Monologue Monday - King John by William Shakespeare

I've got some pretty good news, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to announce any specifics on here. I need the material.

So, this monologue is one that I've had in my head for a long time, but never really wanted to memorize until this year. It's Lewis, the Dauphin of France talking to Cardinal Pandulph. It's from a rarely produced play, so often times gets overlooked. I've had the good fortune to see this play twice, oddly enough during two apprentice years. Once this past year at the Tavern, the other during my time at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

Also, this is going to be my companion piece to Hurrah at Last at UPTA. Both are pretty heavily cut, but I think that they retain their shape nicely. Especially this one. It's written in such a way that almost lends itself to cutting. If you can do the whole thing, that's icing on the cake. It's chock full of great stuff. But there's a lot here to pick and choose from.

Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back:
I am too high-born to be propertied,
To be a secondary at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument,
To any sovereign state throughout the world.
Your breath first kindled the dead coal of wars
Between this chastised kingdom and myself,
And brought in matter that should feed this fire;
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out
With that same weak wind which enkindled it.
You taught me how to know the face of right,
Acquainted me with interest to this land,
Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart;
And come ye now to tell me John hath made
His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me?
I, by the honour of my marriage-bed,
After young Arthur, claim this land for mine;
And, now it is half-conquer'd, must I back
Because that John hath made his peace with Rome?
Am I Rome's slave? What penny hath Rome borne,
What men provided, what munition sent,
To underprop this action? Is't not I
That undergo this charge? who else but I,
And such as to my claim are liable,
Sweat in this business and maintain this war?
Have I not heard these islanders shout out
'Vive le roi!' as I have bank'd their towns?
Have I not here the best cards for the game,
To win this easy match play'd for a crown?
And shall I now give o'er the yielded set?
No, no, on my soul, it never shall be said.
(...)
Outside or inside, I will not return
Till my attempt so much be glorified
As to my ample hope was promised
Before I drew this gallant head of war,
And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world,
To outlook conquest and to win renown
Even in the jaws of danger and of death.

He's even got one of the best putdown lines in all of Shakespeare. In this same scene, Phillip the Bastard comes into Lewis' camp and starts talking all this smack about how awesome the English are and how lame the French are. Lewis' response?

There end thy brave, and turn thy face in peace;
We grant thou canst outscold us: fare thee well;
We hold our time too precious to be spent
With such a brabbler.

"We grant thou canst outscold us." TOLD!

I mean, granted, the English end up winning. But, still...awesome line.

***

Also, as an update to my last worried post, my family is making due. All is as well as can be expected. If you're the praying kind, my home could still use your prayers, though. As of today, there's still a quarter million people without power. Now, granted, they've made quick and amazing strides from even Sunday, when there were 400,000 some odd houses without power. From what my family says, it still looks like a warzone up there.

Also, this week I'll be doing some filming for reThink which is pretty exciting. I'm very happy to be in their rotation! Here's hoping for more. As time goes by, I really think that Kidstuf might be one of the best things to happen to me in Atlanta.

What you hear is not a test...

I've been on the road a lot recently, blogfriend. Let's discuss it.

KG, a former apprentice, and I hit the road on Thursday night to go audition at the American Shakespeare Center. It was a pretty long drive from Atlanta to Staunton, but hardly the longest I've ever driven for an audition. Plus, the company was good, so it didn't seem quite as long as it could have.

But, that isn't the interesting part. I got there and was in a group of six others, five women and one man. We all did our monologues. I didn't have time to show off and be all, "Well, actually I memorized a monologue for each of the four shows you're doing next season." I bounced back and forth between Ford and Hotspur. I ended up, of course, on Hotspur. Ford would have afforded the ability to make more contact with the audience, but Hotspur is...you know, Hotspur. I can't help it. He had me approach it from a different standpoint and do it like Romeo trying to impress Juliet. I thought I had a cute little lame moment on, "God's me, my horse!"

After that, we read some scenes. I was paired up with a short haired blonde girl whose name I cannot remember to save my life. Eh, anyway, we did Beatrice and Benedick with a couple of different permutations. I only stole one thing from Moe (the scratching motion on "predestinate scratched face.") and, frankly, it was a pleasure to get up there and do Benedick. It's a dream part, but I've got a couple of years to play it.

The big moment came at the end, though. The artistic director said that anyone who wanted to sing, may sing a few bars. I sat and watched in abject horror as every single other person in the room got up to sing. Not just sing, but sing well. I'm not much of a singer. I can carry a tune, but I'm not what you would call...umm...a soloist. The artistic director even made a comment along the lines of, "Oh, wow, it looks like everyone is going to sing." After the last person, he looked at me and said, "Well, are you going to sing anything for us?"

A beat passed and I said, "No, but I can drop a phat rhyme for you."

