Monologue Slam

I am soooo proud of myself right now!!!!!!!!! Yesterday was the day of my Monologue Slam which took part at The Vibe Bar on Brick Lane. I have to admit the week leading up to the event I never encountered any nerves and that did not change yesterday- praise god! I had memorised my piece by last Thursday and because it was only for the duration of one minute it wasn’t that long. I recited Maya Angelou's “Phenomenal Woman” and added a few tweaks here and there to give it a bit of spice.

So I get down to The Vibe Bar at 7:15pm and join the rest of the hopefuls in a back room to do some quick warm up exercises. The night was hosted by James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler from Eastenders) and he spoke us through what to expect from the night. He explained that there were some big directors watching us and that we should give it 100%. I must admit at this point I was thinking I haven’t come here to be head hunted and cast as the next Sonia in Eastenders lol. I’m here to recite my monologue as it’s part of my Drama Class –standard! The room was full of some serious actors/actresses and I was beginning to wonder am I being a bit blasé about this evening? I am not one to take things too serious! Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing?

So were all warmed up now and feeling a little looser. James explains that we need to be better than the act before us and to take this as a real competition-no pressure eh? I talk to a few people and find out that I’m the seventh act to go up. We all leave and get a feel of the stage that isn’t that big. At this point the room is still empty and nerves are no where to be found. I’mm thinking this doesn’t feel right the nerves will surely kick in sooner or later.

The group from my drama class have a quick re-cap with my tutor who tells us to just enjoy the night. Some of my colleagues explain they wish they had my confidence as they are really nervous. Hmmm am I exuding something that I don’t know about?!?!? I had said to myself even if I felt nervous (which I didn’t) I wasn’t going to start speaking it into existence. The more you say it, the more you’ll start to believe it!

It’s now 8pm and the room is beginning to fill out and there is quite a few black folk. I always use to feel that they would be harder to please and would be more critical, I’m not sure where I have picked up that perception from. Anywhoo it’s now time to start and there are about 70 people watching and waiting for us to make our debut!

The first few acts go up and I’m now beginning to feel the buzz, the adrenaline rush, still no nerves. I just can’t wait to get up onto the stage and own it… and then my time comes and my name is called. I go up and the lights are so blinding I can’t see any of the audience’s faces. I begin my piece and pace up and down the stage and use a lot of body moevements and try to project my voice as best I can. I’m into the second verse and I realise I’m beginning to love this! The confidence just grew the longer I was on the stage, I didn’t want to come off. The crowd seemed to like my piece and I received a rapatorous round of applause.

This experience was really good for me and pushed me out of my comfort zone and confirmed to me that I have a lot of potential that a lot of people still haven’t seen. I spoke to my friend and she said I need to be more aggressive and really chase this dream/career.