Celebrating the Monologue
By design, a modest budget with high on-screen value, requiring only a small OB Unit and which can be edited en bloc in a number of permutations to potentially build a significant Collection or number of Series.
Whilst a new pilot may be required to stress-test the concept with contemporary production facilities, it is a proven formula evidenced not only by the success of the original series, but also by the eagerness of the artists to be involved in this unique production.
Whilst a new pilot may be required to stress-test the concept with contemporary production facilities, it is a proven formula evidenced not only by the success of the original series, but also by the eagerness of the artists to be involved in this unique production.
The Collection: A Resplendent List
The Monologue repertoire is seemingly limitless. Renowned actors and artists performing their favourite theatrical speeches, recorded for all theatre lovers to enjoy time and time again.
Designed as a modular format, each monologue is a small performance in its own right to be heard and watched more than once, a mix of entertainment, comedy, and drama. Therefore, each item has a running time of between 2 minutes and 5 minutes targeted to an audience who appreciate the spoken work, the idea being rather like listening to music using a ‘shuffle’ play-list.
A celebrity host is the Master of Ceremonies of a dinner party or 'salon' at a posh London address with opulent eighteenth-century interiors, for example as used in the previous series which provides a lavish yet intimate backdrop.
Guests are all famous actors who each get up to perform a monologue to their contemporaries (as their audience) likened to after-dinner speeches. The setting pays homage (or 'nods' to) the Victorian and Edwardian era where one might enjoy after-dinner in the parlour. At times, perhaps gathered around the piano and therefore very little music requirement.
With this format and formula a collection of 50, 100, 200 or more can be created which are sometimes poignant and personal, dramatic, funny, tragic, even riotous. They can then be compiled and edited in a number of ways for different purposes and commercial expoitation, for example by genre, by topic, by author, by sex or age, by era.
Based on the original series est. 30 monologues renders approx. 90 mins. onscreen TX value. This is an affordable way of producing an extensive Collection to then 'punch well above its weight' in terms of cost per transmission hour and to a variety of different markets.
Designed as a modular format, each monologue is a small performance in its own right to be heard and watched more than once, a mix of entertainment, comedy, and drama. Therefore, each item has a running time of between 2 minutes and 5 minutes targeted to an audience who appreciate the spoken work, the idea being rather like listening to music using a ‘shuffle’ play-list.
A celebrity host is the Master of Ceremonies of a dinner party or 'salon' at a posh London address with opulent eighteenth-century interiors, for example as used in the previous series which provides a lavish yet intimate backdrop.
Guests are all famous actors who each get up to perform a monologue to their contemporaries (as their audience) likened to after-dinner speeches. The setting pays homage (or 'nods' to) the Victorian and Edwardian era where one might enjoy after-dinner in the parlour. At times, perhaps gathered around the piano and therefore very little music requirement.
With this format and formula a collection of 50, 100, 200 or more can be created which are sometimes poignant and personal, dramatic, funny, tragic, even riotous. They can then be compiled and edited in a number of ways for different purposes and commercial expoitation, for example by genre, by topic, by author, by sex or age, by era.
Based on the original series est. 30 monologues renders approx. 90 mins. onscreen TX value. This is an affordable way of producing an extensive Collection to then 'punch well above its weight' in terms of cost per transmission hour and to a variety of different markets.
Devised by Neil Anthony
An actors gift . . .
The concept is formulaic as demonstrated in the original series of comic and dramatic monologues. Designed as a series of cameos or vignettes in a 'rehearse-record' sequence to then be edited together in a variety of ways for different markets, linked by the host and by the venue itself. Read the TV Feature in the British Comedy Guide, (July 2022). The format designed by Bright Thoughts has the capability of a long-run and also repeatability.
The Bright Thoughts concept for the original TV series dips into over 250 monologues from the Music Hall era The Green Tie On The Little Yellow Dog and featured cameo performances by well known actors originally designed to be short 'filler' programmes for Channel 4 but were re-edited for transmission as 30 minute programmes.
The repertoire is by no means limited to the Music Hall. Early monologues date back to the theatre of ancient Greece.
There are at least 35 Shakespeare comedies and tragedies; the works of the Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Samual Taylor Coleridge; popular in the 20th century, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound wrote persona poems, and in the 1950s and 1960s, Gwendolyn Brooks, John Berryman, and Sylvia Plath all made notable contributions.
Since the latter half of the 20th century, the form has taken on a political dimension as poets began writing dramatic monologues in the voices of misunderstood historical figures.
The Bright Thoughts concept for the original TV series dips into over 250 monologues from the Music Hall era The Green Tie On The Little Yellow Dog and featured cameo performances by well known actors originally designed to be short 'filler' programmes for Channel 4 but were re-edited for transmission as 30 minute programmes.
The repertoire is by no means limited to the Music Hall. Early monologues date back to the theatre of ancient Greece.
There are at least 35 Shakespeare comedies and tragedies; the works of the Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Samual Taylor Coleridge; popular in the 20th century, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound wrote persona poems, and in the 1950s and 1960s, Gwendolyn Brooks, John Berryman, and Sylvia Plath all made notable contributions.
Since the latter half of the 20th century, the form has taken on a political dimension as poets began writing dramatic monologues in the voices of misunderstood historical figures.
Neil Anthony
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Curator Comments:
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It's far too easy to let this programme format and concept for the Monologues slip under the radar when it has fantastic potential and without it requiring big production costs.
Channel 4 originally asked us to come up with an idea for lots of small vignettes, mini filler programmes to help even out their scheduling with a running time for each item being around 3 to 5 minutes. We came up with this modular format so that these performance pieces could be edited in a number of ways, as single vignettes, as a mini-series, as a 90 mins special, or in other combinations. They were designed to be shown more than once, in fact each of the single vignettes were intended to be used frequently as filler items. By the time they went to air however, the scheduling policies had changed within Channel 4, and so they were never shown as they were designed to be used. That said, the evidence is what it is. Looking into our Catalogue there are some extraordinary short performances of some now legendary actors and performers, largely rare and unseen footage. In any remake, the repertoire naturally extends well beyond the constraints of the Victorian era. The format remains as viable and relevant now as it was then. And, good actors simply love doing them! |
