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Dialect-friendly Monologues

Question:

Hey, all… I was called for an audition over the weekend for a show that required an Irish dialect.  Fortunately, I had just done a run using the dialect within the past six months, so it wasn’t a problem when I dusted it off in preparation (and I don’t anticipate having any at the audition tomorrow–knock on wood).  However, there have been times in the past when I was asked to do a dialect that was "rusty"…in other words, I hadn’t used the dialect in a show for years.  They were always ones I’d already learned, but it was still distracting and clunky trying to get the rythym going, or allowing my articulators to form the right sounds.  Usually if I had a day or two to drill, it would come back with a vengance…but the extra time was a luxury.

Jez, I’ve coached dialects for 30 years, and in some cases it takes me at least a week to refresh a specific dialect.  Part of that is due to the fact that I teach 3 different Irish dialects, and it’s easy to confuse them.  I have five different models for New York.  England (excluding Scotland and Wales) has sooo many variations outside of RP and Cockney. But, you’re right, Jez, one doesn’t always have the time to refresh. I’ve got all the tapes (Stern, Blunt, Machlin, etc.) but they are time-comsuming.  My policy in coaching actors on a stage dialect or regionalism is to spend 2-4 weeks on the tapes and then two weeks to help the actor master a two minute monologue suited to the character. Sometimes, actor will do at least two cuttings…. in English RP, for example, one might do a Shakespeare and a Pinter.  In "New York", one might do a mid-Madhattan socialite and a homemaker from Brighton Beach. I make sure that the actor video or audio tape a "perfect" take of the monologue. When the day comes to refresh the monologue and the dialect, it’s so much easier to dust off the tape and run it a few times to review not only the dialect, but also the values. An aside:  My friend, Jill Charles (RIP) once did a survey of stage directors on the dialect matter.  And the majority of directors recognize that actors make all sorts of mistakes in a dialect-specific monologue.  Mostly, they don’t know the dialect well enough.  But the most common complaint is that actors tend to play the dialect (however inaccurate) and neglect the character (and the relationship in the scene.) If I had my druthers, for the most part, directors would ask actors to prepare a monologue suitable for the play and the character…. but make optional the matter of dialect.  There will be sufficient time during the rehearsal for the actor to master the dialect, particularly if the producer spends the small amount of money to hire a professional dialect coach to train the entire cast.  (<g  I’m nothing if I am not self-serving.) It occured to me today that a helpful resource might be a handful of short monologues that are written with a specific dialect in mind…For example, I picked up Brian Friel’s "Philadelphia Here I Come", which is SO Irish it’s difficult NOT to read it aloud with a brogue…and after about 10 minutes of work, had the feel of the accent as well as I ever did.  It seemed more helpful to me than listening to a dialect tape, as I was able to avoid wasting time on fundamentals and drills that I’d already learned years ago, and could cut to the chase, pick an action, communicate & relate while allowing the accent to shift to the unconscious quickly.

Jez…. you know I think the world of you, but I find a fatal flaw in your premise.  There are thousands of plays (by American and Irish playwrights) which are "written" with the syntax of Irish.  Most recently, I trained an actress with a cutting from "Juno and the Paycock" — a classic — and the actress wanted to master the monologue and the dialect.  But it took 6 weeks for her to come close. I also coached an actor who really, really wanted to do Earnest from "The Importance of Being Earnest."  And mygosh, Oscar Wilde clearly writes text which syntactically suggests RP.  But this actor was from the Bronx, and didn’t have a clue. I’m toying with the idea of creating a file of short, dialect-friendly UNmemorized monologues to keep as "refreshers" for accents on my resume…something quick to whip out the day before an audition to remind my mouth of the accent.  

