1. The Step Out
Year 9

2. The task
As well as performing your scene in your group, each character will ‘step out’ of the scene and perform their own self written soliloquy exploring their character’s thoughts and feelings at a point in the scene.
Your ‘step out’ should be between 1 and 2 minutes in length. ( words)
You may have 1 page of notes on stage with you for your ‘step out’ ONLY (you must memorise your lines from the scene).
Your ‘step out’ needs to demonstrate that you understand the thoughts, motivations and feelings of the character you are portraying.

3. What does the step out involve?
Involves one solitary speaker
Definition: A speech that one gives to oneself – in a play, a character delivering a soliloquy talks to herself/himself – thinking out loud, so the audience better understands what is happening to the character internally.
It simply means a character speaking all by himself, to himself. 
E.g. THE BALCONY SCENE (ACT 2, SCENE 2): Romeo’s soliloquy when he is watching Juliet on the balcony – he is expressing his thoughts of Juliet, though Juliet cannot hear him/is unaware.

4. What you need to do Get into the mind of the character
You must place yourself in their frame of reference and see the action through their eyes – at that moment are they fearful, anxious, excited, a combination of feelings?
Speak about your hopes, desires, fears, circumstances
What you deliver must be clearly motivated and the emotional energy must seem apt and logical in terms of what has preceded it as well as what follows
It should advance the story along, by clarifying the speaker’s intentions or beliefs

5. Tips
Consider the character in that moment – are they calm, rational? The character would deliver a well structured soliloquy that moves from one topic to the next in an orderly fashion. A more erratic character, or one experiencing extreme emotions would deliver a much more disjointed and chaotic soliloquy.
Use first person (I, we, our, us, etc)
Remember the character has a goal
Write in present tense – your speech may include some retelling of past events, but using present, active words to make your monologue stronger
Incorporate figurative language techniques – e.g. similes, metaphors, hyperboles, personification, alliteration, rhetorical questions, etc. Try to incorporate imagery that is relevant to the character –e.g. religious, night/day, celestial
Refer to what other characters have said in the scene and reflect on them – e.g. In Act 1, Scene 5, Lord Capulet says to Tybalt “He shall be endured/You will tolerate him” – this could be a good springboard for reflection on behalf of Tybalt.

6. Sample
This step out was written for Friar Lawrence’s character in Act 2, Scene 3
The Friar performed this near the end of the scene, after Romeo says “Doth grace for grace and love for love allow/The other did not so”
Am I hearing this right? Has my dear son so quickly forgotten his infatuation for Rosaline, only to foolishly wish to marry another woman he just met? And what am I supposed to do? Not only is this marriage too hasty, rash and ill-advised…it would be a miracle to have Capulet and Montague actually agree to it!
Their families’ deadly feud has been going on for centuries, and they don’t even remember why they hate each other so? This quarrel between the houses of Montague and Capulet is so deep and full of passion and fiery rage, how would I ever convince them to let their only children wed each other?
Even if this IS true love, which Romeo assures me…how can I trust him? Yesterday he was pining over Rosaline – a lovesick puppy dog more in love with BEING in love than with the woman of his so- called affections! But what of Juliet? I know her to be a mature and logical child…if she really agreed to such a hasty contract it MUST be true love. What right have I to keep these lovers apart?
Maybe there is something mapped out in the stars bringing these two foes together…maybe their love is a conduit to ending the bitter hate between these two families. No, Montague and Capulet will never agree to it. But once it’s done, perhaps some happiness and love can extinguish the rancour that possesses their households. I will assist my dear Romeo as his heart is pure. These two lovers will be wed by my hand, and finally Verona can be at peace.

7. Sample – A grade step out/soliloquy for Romeo in Act 2, Scene 2 … after Juliet says “It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden” (line 118)
Immediate reflection on lines prior
Too sudden? Sudden is the only way I want it to be with her! Oh, she is so impossibly perfect! Why must we wait, if I had it my way we’d already be wed! An arrow shot from cupid strikes me through the heart each time my eyes fall upon her soft, supple flesh. Of all the fair maidens who have graced my eyes, she is the fairest, the most intriguing compared to that wrench Rosaline who will remain sick and green with envy of her. My life will not be complete unless its entirety is spent with her. My life’s greatest endeavour shall be Juliet and her happiness. There's nothing I’ve yearned for more, she is the grandest prize. How I hope I can fulfil her, but how could I ever be enough for such an angel? But then there is the issue of our families and their eternal feud. How can a Montagues blood be fused with a Capulets? Would our blessed vows be enough to join our two families in unison? Our families stand as strong as two old oak trees, though what would happen if two branches from either tree reached out for each other? But then she says our love is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden? Yet how can this be when we’ve just expressed our deep devotion for one another? The only way I can test her loyalty for me is if she vows her virtue onto me tonight and willingly surrenders her love. Her lips, soft flower petals that adorn her beautiful face is like a sweet nectar that bees cannot resist. Her smile illuminates the sky the way stars shine at night; they envy her mystique. But what promise will she swear by tonight? Oh how she is my treasure, my rarest gem. Oh she is my life’s muse! I swear by thy precious self that each moment without her is dedicated to winning her.
Authentic statements – echo the text
Romeo’s dramatic nature

8. Hamlet – to be, or not to be?