Edexcel
Unit 2, Section A: Written Performance Concept
Luke
Scattergood 1665
Monologue
from ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ by Richard Bean
Character:
Francis Henshall
Richard Beans play is set in the seaside town of Brighton, he
becomes fired from his skiffle band and is desperate for food. He seeks
employment in Roscoe Crabbe, who is hiding from Stanley Stubbers, who also employs
Henshall’s assistance. In order to keep both of his jobs, Francis works hard to
stop his two guvnors from finding out about each other. My monologue comes
early in the play, just before he gains his second job.
As the play is set in the 1963, where Brighton was known for
its packed entertainment circuit, the play shows this through its use of music,
and reference to the main characters musical background. The variety in the
genres of music, would link to the End-of-The-Pier performances, which is seen
in 60’s seaside towns. The play begins with the characters having fled from the
East-End of London. Where crime was high with The Kray’s were trialling the
streets of London, creating violent news. The use of weapons is a key feature
to the play, where characters are threatened to do things, the Kray Twins
created so much fear in people that they would move to get away. This carries in
from the start of the play where Francis and his boss, having come to Brighton
to get away from the violent streets of London. I will use this to show the
fear of my character, where he has had to leave his home and come somewhere
new.
To keep the context of my character I will explore the characteristics
of a cockney lad, how he sits and moves around the stage. By making my gestures
big, it really emphasises my character enthusiasm, and his boastful nature, as
he is always trying to make himself seem bigger and better than he already is.
I will also show this through my voice, but adding emphasis and a powerful tone
to the personal pronouns in my speech, to really highlight that he did things
and that he made it happen. At the start of the process of the monologue, I
played around with the use of Emotion Memory, and started to think about how I would
feel, leaving my home, to somewhere new and not having much to live off. This
helped me understand my character being confident and looking big in the scene,
but still having the underlying fear of being in a new place. I have developed
the section of where he is describing his one man band, and have used stylised
movement to bring it to life.
