The Lancaster One Minute Monologue Competition 2021
Covid restrictions again prevented The Lancaster One Minute Monologues from having a live event in 2021 where we would normally record all thirty monologues being read by the authors or their substitutes. These videos, made at home, are just a sample of the impressive writing that reached the top 30 this year. We would like to thank Tom Flemons and Tony Haslam for their technical assistance in making these available online.
The Winner of the 2021 Lancaster One Minute Monologue Competition
2020 Vision: On Heysham Sands by Charles Pankhurst
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Runner up of the 2021 Lancaster One Minute Monologue Competition
Orla Guerin's Mother by Helen Bridgett
Other monologues in the top 30
Seaside Feast - Marka Rifa
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If We - By Mohammad Sarv
Sausage & Chips - Wendy Breckon
Gentle Giant - Tambi Maple
Chili - Flo Au
My Mother Ran Off With The Butcher - Kerrie Noor
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Slicing Open a Bitter Gourd - Ngoi Hui Chien
Finding Our Feet - Rosalind Forster
Haggling for a Motel Room in Gatlinburg - Scott Linder
Alternative Medicine - Marka Rifat
Mermaid Dream - Fay Dickinson
Edinburgh with the Turners - Fiona Richie Walker
A Special Place - Shuhui Ren
Lemon Mayonnaise - Wendy Breckon
Click on the image below to be taken to the interactive and downloadable copies of the top thirty monologues from the 2020 and 2019 competitions.
| One Minute Monologues 2020.pdf |
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The thirty best monologues of 2019 will be read in Lancaster Library on the afternoon of Saturday 20th of November. Free event and everyone welcome. The audience will vote for the winner of the best monologue in performance.
Q. Will all the entries be performed?
A. No. The organisers will choose a selection of the best entries and these will be performed on November 2021 in Lancaster Library. Date to be confirmed
Rules for the Lancaster One Minute Monologues competition 2021.
1. All monologues must be original writing by the person entering the competition.
2. All entries must be capable of being read aloud in one minute or less.
3. A maximum of 3 monologues can be entered by any individual writer.
4. Two copies of each monologue must be sent in as attachments. One with your name, address and email address at the top and the second containing just the text of the monologue itself. This is so that the judges can see an anonymous version of your work
5. The organisers reserve the right to reject racist, sexist and otherwise offensive material.
To enter the competition simply email your entries in Word or Text format to the organisers after making sure they follow the rules above. All entries must be sent by email to 1minutemonologues@gmail.com unless you know someone without access to a computer then written entries can be handed in or posted to Atticus Books, 26 King St, Lancaster LA1 1JY.
The 2021 competition may not have live performances due to the covid 19 pandemic. We cannot predict whether in November people would be able to have the close contact that takes place in a crowded room. The 30 best written monologues may be recorded if we are able to organise this in a safe and fair way. In this case instead of the two prizes being for best written and best performed we will have 1st and 2nd place of the best written monologues.
Final entry date: 31st August 2021
There will be free tutor-led workshops to get you started on your monologues in July and August. Please see our Facebook page for dates. Sponsored by Atticus Books, Kings St., Lancaster
1. All monologues must be original writing by the person entering the competition.
2. All entries must be capable of being read aloud in one minute or less.
3. A maximum of 3 monologues can be entered by any individual writer.
4. Two copies of each monologue must be sent in as attachments. One with your name, address and email address at the top and the second containing just the text of the monologue itself. This is so that the judges can see an anonymous version of your work
5. The organisers reserve the right to reject racist, sexist and otherwise offensive material.
To enter the competition simply email your entries in Word or Text format to the organisers after making sure they follow the rules above. All entries must be sent by email to 1minutemonologues@gmail.com unless you know someone without access to a computer then written entries can be handed in or posted to Atticus Books, 26 King St, Lancaster LA1 1JY.
The 2021 competition may not have live performances due to the covid 19 pandemic. We cannot predict whether in November people would be able to have the close contact that takes place in a crowded room. The 30 best written monologues may be recorded if we are able to organise this in a safe and fair way. In this case instead of the two prizes being for best written and best performed we will have 1st and 2nd place of the best written monologues.
