Performing Soliloquy and Dramatic Dialogue

Read dramatic texts by tracking who is listening and what each speaker wants.

Plays are written to be spoken, so reading them well depends on two questions: who is listening, and what does the speaker want? In a soliloquy, a character alone on stage speaks private thoughts aloud. There is no one to persuade, so the voice is often more uncertain, self-questioning, and changeable. In dialogue, each line is an action aimed at another character: to convince, to deflect, to wound, to comfort. Consider this original exchange: 'You said you'd be here by eight. ' 'The roads were flooded. ' 'They were flooded yesterday too.

' The second speaker wants to excuse; the first wants to expose a pattern. The final line should sound dry and pointed, not merely informational. Stage directions in italics are not usually read aloud, but they inform your tone. When a line is short, consider whether the brevity itself signals anger, shock, or restraint. Changing your voice for each character helps, but intention matters more than accents.

• 1Ask who is listening and what the speaker wants.
• 2Soliloquies reveal private, often uncertain, thought.
• 3Each line of dialogue is an action aimed at someone.