
A monologist (), or interchangeably monologuist (), is a solo artist who
recites or gives
dramatic readings from a
monologue
In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...
,
soliloquy
A soliloquy (, from Latin 'alone' and 'to speak', ) is a speech in drama in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud, typically while alone on stage. It serves to reveal the character's inner feelings, motivations, or plans directly to ...
,
poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
, or work of literature, for the entertainment of an audience. The term can also refer to a person who monopolizes a conversation; and, in an obsolete sense, could describe a bird with an unchanging, repetitive song.
Dramatic monologist
A dramatic monologist is a term sometimes applied to an actor performing in a
monodrama
A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character.
In opera
In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...
often with accompaniment of
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
. In a monodrama the lone player relays a story through the eyes of a central character, though at times may take on additional roles. In the modern era the more successful practitioners of this art have been actresses frequently referred to by the French term “diseuse”.
[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - the December 21, 1935 p. 11]
Diseuse
Diseuse (, ) French for "teller", also called talkers, storytellers, dramatic-singers or dramatic-talkers is a term, at least as used on the English-speaking stage, that appears to date to the last decade of the 19th century. The early uses of “diseuse” as a theatrical term in the American press seem to coincide with
Yvette Guilbert’s tour of New York City in the mid-1890s. In a February 1896 article on Guilbert, ''
Cosmopolitan Magazine
''Cosmopolitan'' (stylized in all caps) is an American quarterly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, sinc ...
'' described the term as a "newly-coined and specific title". Diseuse is the feminine form of the French word ''diseur'' "teller", a derivative of ''dire'' "to say, to tell", which came from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''dīcere''. Few male actors became noteworthy performing solely as a dramatic monologist, though many well known actors have played in monodramas over their careers.
In the December 21, 1935, edition of the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
,'' an entertainment columnist wrote:
The English language does not contain a word which perfectly describes the performance of Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper (December 2, 1884December 30, 1956) was an American actress, dramatist and noted Monologist#Diseuse, diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama. Her best-known pieces include ''The Italian Lesson'', ''Three ...
, who comes to the Nixon next Thursday for the first time in several years to give a different program at each of her four performances here. "Speaking Portraits" and "Character Sketches" are the two terms most frequently applied to Miss Draper's work; and yet it is something more than that. "Diseuse" is the French word, but that is more readily applicable to an artist like Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert (; born Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, 20 January 1865 – 3 February 1944) was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque.
Biography
Emma Laure Esther Guilbert was born in Paris on 20 January 1865 to a modestly w ...
or Raquel Meller
Francisca Romana Marqués López (9 March 1888 – 26 July 1962), better known as Raquel Meller, was a Spanish diseuse, cuplé, and tonadilla singer and actress.
She was an international star in the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in several films a ...
. Monologist is wholly inadequate. The word "Diseuse" really means "an artist in talking" so that may be the real term to use in connection with Miss Draper.
The publication ''Theatre World'' wrote in a 1949 piece: "In our time we have fallen under the spell of three remarkable women practising the art of the diseuse—
Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper (December 2, 1884December 30, 1956) was an American actress, dramatist and noted Monologist#Diseuse, diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama. Her best-known pieces include ''The Italian Lesson'', ''Three ...
,
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner (May 30, 1899 – July 9, 1979) was an American writer and actress.
Biography
Skinner was born on 30 May 1899 in Chicago, Illinois as the only child of actor Otis Skinner and actress Maud Durbin. After attending the all-gi ...
, and
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...
. Each of these great artists has the gift of crowding the stage with imaginary figures who become so vivid as to be practically visible, but as all of these artists happen to be members of the fair sex it could be assumed that they possess a magic denied the mere male of the theatre." The article suggests that
Sid Field was an actor of comparable talents.
Joyce Grenfell wrote in ''Darling Ma: Joyce Grenfell's Letters to her Mother 1932–1944'', "What makes a good diseuse is a capacious verbal (and visual) imagination, and an excellent oral delivery. Call these witty ladies Diseuses of the Heart and Lungs. I do."
In the book ''The Guest List'' (2010) by
Ethan Mordden, the art of the diseuse is defined as "a speaker of lyrics: in effect, one who uses the music to get to the words".
