Monologue Mondays Manchester is a relatively new fixture upon the Greater Manchester theatre scene. The monthly events, set up and run by actors Lucy Avison and Jennifer Banks, are designed to give performers the chance to get up onstage and perform. There are no limits on the length of a performance, performed pieces can either be original works or taken from existing plays, and despite the name, the nights are open to more than just monologues. Feedback is given at the end of the performance as to what worked and what could be improved upon and the overall mood of the night is one of encouragement – there are no awards for ‘best performance’ at the end of the night, just a chance for performers to keep their hands in, or try something different in front of an audience of their peers.
This evening’s event was the fourth since Monologue Mondays Manchester was set-up and the nights are already drawing in many attendees (even on a Bank Holiday Monday night) – most are there to perform but some are just there to watch the performances. Avison was effectively the compere of the night, introducing the performers and kicking off the feedback responses. She began the evening by giving a brief overview of what the night was about, that the stage was “a safe space to be with your peers and perform…it is your chance to get it wrong as no-one will be judging you.” With the scope of the event established, Avison introduced the first performer of the evening, Rosie Nikolich, who performed a self-penned monologue about a young girl who is in a group therapy session for people with eating disorders. Nikolich’s performance was strong – there was a definite change in her demeanour when she began her monologue in character from what we had seen when she introduced her piece – and the piece itself was well-written, with moments to give Nikolich the chance to verbally lash out or become more introverted. A very strong start to the night.
Next was Chloe Jackson who performed a monologue from the play ‘Designs For Living’ by Claire Dowie. This monoglogue was quite comedic, a distinct shift in tone from Nikolich’s piece, and focused on a woman who is uncertain of her sexuality. There were some very amusing lines in the work which Jackson seemed to enjoy playing and received laughter from the audience. It was an amusing performance of a work which did not outstay its welcome. Megan McInerney followed this with a self-written piece which was very comedic and allowed her to perform several distinct characters within its brief run-time, although she was the five-year-old child Annabelle for the bulk of the monologue. A very entertaining piece, it would be great to see McInerney develop it further into a one woman show at some point.
Howard Whittock took to the stage next and delivered a piece of new writing from a work-in-progress play by Mark Russell and it was a very layered piece involving Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and a father who is so egotistical that he refuses to engage with the stark truth that his son has died, and instead seeks solace in drink. Whittock certainly tackled the challenge presented by the text with aplomb and really brought across his character’s self-centred view of the world. Again, this piece provided a stark contrast to its immediate predecessor and the following performance contrasted on this piece by being a duologue. Taken from Patrick Marber’s ‘Closer’, Saoirse Wadding-Hayes and Megan Challinor gave gutsy performances, although anyone who is unfamiliar with the complexities of the love triangle in the original play may have been left a bit bewildered about who had been sleeping with whom.
Following a brief break, the evening resumed with Maia Terra performing a piece of new writing about a Dutch woman remembering how, during the Second World War, she and a friend used to go to bars to pick up Nazi soldiers, before leading them to a secluded spot and killing them as a way of contributing to the war effort. Incredibly, this astonishing piece was based on a true story and Terra certainly gave this dramatic monologue plenty of weight, drawing the audience in to the story in a similar way to its narrator drawing a Nazi solider in before killing them. The wartime theme was carried on with Leo Burke’s performance, an extract from Dalton Trumbo’s anti-war novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun’. Handling an American accent well, Burke dug deep into the text and drew out a whole series of emotions - confusion, shock, regret – in a relatively short space of time.
Lisa O’Hare changed the tone of the evening by performing three short, but very well written and perfectly formed, poems. Not only did the poetry make for a nice change in form but their content was very engaging and O’Hare delivered them very well. David Ambler was then called on to the stage to perform a very stirring monologue from the play “The Accrington Pals,” as a soldier writes to his girlfriend back home, knowing that he is almost certainly going to die. A strong piece and one that was thoughtfully performed by Ambler. Oliver Corrigan was the penultimate performer of the evening and he delivered a (literally) chilling monologue from the TV show ‘Game Of Thrones’ about the lengths that people will go to in order to survive during a harsh winter. Corrigan’s performance was suitably intense and painted a very stark picture of the wolrd in which his character lvies in.
The final piece was by Hayley Doherty and was called ‘Emmeline ‘s Army’, a self-written monologue in poetic form about Manchester and the strong women who have, and continue, to live in the city. Given a gutsy, passionate performance, this work was an instant crowd-pleaser and drew an overwhelming round of applause at the end. It was funny, it was stirring, it was a great way to end the evening on a very high note.
Monologue Mondays Manchester is held on the first Monday of every month and, if the evidence of this evening’s performances was anything to go by, is well worth a visit to either watch or perform. The overall ambience of the night was one of support and encouragement. The performances were all enjoyable and the pieces, whether new writing or from pre-existing works, were interesting and varied. Without a doubt, future events will be worth checking out.
Reviewer - Andrew Marsden
on - 6/5/19
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