Monologue Process Paper

Play Analysis

"The setting is a slightly seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx, where a group of regulars (who all happen to be the same age - thirty-two) seek relief from the disappointments and tedium of the outside world. The first to arrive is Denise Savage, a perennial loner who announces that she is still a virgin but would like to remedy the situation. She is joined by an old school friend, Linda Rotunda, whose problem has been the opposite - too many lovers (and illegitimate children) - but who is now fearful that her current boyfriend, Tony Aronica, is losing interest in her. Shortly thereafter, macho Tony comes bursting in and announces that he is leaving her to pursue "ugly girls" - girls who have read books and can teach him something. Linda is desolate. Denise, seeing an advantage, makes a play for Tony, and the action quickens, moving swiftly from zany comedy to tense confrontation which requires the muscle and mediating skills of the taciturn bartender, Murk, who, heretofore, had been content to keep the glasses filled, including that of his mixed-up girlfriend, April, a failed nun who is also a classmate of the others. In the end tensions subside, Linda recaptures Tony, Murk proposes to April, and only Denise remains as she was - still in the limbo of loneliness from which she so desperately wants to escape.

Savage In Limbo is a play about dreams, about escape, and about the benefits - and dangers - of falling into a routine. Throughout the course of the play, Denise urges the other characters to break free from the monotony of their lives; one by one, though, they decide to take action in order to maintain the status quo of their lives. At the end, Denise, who tried so hard to make a change, is the only one left in the same position she had been in at the start.


Character Arc

When Tony first shows up, he is desperate to alter the dead-end trajectory of his life. He has had a shocking revelation: after having sex with an ugly girl who lectured him about the Soviet Union, he has decided to leave Linda and pursue girls who can offer him intellectual satisfaction. He feels guilty about breaking Linda's heart, but he knows that he has reached a point in his life where he is unable to achieve real fulfillment without a drastic change in his approach to women. His life up to this point has been dedicated to the hunt for sexual conquests, and he is afraid that he's got nothing else in his arsenal to offer women. When Denise makes advances on him, he is genuinely intrigued by her proposition; she is the polar opposite of the girls he has always gone for, and he recognizes the opportunity to make a welcome fundamental change. However, when Linda and Denise start fighting over him, he becomes very confused, conflicted, and guilty. Seeing Linda passionately fight to stay with him rekindles his affection for her. When she tells him that he fathered one of her illegitimate children, he makes the difficult, but mature decision to stay with Linda and help raise the kid. Though he has certainly not completed his transformation - her refuses to marry Linda for fear of being overly tied down - he has taken a huge step in the right direction.


Character Objective

In this monologue, Tony is trying to justify to Linda why he has chosen to break up with her. He hopes that by telling her the story of the event which caused his revelation, he can show her why it is so important to him. He needs her to understand the reasons for her decision; he feels bad for hurting her, and he wants to let her down softly. Additionally, he has not actually verbally articulated his feelings to anyone about this event before, so he is also justifying it to himself.


Rehearsal Analysis

My first time working this monologue was in class. That day, the class went outside to the grassy area behind the Don Powell. I was the first person to work my monologue, so I had the lamentable distinction of being everyone's introduction to Peter Cirino's approach to working monologues. I had come very unprepared, having only recently memorized the monologue and having never actually worked it physically; thus, I was extremely nervous throughout the whole process. I found myself feeling extremely imprisoned by Peter's outside-in approach to monologues; I did not feel that the statue I had picked was appropriate for Tony as a character, and I was totally confused regarding how to reconcile this disconnect. I quickly found myself very frustrated by the process. I walked up in front of the class, delivered my slate, got through about ten (very laborious) seconds of my monologue, and then Peter stopped me and asked me to do my slate again. The next fifteen minutes were spent repeating my slate and the first sentence of my monologue over and over. Each time I got more frustrated and more discouraged, because I just wanted to do my monologue and let the class see what it was about, and instead I had to run my slate and first beat into the ground. Peter wanted to see a clearly defined physical shift between my slate and my first beat; I was not able to produce a satisfactory change, which made me very embarrassed. I felt that this sort of rote work should have been done in private and not in front of the whole class. At one point Peter called Jessica up to touch me sensually while I delivered my monologue; this was very awkward for me. I understand what he was trying to accomplish by doing so, but I didn't get out of it what I was supposed to. Overall, this whole first rehearsal was so radically different than my usual monologue process that I was overwhelmed and totally out of my element.

My second rehearsal was worlds better. I met privately with Rafi. Having had several days since the first rehearsal to think about the monologue some more and work some ideas on my own, I felt very prepared for this meeting. At the start of the meeting, Rafi told me to sit down at a table across from him. He told me to deliver the monologue without any sort of "acting" and just tell it to him like I was telling a story to one of my friends. I launched right into the monologue, and got all the way through it without interruption. The whole time Rafi was reacting positively, laughing at the funny moments and generally appearing engaged and like he was enjoying listening. After I was done, he told me, with a huge smile, that he thought it was so good he almost wanted to tell me to leave right then and there. This was so encouraging to me, and made me feel great. I felt that I had done a really good job, and I was so happy that he agreed. He commended how honestly and naturally I had done the monologue, and told me I'm really talented. I'm not usually a person who needs a lot of praise or compliments, but after the dismal experience of my first rehearsal I really needed some reaffirmation. Rafi then told me to stand up and do the monologue again standing; I was a little worried, since when I am standing I tend to stiffen up and start gesturing unnecessarily with my hands. However, when I did the monologue this time I felt relaxed and confident, which made for a good performance. Rafi commended me again for my sincerity, and then the meeting was over. This short meeting was so vastly different than my first rehearsal, and was exactly the sort of positive experience I needed.

My third rehearsal was in front of the class again, and this time I came into it with my head held high, without any nerves or tension. When I was doing the monologue, I felt as though I was doing a good job. When I was done, I didn't receive any notes, which was disappointing.


Performance Analysis

For my final performance, I was feeling really confident. I finished the monologue feeling pretty good about how I'd done. However, I did end up receiving some criticism. Jeremy told me that my physicality was really weak, and that he just saw Shane up there instead of a character. He brought up my eternal arch-nemesis: my right hand, with which I gesticulate excessively when I act. Allie was less critical; she told me that she enjoyed the moment when I address Linda by name, saying she found that moment surprising and interesting. Rafi said that he was happy to see that the honesty that had so impressed him in our private meeting had come through in my final performance. However, he said that my slate was not professional enough; this was something about which I had never thought, and I was glad that he brought it to my attention. Peter complimented my vocal strength and the natural quality of my monologue, but he seconded the criticism of my unconnected gesturing and physical stiffness. I agreed fully with the criticisms; this has been a consistent problem for me throughout my acting education, so it was unsurprising to hear. Peter told me that if I could just get my physicality to catch up with my voice and my acting sensibilities, I could be a very strong actor. Hopefully the next time he sees me perform, I will have taken his comments and made the necessary changes to impress him!