When developing a monologue there is a tendency to try to find the “right” interpretation for each line and then lock it down. There’s a problem with this approach. Like everything else in the development process, interpretation needs to evolve in order for the monologue to realize its full potential. Here are a couple of ways to continuously expand your interpretation of the words.
First and foremost, see the interpretation of each line in the context of the person you are speaking to. The line “Shut up” will have very different interpretations when said to a friend who’s teasing you compared to an enemy intent on destroying your reputation. Considering whom you are talking to orients you in the human interaction that drives the monologue and is indispensible in making sense of the words. This should always be the first thing you do to expand the interpretation of the text.
After you’ve done the above you can further open your interpretation of the words by seeing the interaction with the person you’re speaking to in more than one way. You could see the line, “No, I didn’t take money from your purse” as either a lie or the truth or as a way to dismiss a ridiculous accusation. The fact is every line has a number of viable interpretations and the only way to find out which one works best is to try them. However, before you can try them, you have to discover them. The rule here would be, never stop with your first interpretation. Always look beyond to a second, third and fourth way of seeing the line.
If nothing else, discovering multiple interpretations does one very important thing. It gets rid of ambiguity about how the line can work. When it comes to the text, ambiguity is your nemesis. Multiple ways of seeing a line gets rid of the ambiguity and that allows the line to play more freely no matter which interpretation you go with.
Next… To structure or not to structure.
Labels: line interpretation