Performers from Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre Company captivated audience members with a wide range of monologue performances at Rooster’s Coffeehouse on Oct. 16.
Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s Monologue Night: Dream Roles invited performers of all abilities to choose a monologue from a dream role and perform it on stage.
“It’s picking a role you’ve always wanted to play, especially a role even traditionally cast [based on appearance],” said Erin Chappel, who led the workshop and has worked with Sock ‘n’ Buskin for several years.
“Put yourself in whatever role you want,” they said. “If you feel you can relate to that, you can emotionally portray that, [then] do it.”
The event kicked off with a performance by Sheikh Fahim Anwar, who channelled the regretful, reminiscent emotions of Before Sunset’s protagonist Celine.
The following monologues explored a wide range of genres and emotions.
Dianthe Baird and Lauran McKay performed monologues from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, respectively, each with an intention and conviction that allowed the audience to seamlessly connect with the Shakespearean dialogue.
Serena Newlands portrayed a witty and plotting June from the play Dead Special Crabs, using the space to her advantage as she painted the picture of her character’s comedic new life. Jelane Julien engaged the audience to cheer on his rousing call to arms as the antagonistic grasshopper Hopper from Pixar’s A Bug’s Life.
“It was a really good opportunity for people who had never done theatre,” said Veronica Nikolova, a Carleton history and humanities student who participated in the event.
Building up to the event, Niklova said performers attended various workshops to practice different techniques and elements of theatre.
Nikolova chose a moving monologue from The Edge of Seventeen and portrayed the main character Nadine, giving a performance about adolescent feelings of self-hatred and envy.
Nikolova said she used elements she learned in the workshop to enhance her act. She mimicked the character’s shaky voice as she expressed Nadine’s fears that her negative self-image would never go away.
“[We were] building up to understand our character and our monologue and its purpose, so that we can perform it the most authentically when showing it to people,” Nikolova said.
Second-year Carleton student Mahd Chaudhry said they were glad they attended the workshop to watch the night’s unique performances.
“The talent was just really impressive,” Chaudhry said. “I really enjoyed being here and seeing these artists in their element.”
Gil Skoll was the final performer of the night and delivered the simultaneously profound and amusing funeral monologue from BoJack Horseman.
“I found that [performance] really, really funny,” Chaudhry said. “[Skoll] took a really serious moment in the show [and made it] not that serious and made it really humourous.”
Chappel said they would love to put on the workshop again in the future as the event recieved positive feedback from audience members and performers alike.
“[Everyone was] genuinely very talented, very committed, and, most of all, supportive of one another, which is the big thing,” Chappel said. “That says a lot about the kind of community that Sock ‘n’ Buskin strives to create.”
Featured image by Sophia Laporte/The Charlatan.
