Shakespeare Monologues: tips from actor & director Kelly Downes

Actor, director, self-professed Shakespeare nerd and friend of Rise & Howl, Kelly Downes, shares some of her tips & tricks for picking out and breaking down monologues by the Bard.

Kelly is a theatre-maker originally hailing from upstate NY. She earned her BFA in Theatre & Performance from Emerson College in Boston MA; before relocating to the UK to earn her Masters in Shakespeare & Creativity in Stratford-upon-Avon.

When asked about what made her fall in love with Shakespeare, Kelly says "I was always a very emotional child. Shakespeare finally gave me language that felt big enough to contain and express what I was feeling... it can be both poetic and chaotic, profound and silly, beautiful and grotesque. It captures both the loftiest concepts of human experience and the miniscule moments that make up a life. I really believe the exploring these plays are good for your brain, your heart and your body."

We'll let Kelly take it from here...

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Happy New Year, everyone! Now that we've all enjoyed our festive feasts, maybe you're starting to think about your resolutions for 2026... if trying something new is on your list, perhaps you'd like to enjoy diving into Shakespeare this year. Or maybe you're a long-time fan, and just here to add to your toolbelt!

Whatever brought you here, I'm delighted to share a few of my favourite quick tips & tricks I've learned from wonderful teachers and directors over the years for Shakespeare monologues. In honour of the season we're in, I'll be using excerpts from one of my favourite Shakespeare comedies, Twelfth Night.

Selecting a monologue: the magic of discovery

So, you've got an audition coming up and need to pick a Shakespeare monologue. Where do you start? It can be so overwhelming to sift through loads of speeches and try to whittle it down.

Whenever I'm looking for a monologue (Shakespeare or otherwise) I'm always looking for opportunities to make a discovery. Instead of a character telling a story or describing something, look for a piece where they're trying to figure something out in real time. Where a new piece of information is unveiled. This allows you to be as present as possible, and makes the performance feel more active.

One of my favourite examples of this is Viola's ring speech in Act 2 Scene 2. Disguised as a boy to work in Duke Orsino's court (who she's also secretly fallen in love with), Viola has been sent to woo Lady Olivia on the Duke's behalf (who wants nothing to do with him, by the way). After leaving Olivia's chamber assuming she's failed, Olivia sends a messenger to give her a ring, thinking Viola is actually a handsome youth named Cesario.

This speech is packed with little moments of discovery, leading up to the BIG discovery that Olivia is mistakenly in love with Cesario (Viola in disguise, stay with me here). Then, the even bigger discovery that Viola's got a classic mistaken-identity-love-triangle to deal with.

Let's make a note of every line that offers an opportunity of discovery for the character:

VIOLA'S MONOLOGUE:	VIOLA'S DISCOVERIES:
I left no ring with her. What means this lady?	Wait a minute; this ring isn't mine or the Duke's, so it must be a gift from her
Fortune forbid my outside have not charmed her!	Uh oh, does Olivia think I'm fit!?
She made good view of me, indeed so much	I just realised how much she was staring at me...
That methought her eyes had lost her tongue,	She got all flustered...
For she did speak in starts distractedly.	and was stumbling over her words...
She loves me, sure! The cunning of her passion	Oh my god, she's in love with me!
Invites me in this churlish messenger.	She sent a messenger out of affection just like the Duke sent me!
None of my lord’s ring? Why, he sent her none!
I am the man. If it be so, as ’tis,	She thinks I'm a man... HER man....
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness	Now I'm realising this disguise was meant to help me but it's created a mess
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper false	I didn't realise how easy it is for a deceitful impression...
In women’s waxen hearts to set their forms!	...can be made on a women's soft heart
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we,	Sh*t... it's not our fault we're gentle creatures
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly,	How is this going to work out? Let's go over the facts...
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him,
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,	WTF am I going to do!?
My state is desperate for my master’s love.
As I am woman (now, alas the day!),
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!	If I tell Olivia the truth, I'm going to hurt her.
O Time, thou must untangle this, not I.	Ugh... I don't think I can do anything about this yet.
It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie.

