man and his fins like arms! Warm o' my troth! I do now let loose my opinion; hold it no longer: this is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a thunderbolt. 

[Thunder] 

Alas, the storm is come again! my best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabouts: misery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.

My view:

I really like Trinculo as a character because he is the fool of the whole play, if this was performed back when Shakespeare was alive Trinculo wold be the character that the so called 'peasants' would most relate to. Furthermore I like the fact that he is a funny and quirky character because I consider myself quite quirky, and so I believe I could play this role quite well. Luckily I also like the monologue, although there are some words that i didn't understand, for example 'pailfuls' which I now know means, in it's simplest form, bucket-fulls. 

what this is all about

This blog is about the choices I have when choosing my monologues for my level 3 BTEC course in Performing Arts.

All the information on this blog is a write up of all the written work that i have built up over the past month or so.