Hmmm?  I’m confused.  What is the value of having a file of unmemorized monologues which you would not present during the audition?  Methinks this will serve YOU, Jez, but then you’ve spent you adult life working as an actor and picking up dialects, either by osmosis, or by training.   But you’ve also mastered iambic pentameter, Jez, by doing Shakespeare. And you know how impossibly difficult it is for newbie actors to master THAT language in the first few run-throughs of a scene or monologue. That being said, I thought I’d share my thoughts here in case others found it helpful, and also ask: Does anyone have suggestions off the top of their head to add to the list? I’m thinking a few days of spitballing between us and we could have a pretty hefty database to choose from.

I’m willing to contribute, Jez.  But you know that there will be only two voices on the matter from this group.  If you wish, I’ll send out a couple of private emails to other dialect coaches to see if there is any interest…. and then we can go off-line. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Gender & type would be irrelevent.  The most important thing is that they’re written with the rythyms of the accent.  Also, I’m thinking they should NOT be stylized…Conor MacPherson’s stuff, for example, is too stream-of-consciousness and broken up to be helpful here. Relatively realistic/naturalistic dialogue.  Length would also be irrelevant since we could cut as needed, but it probably should be at least 5 or 6 lines long. As a matter of fact, picking a specific monologue might even be unnecessary; often ANYTHING out of certain plays is good. So here’s my ideas today, off the top of my head: Irish: Anything from Friel ("Phila., Here I Come") Proper Brit: Anything from Noel Coward; "Blithe Spirit"’s a good one. New York: Anything from "Italian American Reconciliation" …what else? Break legs, –Jez (The Artist formerly known as "Wall") http://www.angelfire.com/d20/johnjezior/

Break a leg, Bill — THE ACTING STUDIO http://gvtg.com/theactingstudio

Response:

Hey, all… I was called for an audition over the weekend for a show that required an Irish dialect.  Fortunately, I had just done a run using the dialect within the past six months, so it wasn’t a problem when I dusted it off in preparation (and I don’t anticipate having any at the audition tomorrow–knock on wood).  However, there have been times in the past when I was asked to do a dialect that was "rusty"…in other words, I hadn’t used the dialect in a show for years.  They were always ones I’d already learned, but it was still distracting and clunky trying to get the rythym going, or allowing my articulators to form the right sounds.  Usually if I had a day or two to drill, it would come back with a vengance…but the extra time was a luxury. It occured to me today that a helpful resource might be a handful of short monologues that are written with a specific dialect in mind…For example, I picked up Brian Friel’s "Philadelphia Here I Come", which is SO Irish it’s difficult NOT to read it aloud with a brogue…and after about 10 minutes of work, had the feel of the accent as well as I ever did.  It seemed more helpful to me than listening to a dialect tape, as I was able to avoid wasting time on fundamentals and drills that I’d already learned years ago, and could cut to the chase, pick an action, communicate & relate while allowing the accent to shift to the unconscious quickly. I’m toying with the idea of creating a file of short, dialect-friendly UNmemorized monologues to keep as "refreshers" for accents on my resume…something quick to whip out the day before an audition to remind my mouth of the accent.  That being said, I thought I’d share my thoughts here in case others found it helpful, and also ask: Does anyone have suggestions off the top of their head to add to the list? I’m thinking a few days of spitballing between us and we could have a pretty hefty database to choose from. Gender & type would be irrelevent.  The most important thing is that they’re written with the rythyms of the accent.  Also, I’m thinking they should NOT be stylized…Conor MacPherson’s stuff, for example, is too stream-of-consciousness and broken up to be helpful here. Relatively realistic/naturalistic dialogue.  Length would also be irrelevant since we could cut as needed, but it probably should be at least 5 or 6 lines long. As a matter of fact, picking a specific monologue might even be unnecessary; often ANYTHING out of certain plays is good. So here’s my ideas today, off the top of my head: Irish: Anything from Friel ("Phila., Here I Come") Proper Brit: Anything from Noel Coward; "Blithe Spirit"’s a good one. New York: Anything from "Italian American Reconciliation" …what else? Break legs, –Jez (The Artist formerly known as "Wall") http://www.angelfire.com/d20/johnjezior/

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