As you can see, there are so many opportunities for Viola to discover new pieces of information in real time - and therefore endless possibilities for how you decide to play it. When working with moments of discovery, try considering the following:

• Pace: which of the discoveries come tumbling out; and which of them need more space to really sink in?

• Questions: if you have a question in a monologue, try really simply asking the question without any preconceived ideas of what the answer is - think of the audience as your confidant.

• Opposition: try an unexpected reaction. (e.g. if you discover something that might terrify the character, what would it be like if it actually delighted them?) For example, I love playing with Viola's realisation in the 9th line of the speech "I am the man." At first, I usually played it as one of her "oh no, Olivia's gotten this all wrong" moments. But what if that was a pleasant realisation, and Viola got to enjoy the experience of being desired? This brought a whole new comedic element to the speech which helped create new dynamics.

  
  

Not every speech will be as full of discovery moments as this one - but whatever speech you're working on, see if you can pick out at least one moment for the character to discover something new.

Some other speeches that I love for discoveries are Phoebe's monologue "Think not I love him, though I ask for him" (As You Like It, Act 3 Scene 5) or Macbeth's "Is this a dagger which I see before me" (Macbeth, Act 2 Scene 1).

Finding the monologue road map

My next tip is a simple exercise that I love for when I'm first starting work on a monologue, or when I've just got that "stuck" feeling.

Oftentimes, there's a helpful "roadmap" hidden right in the speech. Highlight the last word of every line and look at just those words together. Let's look at Orsino's criticism of women's love in in Act 2 Scene 4:

ORSINO

There is no woman’s sides

Can bide the beating of so strong a passion

As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart

So big, to hold so much; they lack retention.

Alas, their love may be called appetite,

No motion of the liver but the palate,

That suffer surfeit, cloyment, and revolt;

But mine is all as hungry as the sea,

And can digest as much. Make no compare

Between that love a woman can bear me

And that I owe Olivia.

Sides, passion, heart, retention, appetite, palate, revolt, sea, compare, me, Olivia.

When we look at just these words, we start to see a shape for the speech:

• We begin with focus on the physical body, the feeling of "passion" in the "sides" and the "heart"

• We zero in on Orsino's issue with women's love: "retention"

• We return to words that suggest physicality: "appetite" and "palate" (things that can turn very quickly)

• We then get a tumultuous image with words like "revolt" and "sea" - Orsino's view of love is that it should be difficult and all-consuming

• We end with words that reinforce Orsino's almost competitive nature with "compare," "me," and "Olivia."

It's a simple exercise; but it can help you re-centre your focus and create a throughline for your character.

It can also help highlight shifts in tone and character differences. Let's look at Olivia and Viola's exchange when Olivia decides it is time to confess her love to 'Cesario' in Act 3 Scene 1:

OLIVIA, aside

O, what a deal of scorn looks beautiful

In the contempt and anger of his lip!

A murd’rous guilt shows not itself more soon

Than love that would seem hid. Love’s night is noon.—

Cesario, by the roses of the spring,

By maidhood, honour, truth, and everything,

I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride,

Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide.

Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,

For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause;

But rather reason thus with reason fetter:

Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.

VIOLA

By innocence I swear, and by my youth,

I have one heart, one bosom, and one truth,

And that no woman has, nor never none

Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.

And so adieu, good madam. Nevermore

Will I my master’s tears to you deplore.

Olivia's roadmap: Beautiful, lip, soon, noon, spring, everything, pride, hide, clause, cause, fetter, better

Viola's roadmap: Youth, truth, none, alone, nevermore, deplore.

Olivia's map is full of warmth, gentleness, light imagery. Viola's roadmap in response is somber, with a sense of finality and cynicism. We get mirroring in:

• Olivia's "everything" and Viola's "none."

