Healing Dialogue Through Monologue

On Friday, February 19th and Saturday, February 20th, 2021 George School theater students performed Talking With…, a play consisting of monologues ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to others hard to listen to. While a limited number of people were permitted to attend in-person, the play was mostly performed remotely, allowing the audience to tune in from home.

In keeping with the theme of healing dialogue, Director Mo West, chose this production because of the personal stories and its unique ability to include both in-person and virtual performers.

Sharing a deep, personal story is not always the easiest task and the actors also want to create compelling characters that hold the audience’s attention while performing.

“When a single character has the power to move the audience, I think this is a beautiful moment within our art,” Mo said. “I also think it is the most compelling argument for our theme of healing dialogue – without close listening and deep understanding, how can we begin to heal anything?”

Mo also added that she loves the beauty of the monologues and the deeply personal stories that are shared by these fragile and vulnerable characters. “The characters disclose their own private world and by sharing these personal stories with others, we all gain understanding, whether by empathy or sympathy.”

Watch the performance here.