Final entry date: 31st August 2021
There will be free tutor-led workshops to get you started on your monologues in July and August. Please see our Facebook page for dates. Sponsored by Atticus Books, Kings St., Lancaster
To enter the competition simply email your entries to the organisers after making sure they follow the rules above.
FAQs: In process of revision
Q. What is a One Minute Monologue or Minologue?
A.
For the purposes of this competition a one minute monologue, or minologue, is a text spoken by a single performer and that lasts one minute or less. There are examples in the video below. Minologue is a word we coined to describe our particular kind of one minute monologues.
Q. Can I submit more than one monologue?
A. Yes, you can submit up to four monologues.
Q. Must my entry be in Word or Text format and sent by email?
A. Yes. Sorry, but this makes things much easier for us.
Q. Will all the entries be performed?
A. No. The organisers will choose a selection of the best entries and these will be performed on 23 November 2021 in Lancaster Library. Date to be confirmed.
Q. Does the writer have to perform the monologue?
A. No. But if the monologue is in the top 30 the monologue must be performed and the winner of the competition will be chosen by the audience. The writer may nominate another person to read for them.
Q. Can I just submit a monologue without anyone to perform it?
A. Yes. If it is among the 30 best entries we will find someone to read it on the day.
Q. There are two prizes. Can I just enter for one of them?
A. No, all monologues are entered for both written and performance prizes.
Q. Does the monologue have to be character based?
A. No. Many are, but you are free to be as creative and experimental as you like. Have a look at the video of Families below.
Q. Can the monologue be in verse?
A. Yes. You are free to be creative in your interpretation of what makes a monologue. If you are in doubt please send an email briefly explaining your idea and we will let you know if it is acceptable.
Q. Do you have any tips for a first time writer.
A. 1. First think about some topics like an incident in your life, an overheard conversation, a dream or just an invented character.
2. Next just sit down and have a go. Give yourself 30 minutes max for your first try.
If you can write several monologues.
You may think they are awful, but writers often hate their work when they go back and read it. Don't let that stop you sending in your work.
3. Submit your monologues. You would be surprised by what catches the judges attention and makes for a winning monologue. We are, every year.
It helps to have a look at several examples of monologues before you start writing, both online and in books, as well as the examples below.
Finally, avoid cliche, jokes and plagiarism.
Any other questions? Please email 1minutemonologues@gmail.com
Don't forget to save your entry as a Word file before sending it.
We ask this because we will be reading the monologues on Macs, phones, tablets and PCs each with different software, and we can be sure Word will open without any problems.
We ask this because we will be reading the monologues on Macs, phones, tablets and PCs each with different software, and we can be sure Word will open without any problems.
Examples
Examples from the 2018 Competition.
Feel free to experiment . Families is an example of a monologue made from one repeated word. When performed with clever use of pauses and facial expression it really worked well.
Winner of the 2017 Competition
The Girl at Scotch Corner
I went out to the Scotch Corner forecourt. Only the truckers coming in and out; their cabs with dashboard lights squashed behind curtains. The motorway was sighing. Heard an owl.
My ex rang. He was over two hundred miles away, so I picked up.
Thought I was alone, so I yelled back. What he'd done to me, he wouldn't do to her. There was nothing more to talk about.
He did the sneers. Then he did the shouts. Then the tears. When that didn't work either, he lost it.
I'd taken the phone away from my ear. It wasn't on speaker, but the sound carried.
I pressed end. Put my hand on my stomach.
Told myself it was just life.
And then I realised there was a woman by the wall. With a bag, like mine. With a look, like mine.
She dropped her cigarette and crushed it.
'Do what you need to do,' she said. And walked away.
2017 Runner up
Why should I have to see Rob and James?
Rob beat me, abused me, tormented me. James hurt me with neglect. Why are the courts trying to make me see them? Just because I have a statement, doesn’t mean I don’t have a say. This makes me angry.
I don’t want to see them, they ripped me apart mentally and physically. They do not care about me, they just want to hurt Mum. Would I be allowed a say?
Rob told me he will kill anything I loved, James never bothered with me. Would you force a child to see them, or would you take the child away to live with one of them?
Ask yourself. Are you in a similar situation?
It hurts, doesn’t it?
The winner of the Minologue Performance 2017 was Rilda Oe Taneko with 'E U Border Control' read by her son Ilham.
You can also find examples of monologues at the website below, though not all are one minute monologues.
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