Bemused, he told me to go ahead and do it. I got up and said, "If I could (Ed. Note - although KG SWEARS she heard me say "F*** it.), I'd like to get everyone to clap their hands." I got them to clap a beat and busted out the first verse of Rapper's Delight.

Yeah, that's right. I rapped at my Shakespeare audition.

It was a high, because if I'm going to fall on my face, I'm gonna fall going for the brass ring. It wasn't a stunt. It wasn't foolish...if I was BAD, it would have been foolish, but it was tight like the night, baby. I like to think I showed them three very different facets of my personality, between Benedick, Hotspur, and Wonder Mic.

Chances are that I won't get in, just by playing the odds. They only hire something like eight non-eqs, but here's hoping they'll remember me. After all, I'll see 'em at UPTA.

A Call For Advice

I'm still not convinced that anyone besides Ry, Redd, Robbyn (woah...weird...) and, potentially, my dad read this blog. But, regardless, maybe you guys can help me out.

In a few weeks, I've got an audition in Virginia that I will not name until it's over and I can take a breath. I might have talked to you about it in the past. If not and you're super curious, feel free to grab me on Facebook or Twitter and I'd be happy to tell you. For the time being, just be satisfied that it's Shakespeare and it's under my "Places I Want to Work" bookmark heading.

Anyhow, for this audition, I need "short monologue(s), preferably from the plays we're casting (5-10 lines is plenty)". So, I figured the best way to go about that was to memorize four new monologues for the four plays that they've announced.

Here's the problem. I'm a little bit over on some. Literally, a line or two, but I'd be loath to say, "Ah, screw it. It's just a couple lines." I'd be much happier if I could cut it down to the bare minimum. The only problem with THAT is that I'm so close to it, I can't quite figure out what to cut anymore. So, if you guys could do me a favor and take a look at my monologues, I'd sure appreciate any input you could give. Plus, you know, not only cutting advice. Anything you might be interested in saying.

We'll talk in the comments!


Hotspur from Henry IV Part 1. (11 lines - Not counting "Away" as it's own line, and counting "have with me? Come, wilt thou see me ride?" as one, as it comes out to nine syllables.)

Away,
Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,
And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!
What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou
have with me? -
Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am on horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate;
To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.
Will this content you, Kate?

Marcus from Titus Andronicus (7 lines. I like it. It says a lot in a short time span and it completely different from Hotspur. I like that about all of my monologues. They're very different guys.)

Which of your hands hath not defended Rome,
And rear'd aloft the bloody battle-axe,
Writing destruction on the enemy's castle?
O, none of both but are of high desert:
My hand hath been but idle; let it serve
To ransom my two nephews from their death;
Then have I kept it to a worthy end.

Ford from Merry Wives of Windsor (15 lines. What I've DONE and started to work with is a cut that starts right after "damnation together." That pares it down to ten lines. If there's anything before it to cut, I'd be open to listen. I'd also be open to listen to anything that would allow to me keep the last five lines. I REALLY like this monologue. I think it might work it's way into my regulars.)

Has Page any brains? hath he any eyes? hath he any
thinking? Sure, they sleep; he hath no use of them.
Why, this boy will carry a letter twenty mile, as
easy as a cannon will shoot point-blank twelve
score. He pieces out his wife's inclination; he
gives her folly motion and advantage: and now she's
going to my wife, and Falstaff's boy with her. A
man may hear this shower sing in the wind. And
Falstaff's boy with her! Good plots, they are laid;
and our revolted wives share damnation together.
Well; I will take him, then torture my wife, pluck
the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming
Mistress Page, divulge Page himself for a secure and
wilful Actaeon; and to these violent proceedings all
my neighbours shall cry aim.

Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing (11 lines. I've done Claudio, I've done Leonato, I've done Don Pedro, and ANY of those would have been easier, but this monologue has just called out to me. Any cuts would be appreciated... This one in particular feels like if I remove any from the middle, the whole thing falls apart.)

She told me, not thinking I had been
myself, that I was the prince's jester, that I was
duller than a great thaw; huddling jest upon jest
with such impossible conveyance upon me that I stood
like a man at a mark, with a whole army shooting at
me. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs:
if her breath were as terrible as her terminations,
there were no living near her; she would infect to
the north star. I would not marry her, though she
were endowed with all that Adam bad left him before
he transgressed: Come, talk not of her:


So...waddya think?

Silence is the perfectest herald of joy.

I were but little happy if I could say how much.


Seriously, though, that's one of the most romantic lines in all of Shakespeare. Nevermind what he does later.

Tonight is my final performance of Much Ado About Nothing at the Shakespeare Tavern. I'm hoping it's a good one because I'm going out on it.

But, you know, not really final. We'll be back in August and September, ready to rock again. Right now, though, tonight is my focus.

