Monologue Competition: What It Is, Where It’s Run and How It’s Judged

One actor performs a single character’s speech from a play or script, alone on the floor, and is judged on characterisation, voice and how clearly the situation is made real for the audience.

A monologue is a speech for one character, spoken by one performer, usually lifted from a play, a screenplay or a piece of devised drama. Unlike a poem or a prose reading, the performer is expected to become the character: to know who they are speaking to, what they want and why they must speak now. The speech may be funny, tense or tender, but it should stand alone and make sense to an audience that has not seen the rest of the play.

A round is brief and bare. The entrant is called in, usually announces the title and the writer, takes a moment to settle and then performs without costume changes, scenery or a second actor. A short pause at the start and a clean stillness at the end are part of the performance. The adjudicator watches for a clear choice: a listener, a place and an objective, so that the speech moves forward rather than being recited.

On a page, an entry is a printed or memorised speech cut to the time limit. It might be an extract with a natural beginning and ending, or an edited version that keeps the strongest thread. Memorising is expected here, which is the main difference from the reading classes. Organisers run the class because it needs almost no equipment and quickly shows who can hold a room with voice, face and stillness alone.

On the eTalenter templates listed here Monologue is an individual entry, open to boys and girls together, performed in English, with time limits that grow with age. It is not the same catalogue row as Mono Act, which is the older item name used in other templates, although the two share much of their spirit.

Where Monologue is run

Monologue is carried by eleven eTalenter templates. The widest group is speech and drama festivals in the United Kingdom, Guernsey, Zimbabwe, Canada and Australia, where it sits in the action or drama classes. The British music, speech and drama eisteddfod template listed here offers it across six age bands from 7 and under to 18 and under, at 4 to 6 minutes and marked out of 100. Two talent-showcase templates, one in the United States and one in Jamaica, also carry a monologue, and one of them uses a rating out of 10. This page records only the templates listed here.

• United Kingdom
• Guernsey
• Zimbabwe
• Canada
• Australia
• United States
• Jamaica

Key facts

• Individual entry, open to boys and girls together, performed in English
• Carried by eleven templates, most marked as Marks and one as a rating out of 10
• On the British eisteddfod template the limit is 4 minutes for ages 7 to 11 and under, 5 minutes for 13 and 15 and under, and 6 minutes for 18 and under
• Normally learned by heart and performed without props, costume or a scene partner
• Different from Mono Act, which is a separate catalogue item name, and from Duologue, which needs two performers
• No judging criteria are printed on these templates, so the points on this page are general adjudicating advice

On eTalenter, Monologue is filed under Action, Drama and typically scored with Marks, Rating out of 10. It appears in 11 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Monologue is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 2–10 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Monologue

What a Monologue panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• Characterisation: the performer is clearly someone other than themselves, with a believable attitude, background and voice
• Voice and diction: every line can be heard and understood, with volume, pace and pitch varied to suit the mood
• Truthfulness and intention: the speech has a listener and a purpose, so each thought is played rather than recited
• Movement and stillness: gestures are small and motivated, and the performer is comfortable standing still
• Choice of piece: the speech suits the performer’s age, fits the time limit and has a shape with a beginning, a turn and an ending
• Memory and control: lines are secure, recovery from a slip is calm, and the opening and closing moments are deliberate

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Monologue under Scoring Setup, or start from the full mono act judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Monologue

How entrants and their teachers usually get Monologue right on the day:

• Pick a speech you can understand from the inside; a character close to your own age and experience usually works better than a grand one
• Decide who you are speaking to, where you are and what you want, and write it down before you rehearse the words
• Time the speech aloud and cut to the limit, ending on a strong line rather than running out of time
• Learn the lines until they are secure, then rehearse with small changes of position so you do not rely on one fixed spot
• Perform for a friend or teacher and ask what they saw, not just what they heard
• Practise the first ten seconds and the last ten seconds separately, so you walk in settled and finish cleanly
• Record a run-through and watch for fidgeting, rushed lines and a flat tone, then work on those spots slowly

Frequently asked questions

Is Monologue judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What is a monologue in a speech and drama festival?

It is a speech for one character performed by one entrant, usually from a play or script, and judged on characterisation, voice and how well the performance is controlled.

How long is a monologue in competition?

It depends on the age band and the event. On the British eisteddfod template listed here the limit runs from 4 minutes for the youngest entrants to 6 minutes for the oldest.

Is a Monologue the same as Mono Act?

They are close in spirit, but they are separate catalogue items on eTalenter, and an event’s own syllabus decides which name and rules apply.

Do I have to learn the monologue by heart?

A monologue is normally performed from memory, unlike a reading class. Check your event’s syllabus for any rule on scripts, props or costume.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full mono act judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.