Monologue

Tomorrow is my first class at the, Brumilda Van Rensberg Acting Academy and Agency. As you know, I am so super excited to commence this course, and start working in the area, I've been dying to work in, for a really long time. The Brumilda Academy is an amazing one, because it is run by Brumilda herself, former Egoli actress and South African household name. Some of the other classes are taught by other actors, directors, producers, and scriptwriter's, etc. The course equips one with the necessary skills, in order to start pursuing careers in the creative industries- moreover, the course offers exposure and agency representation for an entire year, after the course; meaning that in some way, or another, there is work guaranteed for you. 

Ahead of the first class, we were asked to prepare:

- Introduction 

- Any 1 minute monologue

-TV link- introducing show (e.g. Top Billing), or own

-News- with 3 headlines

-Song: 2 verses of any well-known song

-Learn words to, "Lion Sleeps Tonight." [Bring props]

-TV Commercial (Own) or copy one

Below I have attached the 3 possible monologues, I might do. The first one by Arnold Beckoff, is the same one I had prepared, a month ago, for the Youth Development Programme at the Joburg Theatre, and I really like it. There are so many elements I can resonate with in Beckoff's monologue; for those who don't know- Arnold is a drag queen, and in this opening scene of the movie, he seems to be offering a critique of his life and choices, thus far, using wit and a thick, raspy voice ton convey this. He remains relatively calm throughout, and becomes expressive by the pronunciation of certain words- he is also in the process of applying make-up, and staring into a mirror. 

I really love the movie-cum-play, The History Boys. It is a mellow, yet eerie account of life at an old boy's school, where boy's will be boy's; where stereotypes are sampled, and before a lens, zooming in to expose the somewhat, secretive and shunned world of 'teacher-scholar' friendships, with astounding results.

Mysterious Skin, is the book-turned-movie, directed by Gregg Araki, and starring, Joseph Gordon Levitt as the central protagonist of the story. The plot follows the life prevalent after Neil (Levitt) was exposed to, and molested by a former baseball coach, along with another boy, whose own anxieties and fears begin to merge with the main plot, before there's an intense moment of merging in the film. 

Torch Song Trilogy
written by Harvey Fierstein

Arnold Beckoff: I think my biggest problem is being young and beautiful. It's my biggest problem because I've never been young and beautiful. Oh, I've been beautiful. And God knows I've been young, but never the twain have met. Not so as anyone would notice anyway. Y'know a shrink acquaintance of mine believes this to be the root of my attraction to a class of men most subtly described as old and ugly. I think he's underestimating my wheedles. See, a ugly person who goes after a pretty person gets nothing but trouble, but a pretty person who goes after a ugly person gets at least cab fare. Now, I ain't sayin' I never fell for a pretty face, but when les jeux sont fais gimme a toad with a pot o' gold and I'll give you three meals a day, cuz honeys, ain't no such thing as a toad when the lights go down. It's either feast or famine. It's the daylight you gotta watch out for. Well face it, a thing of beauty is a joy 'til sunrise. (drags on his cigarette) There's another group you gotta watch your food stamps around: The hopeless.


The History Boys


 Dakin: "How does history happen?" I asked Irwin, and he couldn’t answer. But now he knew. Nothing special. Skid on a corner...ordinary stuff. Irwin had never been on the back of a bike before, so maybe going round the corner he leaned out instead of in and so unbalanced Hector. Trust him to lean the opposite way to everyone else. But he had no memory of what caused it. The last thing he remembered was me asking him out for a drink. Something we never did, incidentally. Still, at least I asked him. Barr the accident, it would have happened.




Mysterious Skin

Neil: [narration voice-over] And as we sat there listening to the carolers, I wanted to tell Brian it was over now and everything would be okay. But that was a lie, plus, I couldn't speak anyway. I wish there was some way for us to go back and undo the past. But there wasn't. There was nothing we could do. So I just stayed silent and trying to telepathically communicate how sorry I was about what had happened. And I thought of all the grief and sadness and fucked up suffering in the world, and it made me want to escape. I wished with all my heart that we could just leave this world behind. Rise like two angels in the night and magically... disappear.