The first extract I have chosen for Component 3 is Rosie’s monologue from the play

“Things I Know To Be True”. The reason I chose a monologue as one of my three

extracts is because it allowed me to work independently and explore the challenges
of performing a monologue, for example a common challenge for most is trying to
keep the audience’s interest in as you have no help from other performers. I chose
Rosie’s monologue as her character differs to the ones I performed for my other two
extracts. Rosie is a very naïve, innocent, young and sheltered person so playing her
character showed my range of abilities when being able to portray different types of
characters, as my other characters are much older and far more experienced in what
the world has to offer. The second extract I have chosen is a group piece from the
play “Memory of Water”. I chose a group piece for one of my extracts as it allowed
me to work on my attitude and approach to working with others, which I sometimes
struggle with. Furthermore, I chose one of the opening scenes because it introduces
the characters which gives the audience an immediate impression on what types of
people the sisters are, and how different they all are to each other. Finally, for my
third extract I have chosen a duologue from the play “Agnes of Gods”. I chose a
duologue for my final piece as I felt it would better showcase my skills as an actor as
I work best in a duologue, and it allows for me to be assessed on my abilities to work
with others a bit more closely. The extract chosen is a very intense and dramatic
scene, and outside of my comfort zone. Performing these pieces allow me to be
challenged in portraying such different characters in very different situations, and
hopefully demonstrate my range of abilities as a performer.

“Things I Know To Be True” is a play that follows the story of the Price family and
their struggles throughout their lives. For my chosen extract, I play the role of Rosie,
the youngest child in the Price family. She is a young adult who has gone to travel
Europe and left her hometown for the first time. Her monologue takes the audience
through the journey of her travels and experiences, where she met a young Spanish
man who she’d fallen in love with, however he stole almost all her valuables and ran
not long after they’d met which left her heartbroken. My aim when performing this
extract is to portray Rosie’s naïve character, and the change in her outlook on the
world after her embarrassing and unfortunate experience. Keeping the audience
captivated in Rosie and her story, as well as conveying her gullible and quite
immature personality successfully proved to be a challenge. The need to show the
change from such a carefree and confident young girl to a now more cautious and
mature young woman, whilst also maintaining her optimistic and cheerful attitude
proved to be a great challenge for me. Furthermore, trying to successfully convey
her anger, embarrassment, sadness at the same time as her happiness and feelings
of love proved to be another challenge. Although she may have felt embarrassed
and angry about her experience with the young Spanish man, I feel she was also
happy as she reminisced about her time abroad as it was the first time she has ever
felt so free and alive.

In “Memory of Water”, three sisters have come together for their mother’s funeral.
The play focuses on how they cope with the loss, how it affects them and their
relationship with one another. For my chosen extract, I play the character Mary, who
is the middle child of the three sisters and in her late thirties. She’s a doctor and is
currently having an affair with a married man. In the extract, she is seen drinking
whiskey and trying to sleep, however her sisters are constantly bothering her and
won’t leave her in peace. My aim when performing this extract is to successfully
portray my character’s very sarcastic personality and create comedy from this, as
well as establish the type of relationship she has with her sisters for the audience.
Having the chance to explore and push myself out of my comfort zone to play an
older, more mature character than what I’m used to was definitely a great opportunity
for me, and allowed me to learn to keep my character’s experiences and personality
in mind when performing a piece. Furthermore, being able to convey the dynamic
between the sisters proved to be a challenge as they aren’t very close and often
make you think they hate each other more than they love each other, however they
do show moments of care for one another. Trying to display this very special and
different kind of sister relationship with one another is a challenge I took on as best I
could, and hopefully overcame.