The first time you read a monologue out loud, it can sound oddly lifeless, even if it seems quite compelling as you read it on the page. New actors tend to work on the precise memorization of the words, hoping that this will result in feeling. In acting, it usually works the other way. Feeling comes from action, not words. So before you try to focus on expression, spend a few moments with the text and figure out what the character wants from the off-stage person he or she is speaking to. Visualize that person standing three steps away. Visualize that person’s face, attitude, and emotional state. This makes the monologue a piece of communication, not a recitation, and your interpretation of it will probably change as a result.
When you have defined your purpose, see if you can speak the text in your own words, still with the same intention. This will help you to lose some of the formality and discover the underlying emotion behind the language. Then go back to the text, but with the newfound ease of manner. One of the most common errors of novice actors is to ‘play it serious’: to use deeper, more ponderous tones and slower delivery to suggest profundity. This simply renders the moment less truthful. If your character is accusing, accuse someone of something; if he is telling a secret, speak in broken, staccato tones. Truth is to be found in the sounds of real life more than it is in theatrical tones.
Movement can help loosen a frozen emotion as well. Just walk, step from side to side, pace, as long as what you’re doing is connected with what you’re saying. A stiff body is often a stiff performance. Just as harmful is gratuitous movement. You can try giving yourself a simple chore to accomplish, such as folding a letter or packing a suitcase, and give the monologue again, while you complete the task. It provides a task for your hands and focuses the words into action rather than performance.
A 15 minute practice session could go as follows: Read the text once to yourself, making a notation wherever the thoughts of the character seem to shift. Take a few minutes to translate the words into your own everyday speech, then do the actual text twice: Once where you attend to nothing but your clarity and a second time where you only focus on your intention. The second take, record it and listen back. Instead of deciding whether it sounded “good” or not, notice whether your intention was clear and if there were any moments that seemed to you to not be connected to the thought. Work on one of the moments and replay just that moment.
If you still feel robotic, perform it once with the stakes jacked up to an almost unbearable level, an absurdly high level, a level that makes you feel a little uncomfortable. You will probably notice, if you do this, where you were holding back the energy. Then try it again, without it being quite so high, but with a sense of urgency. The more you do this, the more the speech will feel like something that is happening to you and not something you are saying.