Claudio really is a great character. He's a hard character to get into. A cursory look at the text might lead one to think he was just a stupid, easily swayable guy of, frankly, suspect moral character who rails at a poor little defenseless girl at her wedding. He can be a screaming, mercurial jerkoff.

But ain't that just the simple way to play him?


I've done this play twice before. Once as Leonato, in college, and once as Don Pedro, at a community theatre. Each time, Claudio has been a big point of contention, but I never looked at him in the same light. First, as Leonato, he appeared to be the aforementioned screaming, mercurial jerkoff. We played Leonato as old, but still very physically fit, so the challenge was visceral. There was no question as to whether or not Leonato could give Claudio a fight. Then, as Don Pedro, he was like a puppy that I had to look out for. It certainly helped that Claudio then was a quarterback type guy who was played with a quick temper. As one of the old guys in that cast, it was easy to sidle into the role of Don Pedro, trying his darndest to guide silly little Claudio to a good ending.

Now that I've actually had time to delve into him, though, as is often the case, I see so much more. He's just as tore up about the Hero situation as anyone, which I think gets lost in the shuffle. It's an anger brought by extreme pain. I know I've been in situations before where I've lashed out at someone I cared for, only to regret it immensely later. To call Claudio out for that is to be hypocritical about any huge fault we've made it our lives. He's got a problem with trust, and might be naive, but he isn't flat out stupid. The fact that he's from Florence would have carried weight with an Elizabethan audience.

To play him as a railing miscreant is a disservice to the character. Anyone with a line that beautiful isn't an all out dickhead. And it's the simple path to take him that way. It is an interpretation, but, by God, it ain't my interpretation.

He isn't that easily swayable jerkoff. He's a human who reacts strongly when he thinks that the woman he is going to marry has betrayed him. I think he's a lovely young man, and it's a joy to inhabit that place for a couple of hours a night.

See you at the Tavern tonight, hopefully! Then, in August...whoo!

With no regard for form...you're such a brute.

So...daily blog posts. Let's try this.

For instance, I have nothing to really note today. I've been doing the beginning stages of the Bas Rutten MMA workout, and that's been GREAT! I feel awesome after I get done with it.

They just called fifteen minutes...

Oh, I'm backstage before the second to last performance of Much Ado About Nothing. I'm excited to do it today. I'm gonna miss C-Lod when I get done, I think. He's just a super flawed, but basically good man. Young man. Very young.

I just had an incredibly unsatisfying shave. Oh well...I don't have to put a razor to the face until I clean up for a wedding!

The new album by the Black Kids is pretty darn good. When are they going to come to Atlanta again! They just live in Jacksonville!

I spent all day cleaning up my apartment.

They just called ten. I'm going to go get into character and shove some girls around.

I joke. He's hurt. Shut up.

HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT FOURTH, BLOGFRIEND!

Happy July!

EDIT:
Please note this post is from when I started to take a stab at writing in early June. I wrote it in July. Fer serious.

Hey folks,

You may be wondering where I've been the last few (?) weeks. Well, let me tell you where!

April - Wrapped up the apprenticeship! You can read all about that at the Shakespeare Tavern's blog! I will link to it when I'm not at my place of business and can access the Tavern's website!

May -
I dutifully portrayed Tragedian in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at The Shakespeare Tavern.

The Tavern will be a recurring theme. Just a heads up.

It was a great experience, all in all. Jeff McKerley was a fantastic director. Hope to see him around more. Also, it was a fun experience to be working with my fellow tragedians (Mike, Daniel, Joe and, of course, sweet little Doug.) We developed quite a rapport...you'll know what I mean if you saw the show.

We also had, generally, really receptive audiences. When I told people I was in the show, I can't tell you how many people commented, "Oh, that's one of my favorite plays! When is it? I'll be there." I never knew R & G struck such a chord.

June/July -
Guess where I'm at this month! The Shakespeare Tavern. We're currently in the last weekend of Much Ado About Nothing until it comes back in August and September to be a part of the August and September Shakespeare Repertory. Come on down and you'll get to see me reprise my role as Claudio, ALONG WITH (shill) Twelfth Night, King John, A Midsummer Night's Dream AND The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). That's more Shakespeare than you can shake a stick at.

Anyway, Much Ado has been fantastic. I never thought I'd be getting such a heavy role right out of my apprenticeship, but I like to think I've risen to the occasion. I'm loving my camaraderie with Matt Nitchie and Maurice Ralston. It's just a pleasure to do it every night. We're in the last weekend of it and I'm still finding things out about C-Lod.

Anyway, next week, I'll be heading back home to celebrate and be involved in my best friend's wedding, which will be fun. I'm going to try to update this more often, even if it's just with little nonsense posts. I know that getting blog posts from me is, often time, like getting blood from a stone, but we'll try to make it happen.

GOOD TO SEE YOU, BLOGFRIENDS!