Directing my Dusty (Clown Bar)

Monologue
Thursday 4th of November

I’m glad we were able to explore this process, as I had different

styles of delivering this piece, and I wanted to see which one
worked best - I was in need of feedback. I hadn’t quite decided,
whether my piece worked best in a somber tone or a jovial one.
This monologue is interesting, for the fact that, one can interpret
it how they like. It could be a cry for help or a pitiful show off. I
performed my Dusty monologue in both ways, as the recordings
show above, and my peers who were directing me decided that
they were both decent performances. I was faced with this
problem - I couldn’t choose which was best. To solve this issue, I
thought about the criteria, and made the decision to perform my
piece in a somber tone and then shift into a jovial tone. In the
criteria, it stated that a contrast in your monologues is key, to
prove your flexibility as an actor. My monologues follow quite a
negative pattern, emotionally speaking. So I thought to produce a
happier one. That being said, looking back at my monologue
footage, I really like the upsetting tone. So I involved a core
wound, a device derived from acting for camera, to shift the tone
of the piece. I begin in an uncomfortable manner, almost forcing
out my words, and then progress on to a jokier performance.
Making light of the dreary nature of my characters life. Again I
was faced with another problem, where I had to produce humour
from a pitiful piece. I found that during the directing process,
Kieron prompted me to adjust my character position on stage.
This allowed me to make the core wound clearer to the audience.
I discovered that the dialogue in the later half of the monologue,
suited a back and fourth walk across the stage, as I am listing and
building up to something. By this method, I could almost reach
out to the audience, and attempt to relate with them on the tragic
events of my life, which would seem almost ironic as Dusty’s
upset is unlike no ones. Extremely unlucky events have brought
him to where he is today. I must keep in mind that this extract is
taken from the beginning of Clown Bar, so it sets a tone of the play
for the audience. Giving them a piece of what to expect.