The Individual Project Performance path, including monologue and devised solo options, rehearsal process, and panel-day performance

What this dot point is asking

NESA expects you to know the Performance path of the Individual Project: the format, the choice between monologue and devised work, the rehearsal process, and the panel-day performance. Strong answers describe specific rehearsal techniques and engage with the choices a performer makes.

The answer

The format

Length

Six to eight minutes of performance.

Solo

One performer on stage. No other students. No technical assistance during the piece other than what has been pre-set (lighting, sound).

Live

Performed in front of a NESA panel.

Two formats

• Monologue. A speech from a published play, performed with directorial choices.
• Devised. An original solo piece built around a stimulus or theme.

Most students choose a monologue because the script provides a foundation. The devised option suits students with strong devising skills and a clear concept.

Choosing a monologue

The choice is central. A strong monologue:

Suits the performer

The character is within the student's plausible range (age, gender, emotional register, vocal demands). A 17-year-old performing a 60-year-old character is a stretch; a 17-year-old performing a 17-year-old or 25-year-old character is workable.

Has substance

The monologue should have a journey: an emotional arc, a discovery, a decision, a moment of change. A flat monologue (one note throughout) gives no room for the performer to show range.

Has weight in the play

Markers respond to monologues that come from significant moments in plays. A throwaway speech from a minor character gives less context than a major character's central speech.

Fits the time

Six to eight minutes is the target. Trimming a longer speech is fine; padding a shorter one is risky.

Has performance precedent

A monologue that has been performed by professional actors gives the student something to study (and to push against) in rehearsal.

Common monologue sources include:

• Shakespeare. Hamlet, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Henry V, Juliet, Beatrice, Rosalind, Cleopatra, Richard III. The verse demands careful work but rewards it.
• Australian playwrights. Williamson (The Removalists, Don's Party), Nowra (Cosi, Radiance), Enoch and Mailman (sections from The 7 Stages of Grieving), Bovell (Speaking in Tongues), Murray-Smith (Honour, Bombshells).
• Contemporary international. Sarah Kane (4.48 Psychosis), Caryl Churchill (Far Away), debbie tucker green (random), Suzie Miller (Prima Facie). Strong contemporary writers with good monologue material.
• Greek tragedy. Medea's deliberation, Cassandra's prophecy, Antigone's confrontation with Creon.
• Beckett. Lucky's monologue (Waiting for Godot), Krapp (Krapp's Last Tape).

Avoid: monologues so famous that markers have seen them ten times in the same year (the obvious Shakespeare soliloquies); monologues with stage directions that cannot be reproduced; monologues that depend on another character's presence to make sense.

Choosing a devised piece

A devised solo piece is built from a stimulus, theme or concept rather than from a published script. The student writes (devises) and performs their own material.

The advantage is creative freedom. The student can shape the piece exactly to their strengths and interests.

The risk is the work has no existing precedent or director's vision. The student has to invent both the writing and the performing in parallel.

Strong devised pieces typically:

Begin from a specific stimulus

A poem, a photograph, a memory, an event. The narrower the stimulus, the more focused the piece.

Have a strong central idea

What the piece is about, in one sentence. Without a central idea, devised work drifts.

Use a clear form

Direct address, character monologue, choric structure, fragmented narration, physical theatre. The form should fit the content.

Get external eyes early

The teacher, a mentor, a senior student can see what the performer cannot.

Rehearsal process

Five phases.

Phase 1: Initial reads and research

The performer reads the monologue (or develops the devised material) and researches its context. For a monologue: the play, the character's circumstances, the moment in the play. For a devised piece: the stimulus and any related material.

Phase 2: Vocal and physical exploration

Trying different vocal qualities (pitch, pace, volume, articulation, accent), different physical choices (stillness, movement, gesture, focus), different emotional reads. Recording rehearsals helps the performer hear what they are doing.

Phase 3: Director's input

The class teacher, an external director, a mentor watches the work and gives notes. The director's role is to push the work past the performer's first instinct.

Phase 4: Selection and fixing

The strongest choices are selected and fixed. The piece becomes a specific performance with specific blocking, pace and emphasis.

Phase 5: Run-throughs

Daily or near-daily runs of the piece in full. The piece is performed in front of small audiences (the class, the teacher, family) to test landing. Adjustments are made.

The panel day

The NESA panel visits the school during Term 3 (sometimes at the same visit as Group Performance, sometimes separately). The student performs the piece live.

The panel marks against the four criteria (dramatic meaning and engagement, performance skills, use of dramatic elements, and an additional criterion for the Individual Project specific to the chosen path). For Performance, the assessment focuses on the performer's command of vocal, physical and emotional resources.

What the panel watches for

Voice

Clarity, range, breath support, articulation. The voice has to fill the room without straining.

Body

Physical presence, intention in movement, expressive use of stillness. The body has to carry meaning, not just illustrate the text.

Focus

The performer's attention is on the imagined situation, not on the panel. The performer plays the moment, not the marking.

Choices

Specific, defended directorial choices. Not arbitrary decisions but defensible ones. A good monologue performance is one where every choice could be justified in conversation.

The journey

The piece has a beginning, a middle and an end. The performer arrives somewhere different from where they started.

Common pitfalls

Over-acting

Pushing emotion past what the text supports. The panel reads this as inauthentic.

Under-acting

Reading the text without committing to the imagined situation. The panel reads this as not yet rehearsed.

Pace problems

Going too fast (rushing past meaning) or too slow (losing momentum). The piece should have varied pace, not one speed throughout.

Forgetting the body

Performing only with the voice, leaving the body still or random. The body has to participate.

Choice paralysis on the day

Making sudden changes during the panel performance. Stick with the rehearsed choices.