Mental Clutter

[ladysprite]

So there's this play I'm auditioning for, with the local SCA.

Well, not a play, exactly. It's mostly a dance performance, to be honest. But there will be some dialogue, and while I've got the dancing part without any trouble, I still need a monologue of some sort for the speaking aspect of the performance. Nothing fancy, nothing big, I've been told, just a little bit of verse or speech so they can hear what I sound like.

I haven't had much chance to go searching, so I figured I'd just pull something out of my memory. No big deal, I figured. I've got to have a little recitation like that available, right?

Right. I've been trying to come up with something today, and you'd be amazed at the doggerel detritus I've got floating around inside my brain. Random chunks of soliloquies from every Shakespeare play I read in high school - the more turgid, the better. The prologue to the Canterbury Tales. A half-page of narration from a production of Beauty and the Beast that I was stage crew for when I was seventeen. Every other verse from The Hunting of the Snark. Paul Revere's Ride, and the opening four lines of Hiawatha. More nursery rhymes than anyone over the age of six without a child of their own has a right to know. The entire Song of the Silent Lord from Diane Duane's "Deep Wizardry." With all this junk in here, it's a wonder I can remember my own name.

Of course, I still have no idea of what to recite tonight. None of these are actually quite appropriate. I suppose I'll just spit out whichever sonnet comes to mind first, though the temptation to look up the rest of the Hunting of the Snark and pull that out is strong....

Comments

[rickvs.livejournal.com]

You got anything by Joss Whedon or Aaron Sorkin on tap?

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

At least you've got ideas you're rejecting. The dancing doesn't worry me, but the whole audition and reading bit is a bit intimidating.

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

The Snark, definitely. Threaten their lives with a railway share. Definitely the Snark. Let your courage be perfect (that, after all, is the thing that one needs for an audition). Do the Snark. What I tell you three times is true.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I think "The Hunting of the Snark" is a good choice. It has a lot of weird words and odd phrasing that makes it hard to memorize.

[bess.livejournal.com]

At least you're not being tempted to do a dramatic reading of Fox In Sox or Goodnight Moon.

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

Ten rubber ducks overboard!

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

It would be hard to find something innappropiate - I am mostly looking to see what your speaking voice and demeanor are like.

[wren13.livejournal.com]

"I suppose I'll just spit out whichever sonnet comes to mind first, though the temptation to look up the rest of the Hunting of the Snark and pull that out is strong...."

I totally agree.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Jabberwocky!

Twas brillig and the slithey toves
did gyre and gimble in the wabe
all mimsy were the borogroves,
and the mome raths outgrabe.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's exactly what I wound up using. :)

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Cool. How did the audition go?

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

It went fine.

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Were you still interested in meeting up for a bit this afternoon? If you could drop me a line at gdw at numenor dot org and let me know either way, that would be great - thanks!