History Main / AudienceMonologue

* A rare musical example: John Adams' opening speech in ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix''.

--> '''Point:''' ''(Reads.)'' "The Merrie Jestes of Hugh Ambrose. No. 7863. The Poor Wit and the Rich Councillor. A [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe certayne]] poor wit, being an-hungered, did meet a well-fed Concillor. 'Marry, fool?' quoth the Concillor, 'whither away?' 'In truth,' said the poor wag, 'in that I have eaten naught these two dayes, [[IncrediblyLamePun I do wither away, and that right rapidly!]]' The Councillor laughed hugely, and gave him a sausage." Humph! The Councillor was easier to please than my new master the Lieutenant. I would like to take post under that Councillor. Ah! 'Tis but melancholy mumming when poor, heart-broken, jilted Jack Point must needs turn to Hugh Ambrose for original light humour!

* ''Theatre/HelloDolly'' contains a few, mainly held over from Creator/ThorntonWilder's play, ''Theatre/TheMatchmaker'', on which the musical is based. In ''The Matchmaker'', they are used quite frequently, with most of the main characters receiving at least one.

* ''Theatre/HelloDolly'' contains a few, mainly held over from Creator/ThorntonWilder's play, ''The Matchmaker'', on which the musical is based. In ''The Matchmaker'', they are used quite frequently, with most of the main characters receiving at least one.

Most monologues in the world of theater are directed from one character on stage to another, or to multiple characters, or sometimes to someone or something that is not even there (which makes it an apostrophe). An AudienceMonologue is when a character delivers a speech to the audience. This does not require {{breaking the fourth wall}}; the audience does not need to be referred to as an audience, and the character does not need to recognize his or her fictional nature. Rather, the effect is that the audience is drawn into the play as a (frequently ambiguous) separate entity in the plot. Sometimes the audience is meant to be a crowd assembled at the scene being portrayed; sometimes the audience is supposed to be a projection of the character's own consciousness, making the monologue reflect an interior thought process.

Note that, when the FourthWall is left otherwise intact, an AudienceMonologue technically ''is'' talking to someone who is not there, at least InUniverse.

Musical theater often uses songs for this effect, which means the AudienceMonologue proper is more frequently used in non-musical plays. It is also a staple of {{Narrator}}s throughout theatrical history.

* Creator/NikolaiGogol's "The Inspector General": "What are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourselves!"

* A rare musical example: John Adams' opening speech in ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]''.

* Tevye's monologues (at least the ones not directed to God) are directed towards the audience in ''FiddlerOnTheRoof''.
* ''HelloDolly'' contains a few, mainly held over from Thornton Wilder's play, ''The Matchmaker'', on which the musical is based. In ''The Matchmaker'', they are used quite frequently, with most of the main characters receiving at least one.
* TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee has Schwartzy's political speech.

* The final scene of ''AngelsInAmerica'' is one of these by Prior, occasionally interrupted by a conversation going on within the scene itself. Before this, Harper's last scene consists of one of these as well. Part II (Perestroika) begins with one by Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, the World's Oldest Bolshevik ([[BigLippedAlligatorMoment don't ask]]), in which the audience is substitute for an assembly at the Kremlin.

* The narrator of ''TheDrowsyChaperone'' is a musical theatre enthusiast sitting in his living room talking to the audience about the titular ShowWithinAShow, providing a running commentary as the action of that show unfolds. So, basically, almost everything he says is in this vein.

* ''TheGlassMenagerie'' begins [[BookEnds and ends]] with these from Tom; the opening explaining the setting and conventions of the play, and the closing explaining the aftermath of the play.
* ''TheLaramieProject'' is almost entirely composed of these, as most of the text is taken straight from interviews with real Laramie residents.

* ''{{Equus}}'' features (and indeed, opens with) Dr. Martin Dysart talking at length and frequently to the audience. Who the character is supposed to be addressing is up for interpretation, but the easy answer is that these are enactments of his own internal struggles.

* Father Flynn in ''{{Doubt}}'' has several of these, most of which address the audience as a congregation.

Often referred to as a soliloquy, although soliloquies are not necessarily directed to the audience. Lady {{Macbeth}}'s famous "Come thick night" soliloquy is directed first to her absent husband, and then to the "spirits that tend on mortal thoughts".

* Many Shakespearian soliloquies can be played this way, especially [[{{Othello}} Iago]]'s. However, they are just as often addressed to God(s) or forces of nature, and sometimes played as the character speaking his or her thoughts aloud to him/herself.
** The best (and most famous) example is Prospero's monologue at the end of TheTempest. It's Shakespeare's farewell to the theatre, and one last request for applause.

** Peter Schaffer's other famous play ''{{Amadeus}}'' more or less duplicates this effect with its own older male lead, Salieri. In TheMovie, his monologues are depicted as being part of a confession to a priest.

* Nikolai Gogol's "The Inspector General": "What are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourselves!"

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* {{Medea}} opens with the Nurse explaining what's happened to piss Medea off. [[{{Lampshading}} Lampshaded]] when the children's tutor comes up to her and asks why she's talking to herself.

Note that, when the FourthWall is left otherwise intact, an AudienceMonologue technically ''is'' talking to someone who is not there, at least InUniverse.

[[AC: Theatre]]

* Anna Deveare Smith's ''[[Theatre/{{Twilight}} Twilight:Los Angeles]]'' is a good example of this storytelling device.
* {{Medea}} opens with the Nurse explaining what's happened to piss Medea off. [[{{Lampshading}} Lampshaded]] when the children's tutor comes up to her and asks why she's talking to herself.

[[AC: Theatre: Musical]]

<<|{{Theater}}|>>

* ''HelloDolly!'' contains a few, mainly held over from Thornton Wilder's play, ''The Matchmaker'', on which the musical is based. In ''The Matchmaker'', they are used quite frequently, with most of the main characters receiving at least one.

* A rare musical example: John Adams' opening speech in ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]''.

* The narrator of ''TheDrowsyChaperone'' is a musical theatre enthusiast sitting in his living room talking to the audience about the titular ShowWithinAShow, providing a running commentary as the action of that show unfolds. So, basically, almost everything he says is in this vein.
* Tevye's monologues (at least the ones not directed to God) are directed towards the audience in ''FiddlerOnTheRoof''.

* Anna Deveare Smith's Theatre/TwilightLosAngeles is a good example of this storytelling device.

* This troper went to see one of these last night; it was called "Sticks and Stones" and it was written by a friend of theirs. It's abouta girl who'd helped tease and prank this other girl to the point of suicide.

* The narrator of ''The Drowsy Chaperone" is a musical theatre enthusiast sitting in his living room talking to the audience about the titular ShowWithinAShow, providing a running commentary as the action of that show unfolds. So, basically, almost everything he says is in this vein.