Actresses who have been called noted diseuses over the years include:
*
Lucienne Boyer
Lucienne Boyer (18 August 1901 – 6 December 1983) was a French diseuse and singer, best known for her song " Parlez-moi d'amour". Her impresario was Bruno Coquatrix. According to the New York Times, she "reigned as queen of Paris nightlife du ...
*
Lina Cavalieri
Natalina "Lina" Cavalieri (25 December 1874 – 7 February 1944) was an Italian operatic dramatic soprano, actress, and monologist.
Biography
Lina Cavalieri was born on Christmas Day at Viterbo, some north of Rome. She lost her parents at the ...
*
Kitty Cheatham
*
Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper (December 2, 1884December 30, 1956) was an American actress, dramatist and noted Monologist#Diseuse, diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama. Her best-known pieces include ''The Italian Lesson'', ''Three ...
[Sir John Gielgud: ''A Life in Letters By John Gielgud''. 2005. p. 516]
*
Marie Dubas
Marie Dubas (3 September 1894 – 21 February 1972) was a French music-hall singer, diseuse and comedian.
Biography
Born in Paris, France, Marie Dubas began her career as a stage actress but became famous as a singer. Using the great Yvette Gui ...
*
Odette Dulac
Odette Dulac (14 July 1865 – 3 November 1939) was a French actress, singer and ''diseuse'' in the manner of Yvette Guilbert.
Background
Dulac was born in Aire-sur-Adour. She became a militant feminist and novelist. ''La houille rouge: les en ...
*
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo show ...
*
Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert (; born Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, 20 January 1865 – 3 February 1944) was a French cabaret singer and actress of the Belle Époque.
Biography
Emma Laure Esther Guilbert was born in Paris on 20 January 1865 to a modestly w ...
*
Beatrice Herford
*
Lotte Lenya
Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is be ...
*Dela Lipinskaja, a
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
actress popular in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
between the wars
*
Raquel Meller
Francisca Romana Marqués López (9 March 1888 – 26 July 1962), better known as Raquel Meller, was a Spanish diseuse, cuplé, and tonadilla singer and actress.
She was an international star in the 1920s and 1930s, appearing in several films a ...
*Marjorie Moffett, American diseuse and author
*
Corinna Mura
*
Marianne Oswald
*
Molly Picon
Molly Picon (; Malka Opiekun; February 28, 1898 – April 5, 1992) was an American actress of stage, screen, radio and television, as well as a lyricist and dramatic storyteller.
She began her career in Yiddish theatre and film, rising to a s ...
*
Françoise Rosay
*Lia Rosen, a Jewish actress (German or Austrian) who began by giving dramatic readings from the
Old and
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
s
*
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner (May 30, 1899 – July 9, 1979) was an American writer and actress.
Biography
Skinner was born on 30 May 1899 in Chicago, Illinois as the only child of actor Otis Skinner and actress Maud Durbin. After attending the all-gi ...
*
Claire Waldoff
Claire Waldoff (21 October 1884 – 22 January 1957), born Clara Wortmann, was a German singer. She was a famous kabarett singer and entertainer in Berlin during the 1910s to the 1930s, chiefly known for performing ironic songs in the Berlin dial ...
*Albertine Zehme, a German actress from
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
who was close to
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
.
Oral interpretation
Oral interpretation, sometimes called dramatic reading or interpretative reading, is the oral staging of a work of literature, prose or poetry, by a person who reads rather than memorizes the material. Typically they are performed by solo artists who – unlike players in a monodrama – do not assume or tell the story through any one character, but do so instead with oral nuances to bring the story alive with their interpretation of how the creator of the piece intended the story to be told.
Soliloquist
The term soliloquist can apply to a monologist reciting a
soliloquy
A soliloquy (, from Latin 'alone' and 'to speak', ) is a speech in drama in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud, typically while alone on stage. It serves to reveal the character's inner feelings, motivations, or plans directly to ...
, usually from a play, to entertain an audience. Passages in which characters orally reveal their thoughts are probably most associated with the works of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
.
References
{{reflist
Entertainment occupations
Acting
Theatrical occupations
Monologues