Unit 7 - production skills and practice

Typical Teen - Joseph Arnone

CREPPE

context :

Joseph Arnone is a contemporary monologue writer who was born in New York City. He began his career by directing theatre productions with a mixture of modern and classical playwrights, he also writes and stages his own original material. A few examples of the monologues he has written are Dark place, Typical Teen (which is the one I am doing) and Lick my wounds.


After working many years in theatre, he has taken his directing mainly into film. His films he has directed has explored self-reflection, which involves characters who tend to confront their past. The online entertainment publication and platform has grown significantly large worldwide as he has become the founder and CEO of Monologue Blogger.


 Some of Joseph Arnone's plays :
 A few examples of the monologues he has written are Dark place, Typical Teen (which is the one I am doing) and Lick my wounds

research :

In this short play, Shadira and her mother have a conversation about more than just the pressure of Shadira's skating commitments. Her family issues also creep up into her problems she is currently facing. As she's talking to her mother she has a tone of anger as her mum is failing to understand what she really wants to do, this aggravates her because all she wants to do is her figure skating.

Planning :

During the process of learning my monologue I had to plan how I was going to articulate my words and where to pause during my performance. I also had to repeat myself and record so I can look back at it and observe where I went wrong or where my tone in voice could be improved. To help me further, I printed out my monologue and annotated it to know in which parts I would add emphasis too and highlighted the key words I had to slow down on as sometimes I would rush in my dialogue.

Problem Solving :

I have not encountered any problems so far, this is convenient as it means I have nothing in my way
and I have a better chance of succeeding. 

Evaluation :

As I chose to do Typical Teen I realised that it was a teenage gild conversating with her mum, I instantly thought that I would be able to relate to it as I talk to my mother all the time. In general all the monologues written by Joseph Arnone are easy to relate to which I think makes it easier to chose
as I just pick the one I can relate to most.





This picture is similar to the scene I'm doing, the girl is wearing casual clothing which is exactly what I wore for my monologue. Simply wearing leggings and a t-shirt during my monologue shows the audience what I'm talking about and why I am dressed the way that I am.

My Costume- What I'm Wearing For My Monologue

As my monologue in about s teen confronting her mother about being able to do figure skating, I had the idea to be wearing sports wear, as figure skating is a type of sport. This means I have a wide range of things I could wear and I could choose from a variety of different clothes. It would make sense to wear attire which is linked to figure skating, for example something which covers my arms and legs as the rink is made of ice, preferably leggings and a cardigan.

3 Costume Ideas For My Monologue :

No.1 

In this photo the attire is gym based, the girl is wearing leggings and a t-shirt as my character would be wearing during her monologue. Figure skating is a sport which requires you to be wearing something you can be flexible in as shown in the picture to the left, it also requires you to have your hair tied back as when you are skating it will help prevent any distractions particularly hair making its way into your face. 

No.2
The photo to the left is an example of what figure skaters wear during their competitions..... I was thinking of purchasing a costume similar to this one, the costumes are mostly very vibrant as you like to be seen whilst performing. As my character is based around figure skating I tried to research all the different kinds of attire they wear, this particular one stood out to me as I feel as if the colours make the look aesthetically pleasing.





No.3
The girl in this photo is wearing leggings, a jumper, gloves and skates. I think that during practice as the rink is cold you should be wearing something that'll keep you warm, as shown in this picture. There are many ways you could dress for this particular sport and either one will be convenient.

End Result   

After contemplating about which costume I would like to wear I have come to the decision to pick outfit number 1. In my opinion I feel as if this costume would suit me better as looking at the scene I am in it fits in more than the others, in this particular scene talking to my mum when I come home, I believe I will be wearing leggings and a long sleep t- shirt which is why I chose to wear the first option. My hair will be brushed back into a bun so its out of my way and that concludes what I will be wearing.

Unfortunately I was unable to wear skates, this is because during my characters speech she wasn't skating she was conversating with her mum therefore she will be wearing different shoes like trainers.

As my character is a figure skater, the clothing wont be anything but gym/sports related, meaning my outfit is simple.