Mantell's Apteryx. Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, must be obtained before any use of this image.
Use this resource for active learning while performing classroom
drama, for acting exercises and audition pieces, and for script/textual
analysis.
These New Zealand monologues are 'our voices, our stories'.
A monologue can be:
- a dramatic composition for a single artiste
- one person speaking alone
- a prayer
- lyric verse
- a lament.
The cast of characters in these monologues are:
- two grandmas
- a convicted murderer
- two confused teenage girls
- two angry adolescent boys
- one rugby player
- one nosy-parker
- one small boy with unusual obsessions
- an uncle who loves fishing
- an ex-smoker
- a barbarian.
These excerpts must not be used as scripts for public
performance.
You can find out about getting performing rights from playwrights
and their agents through the Playmarket
New Zealand website or as listed in published copies of
the plays (see Bibliography).
Related drama and writing activities are linked to monologues
where appropriate.
Selected monologues are abridged excerpts from longer solo
performance pieces (originally written for one actor to perform)
or edited excerpts from full-length plays for more than one
character.
An important aspect of preparing monologues for performance
is getting a deeper understanding of the character in context
by reading the whole play. You can find out how to get published
or reading copies of full scripts via the Playmarket
New Zealand website.
All but one of the monologues presented here are published.
All are available in bookshops and public libraries.
Excerpts are aimed at years 9–13, although some may
be more suitable for performance by senior secondary students
(years 10–12). Some excerpts are long, particularly
those in which several speeches have been combined to form
the monologue, e.g., Aaron in Verbatim. Younger students
might need these to be further edited, or the part might be
divided between a group of actors. Some excerpts might require
research to allow students to understand the social or historical
context, e.g., Foreskin in Foreskin’s Lament).
Others are contemporary, short monologues.
All monologues are for a solo performer but may be adapted
for group use. The drama activities that follow are group-based.
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Aroha
Mataira from 
with Alan Brunton, 2000 (159kb PDF)
