A deep-dive workshop with Caleb Lewis for playwrights and other performance writers on the art of writing monologues.

There are few moments onstage more powerful than a good monologue.  Done right it’s an act of virtuosity, a brief moment of stillness where everything else falls away save one startling single voice. Done badly it’s a twenty-minute drum solo - at best self-indulgent, at worst an interruption the audience endures waiting patiently for the show to resume. 

A great monologue might work for many reasons, but a dud usually falls over when it stumbles on one of the following. When writing your own monologue, here are ten things to consider. In this hands-on workshop, writers will develop their knowledge and practice of:

(1) speech, soliloquy and story;

(2) character;

(3) voice

(4) motive;

(5)  silence;

(6) stage directions;

(7) subtext;

(8) mystery and suspense;

(9) poetry and prose; and lastly;

(10) (un)reliable narrators.

Participants will also:

• Meet and connect with like-minded storytellers, with a focus on regional storytellers
• Recieve one ticket to a regional performance of Cathedral by Caleb Lewis (at the location of their choice). 

This workshop is presented by the Writers SA No Limits: Young Regional Writers program and Country Arts SA, however all ages and locations are welcome to attend this online workshop.

About Caleb Lewis

Caleb Lewis is a multi-award-winning playwright. Plays for the stage include: Nailed; Clinchfiled; Dogfall; Death in Bowengabbie; Rust and Bone; Songs for the Deaf; Aleksander and the Robot Maid; The Honey Bees; In the Dark Wood; The River at the End of the Road; Maggie Stone and Destroyer of Worlds.

He is the winner of an Inscription Award; the Company B Belvoir Phillip Parsons Award (in absentia); an Australian Writer's Guild Award for Digital Narrative; and the inaugural Richard Burton Award for New Plays. 

His work has been commissioned and/or produced by Griffith Theatre (NSW); Black Swan Theatre Company (WA); Brisbane Festival (QLD); Bell Shakespeare (National); Hothouse (Vic); Sport for Jove (NSW) and State Theatre Company (SA).  

Reviews and further production details are available at caleb-lewis.com

Caleb's new play Cathedral, presented by State Theatre Company in association with Country Arts SA is premiering in May, with both Adelaide and regional performances. 

10 Tips to Master the Monologue:

WSA Member $55 / Non-member $90

No Limits (regional writers aged 30 and under) $20

or

Book in for both workshops with Caleb: Bardcraft & General Wordsmithery (7th May) AND 10 Tips to Master the Monologue (12th June):

WSA Member $75 / Non-member $145

No Limits (regional writers aged 30 and under) $30

Thanks to the support of Country Arts SA, this workshop is available at a subsidised price for all participants. Your workshop fee includes one ticket to Cathedral. 

No Limits workshops are heavily subsidised for regional writers aged 30 and under. If the fee is still a barrier please email [email protected] for a 50% or 100% discount to participate. 

This workshop will be delivered via Zoom. Instructions will be emailed to you, please check your spam/junk folders. 

—Writers SA members must be logged in to receive the member discount. If you would like to use a workshop credit to book in please contact [email protected] at least five working days before the workshop commencement date. Our staff don’t work full time and we don’t want you to miss out!

—Members of other writing centres in the National Writers Centre Network can access our member discount. Contact [email protected] with your membership number to make your booking.

—Our Youth Membership category also includes a subscription to Voiceworks. Voiceworks is a national literary journal that features exciting new writing and art by young Australians. Join here.