- Students must select their monologues from the Monologue Packet, provided by the ESU. (Download from the link above) The packet has been updated and now includes over 260 monologues from more than 120 characters in all 38 plays. The selections offer a variety of monologues, of 15 to 22 lines a piece.
- Students may select any monologue in the packet, regardless of gender.
- Selections have been taken from the Folger Digital Texts resource (folgerdigitaltexts.org).
- No alterations may be made to the monologues. They must be performed as written in the packet.
- Each student must select, memorize and perform one monologue from a Shakespeare play.
- Students should introduce themselves by name only.
- Students should identify their monologue selection before they begin their performance.
- Students may not wear costumes or use props of any kind (including chairs, jewelry, items of clothing, and hair/hair clips). The use of props is grounds for immediate disqualification.
- Students should speak naturally in their own voice (rather than affect a British accent).
- Students are expected to memorize their pieces. If necessary, however, prompting is allowed. If a student
requires prompting, they must say “Line.
A prompter will be available to students during the competition.
NOTE: Students DO NOT need to perform a Sonnet for the DSA competition. However, the DSA winners will go on to perform at the Atlanta Branch Competition at the Shakespeare Tavern. For the Branch competition, students MUST perform both a Monologue AND a Sonnet.