Hear Me Out 2021: Submissions Are Already Pouring In. The Why and the How and the What For of Deep Diving into Monologue Writing... Again and Again (and again).

Last Spring as the possibility that CoViD19 lockdown might eat up more than a month of 2020 turned gently into probability, then undeniable certainty, I noticed something interesting. Those of us who have a hand in the creation of film and theatre--of entertainment in the form of stories that unfold before a live audience--we were all showing clear signs of cabin fever. Playwright friends were having readings of new and old work. Actors were gathering to perform sonnets. Songwriters were grabbing their guitars, logging onto Zoom and sharing stuff. 

It was exciting. And healing. We needed that. We needed to connect and to reaffirm what it is we do best. 

But there were problems. For one thing, Zoom is a pretty sorry substitute for actually being there. [Look for my upcoming argument: Zoom: Fear her not. But pity her a little bit. She'll never convince us that nothing's lost.] When it comes to live theatre, the most obvious problem is that no two actors can ever really make eye contact via webcam.

Delicately sculpted scenes involving two, three, four characters suffer a mortal blow. The truth is, whether or not we're aware of it as we take in a new play, the electricity we feel as we witness a palpable shift in the energy flowing between two people on stage, that shift is grounded in eye contact. Eye contact (and its absence or avoidance) is one of the major sources of tension in a scene. And of course the audience is always hungry for evidence of tension because tension grows out of conflict and conflict is how we know we're actually alive.  Without it, what we'll see and hear instead will be a manufactured facsimile of the moment but not the actual felt moment.

The earnest playwright lives for shifts in relationships.

This is one of the most exciting things we're able to make out of thin air. I, for one, do have quite a bit of ego investment in my skill on this front. And most playwrights I know feel similarly attached to that aspect of their talent. Hamper that element of your play and your play goes from great to so-so with few if any in the audience able to quite point to what was missing for them.

After attending several lackluster readings of wonderful plays by extraordinarily talented writers I came to the conclusion that within the confines of the Zoom theatre, there could only be one solution. Instead of trying to make our multi-character scripts come to life via Zoom, ambitious playwrights would be wise instead to use the platform only for monologue. Because in monologue there is no need for eye contact. In the hands of a gifted actor, every monologue gives us the illusion of dialogue. One of my plays, The Wreck Behind Us is composed of four very long monologues. When the play was first done in NYC, I always felt little tingle of joy whenever an audience member would incorrectly refer to having seen on stage one of the many characters who are only talked about in the play. If somebody thought they'd met the sister or the manager or the older brother, that was music to my ears. I felt I'd done my heavy lifting.

In my writing workshops, I can often be heard reminding writers that: Dialogue is Action. 

What do I mean by this and why do I insist on repeating it again and again and again? 

If we go to the theatre to see human beings struggle with the conflicts that arise in life, one could say we go to see characters in action. Characters seeking something. So in the theatre (as in life) whenever one of the people on stage opens their mouth to speak, they are doing so in service of some objective. Nobody tells a story on stage for the simple (blank) purpose of telling a story. We speak to make something happen. It might be to inspire an emotion in someone else on stage, or to impress someone, or to obscure the truth. But the speaking of a monologue (and of dialogue of course as well) only occurs because the speaker needs something. And in that moment the person speaking believes that the speaking of whatever words are coming out will be the key to achieving it. 

So, for the skilled playwright or screenwriter, monologue performed on Zoom can and should showcase your great gifts as a dramatist. Your ability to paint characters through their patterns of speech, your ability to conjure suspense and keep unwinding it, your ability to stay tethered to shared human experience that we recognize and that reminds us of our humanity and is a big part of why we gather in the theatre. Those things and many more. If we know how to look (and how to paint) we can find it all in excellent monologue.

So I was eager to launch the Hear Me Out Monologue Competition last summer because I wanted to encourage script writers (and playwrights especially) to experiment with monologue, to begin a new independent exploration of the vast riches that wait to be mined in monologue. Why? So that even without most of what we consider essential ingredients of theatre--house, stage, cast, audience, lights, sets, costumes, sound, wings, etc.--every playwright can remind herself (and her audience) of just exactly what it is at the heart of her craft. A gift for seeing and recreating the human struggle. 

I was thrilled when the theme for last year's competition, 'Me & My Masks' inspired nearly 400 writers from all across the country (and as far away as New Zealand) to write and submit an original monologue. Our National Circle of Judges read and evaluated each submission, scoring the works on what I consider to be 6 categories of quality:

Character Development

Ear for Authentic Speech

Camouflage of Exposition

Thrilling Story

Dramatic Structure

Clever Use of Theme

Every piece submitted is evaluated by at least two judges. In the case of two judges with wildly opposing opinions of the quality of an entry, a third judge is automatically added. 

It was my fierce conviction that no submitted work should be eliminated for the accident of having landed in the lap of someone with at-odds taste. By bringing in a 3rd reader, I hoped to reduce the odds of that happening to a brilliant piece of writing. 

Pretty soon after submissions started rolling in, it became clear to me that one evening featuring 12 finalists would not do justice to the variety and ingenuity exhibited by a healthy plurality of the entries. 

Because my not-so-hidden agenda in launching this entire enterprise was to encourage script writers to take seriously the craft of monologue writing as something altogether different than simple storytelling, I felt an urgent need to bring many of these wonderful examples to audiences after the Labor Day awards ceremony had ended.

And so we started gathering on the first Monday evening of every month to meet 5 characters in action through 5 monologues written by 5 wonderful dramatists. We call this Some1Speaking and it continues through August. We do not hold a Some1Speaking on the first Monday of September because we hope our entire monologue-enthused crowd will be "down the street" at the larger venue for the Hear Me Out Monologue Awards Ceremony & Festival.

Many of the monologues either submitted to last year's competition or to Some1Speaking can be viewed at the 'Me&MyMasks' YouTube Channel. Take a look and form an opinion. (And then like and subscribe, of course.)

Then, when you're ready to write your own, stop by this page to see what (in my opinion) it takes to bake a moist and satisfying monologue. 

And when you've tinkered and tailored your baby to near-perfection, visit the 2021 Call for Entries to submit your own.

Early Bird Deadline: June 1, 2021.

Absolute Final Submission Deadline: July 22, 2021 at Noon, EDT.

Break... new ground!

Comments

[June ballinger]

1.

Thanks Roland I will forward this on to my monologue writing colleagues. and others.
Please let me know you received my video of Remembrance Day (you asked for it after we spoke a few weeks ago.
I hope to see you on screen again soon
Cheers
June