• Olivia's "pride" and Viola's "truth"

• Olivia's "soon" and Viola's "nevermore"

• Olivia's "better" and Viola's "deplore"

These are just the mirroring words that resonates for me - you might spot totally different ones! (That's the best part of exercises like this)

Activating Imagery

Shakespeare is known for detailed, poetic imagery - but it isn't very easy to act imagery. However, we can activate imagery by finding ways to place it either within the body or within the environment around us.

In the environment

We'll use Viola's Willow Cabin speech from Act 1 Scene 5 to explore this:

VIOLA:

Make me a willow cabin at your gate

And call upon my soul within the house,

Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love

And sing them loud even in the dead of night,

Hallow your name to the reverberate hills

And make the babbling gossip of the air

Cry out “Olivia!” O, you should not rest

Between the elements of air and earth

But you should pity me.

Viola is describing how she would woo Olivia, if she loved her the way the Duke does. She creates an image of a little hut made of willow branches just outside of Olivia's house. She describes writing poetry of unrequited love and singing them outside the gates all through the night, echoing through the surrounding hills Olivia's name. Finally, she tells Olivia there isn't anywhere she could go under the sun without pitying Viola in this imagined scenario.

The image of a little hut outside of Olivia gates suggests distance, perhaps Olivia at a higher elevation than Viola. In the first few lines, Viola might kneel beneath her. As an actor, I would imagine Olivia high above me to see how that affects my delivery.

When singing out the "loyal cantons," an image is created of rolling hills echoing with Olivia's name. If you imagine someone crying out enough to create an echo through the hills, what do they look like? They're probably dropping their breath down; perhaps they fling their arms out or tip their head back. These are all ways for the actor to play with the text and bring it to life beyond the character merely describing something.

In the body

Sometimes, the imagery is already suggesting a physical location. For example, Macbeth's "O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife." I once was directing an actor and I asked him to really imagine the feeling of hundreds of little creepy crawlies skittering under his scalp; the clicking and buzzing sounds in his ears... then say the line.

This brought to life a real fear and discomfort that he was desperate to feel relief from. After really exploring this image with a physical location in the body, the actor didn't have to think about it. The resonance for that line was there, all he had to do was say the words.

Imagery won't always have a neat physical location of the body suggested to us. However, we can still use this as a tool - and get creative as we imagine where an image might be placed. Let's turn to a play better known for its imagery, Romeo & Juliet, to explore this. We'll use an excerpt from Juliet's "Gallop apace you fiery footed steeds" monologue (just part of it for now though... that girl can TALK!)

JULIET: (continued)

Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night,

Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

And pay no worship to the garish sun.

O, I have bought the mansion of a love,

But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold,

Not yet enjoy'd...

This section invokes images of a warm, summer evening - which then fills with stars made up of Romeo. Then, she contrasts this image with the "garish," harsh beating sun.

As an actor, I might choose to play with the idea of "getting butterflies"... but imaging thousands of stars twinkling pleasantly in my belly. I'd let that feeling of giddiness take over, until I mention the "garish sun." Then, I might choose to play with the sensation of sunburn. I'd imagine the stinging on my skin, the overheated feeling making my words a bit more lethargic and annoyed for the next lines: "O, I have bought the mansion of a love, / But not possess'd it..."

Shakespeare can feel cerebral, daunting and over-complicated. When we bring awareness to a different part of the body, it forces us to get out of our head; so we can focus on being present. You don't have to keep focusing on these images when you're performing. Think of it like a tool for playing in rehearsal; then keep what works and chuck out what doesn't.

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I hope some of these tips & tricks were interesting or useful to you! There is no "right" way to do Shakespeare... it's lasted this long because it offers all of us endless possibilities for how to connect with and deliver these incredible words and iconic characters. So, if we all did it the exact same way, it would have gotten boring at least a century ago 😉

I love talking with people about Shakespeare - especially if you've ever felt like it wasn't for you. Feel free to DM Rise & Howl or connect with me on Instagram if you have questions or want to talk more! @kelly.m.downes