A solo drama class in which one learner performs a single character's speech with the support of recorded sound or images, judged on how truthfully the character is played, how clearly the words are spoken and how well the media and the performer are kept inside a time limit that grows with school grade.
Multimedia Monologue is a solo class in which one performer presents a speech for a single character and adds recorded elements to it, such as sound, music or projected images. The monologue itself is still the heart of the entry: one voice, one character and one situation. The recorded material is there to widen the world around the speaker, for example the noise of a street, a voice on a telephone or a photograph on a screen, and it never replaces the performer. The syllabus we build from does not print a definition of the word multimedia, so what is allowed in the hall is a question for your own syllabus and venue.
In the one schedule we build from, a South African drama eisteddfod held in Pretoria, the class is an individual entry for boys and girls together, spoken in English. It runs on the same four-step school-grade ladder as the schedule's plain modern monologue class, with a time limit that rises at every step: Grade 3 has two minutes, Grades 4 and 5 have three minutes, Grades 6 and 7 have four minutes and Grades 8 to 12 have five minutes. Those bands are built here as ages 9, 10 to 11, 12 to 13 and 14 to 18, using the usual South African correspondence between grade and age, and no adult or open tier is published.
A round is run much like any other monologue class, with one extra job for the organiser: the equipment has to work. The performer is called, gives the title of the piece and the name of the character, starts any recording, performs and finishes within the limit for their grade. The adjudicator marks the whole performance and, in most eisteddfods of this kind, gives spoken or written advice. The strongest entries are the ones where the recording supports a moment the audience would otherwise miss and the performer still holds every eye in the room.
Organisers run the class because it lets learners who enjoy sound, music or film-making take part in drama without giving up the discipline of a spoken text. It also teaches a practical lesson that plain monologue classes cannot: cues have to be rehearsed, so a performer must know exactly where the speech and the recording meet. Because the grade ladder matches the plain modern monologue class, a school can enter the same learner in both and compare how the media changes the performance.
Where Multimedia Monologue is run
In eTalenter's data the class appears in one template: the English-language monologue classes of a drama eisteddfod held in Pretoria, South Africa, where it is entered at four school-grade tiers. Monologue classes in general are common in the British-style eisteddfod and festival tradition, but a separate multimedia version with its own grade ladder comes from that single South African schedule, so it should not be read as a worldwide standard.
- South Africa (Pretoria, Gauteng - English-language drama eisteddfod)
Key facts
- Individual entry: one performer per entry, boys and girls together, in English.
- Four school-grade tiers: Grade 3, Grades 4-5, Grades 6-7 and Grades 8-12, built here as ages 9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-18.
- Maximum time rises with the tier: two, three, four and five minutes, counted per performer; check with your own syllabus whether the recording counts inside the limit.
- Marks are installed on a nominal ten-point scale because the syllabus does not print a points table or criteria for the class.
- The grade ladder and time limits are identical to Contemporary Monologue in the same schedule, so one learner can enter both and be judged against the same limits.
- Idea starters, not rules: a character reacting to a recorded voicemail, a speech set against a soundscape of a school hall or a market, a performer addressing a photograph or a short silent clip, or a monologue that ends when a recorded bell rings. Always check your own syllabus for what media is permitted.
On eTalenter, Multimedia Monologue is filed under Action and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Multimedia Monologue is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 2–5 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Multimedia Monologue
What a Multimedia Monologue panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Truth of the character: the audience believes the speaker is a real person with a want and a reason to speak now, and the recording is something that character hears or remembers rather than decoration added on top.
- Balance between performer and media: the live voice leads, the recording never drowns a line, and the performer does not stop acting while a clip plays.
- Technical control: sound levels are checked, cues arrive exactly when rehearsed, and a failure of equipment is handled calmly instead of ending the piece.
- Voice and clarity: every word reaches the back of the hall, endings are finished and pace changes with the thought, even when the performer speaks against music or noise.
- Choice and cutting of the piece: the speech suits the performer's grade, has a beginning, a development and an end, and fits two, three, four or five minutes according to grade including any pauses for the recording.
- Use of memory and stage discipline: lines are secure, the entrance and first cue are calm, and the performer holds a final stillness before leaving instead of reaching for the controls.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Multimedia Monologue under Scoring Setup, or start from the full mono act judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Multimedia Monologue
How entrants and their teachers usually get Multimedia Monologue right on the day:
- Begin with the speech, not the equipment: choose a monologue that works as plain spoken text first, because a weak speech will not be saved by a clever sound file.
- Decide what the recording does for the character, such as setting a place, giving another person's voice or marking a change of mood, and keep only the cues that pass that test.
- Keep recorded clips short and simple, and cut the speech with a stopwatch to your grade's limit (two minutes in Grade 3 up to five minutes in Grades 8-12), leaving a few seconds in hand for the first cue and the final pause.
- Write a cue sheet that lists each line that triggers a sound or image, who presses play and what happens if it fails, and rehearse with that sheet until the timing is automatic.
- Practise the speech with the sound at the volume you will use in the hall, because it is easy to learn lines in silence and lose them when the recording starts.
- Bring the media in the format and on the device your organiser asks for, plus a spare copy, and ask for a short sound check if the venue allows one.
- Rehearse the failure case once: if the clip does not play, keep going and let the voice carry the moment, so a technical fault costs you almost nothing.
- On the day, announce the title and character, wait until you are settled before triggering anything, and keep your last stillness for a slow count of three before you stop the recording and leave.
Frequently asked questions
Is Multimedia Monologue judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
What counts as multimedia in a monologue class?
In general it means a monologue performed with recorded elements such as sound, music or images alongside the live speech. The Pretoria schedule we build from names the class but does not print a definition in our data, so read your own syllabus for what media is allowed, how long a clip may run and what equipment the venue supplies.
Is Multimedia Monologue the same as Contemporary Monologue?
No. They share one grade ladder and the same time limits in the source schedule, but Contemporary Monologue is a modern speech delivered with voice and body alone, while the multimedia class adds recorded material. They are separate classes with separate entries.
How long can a multimedia monologue be?
In the South African schedule the maximum is two minutes at Grade 3, three minutes at Grades 4-5, four minutes at Grades 6-7 and five minutes at Grades 8-12. The time is counted per performer and is a maximum, so shorter is fine; ask your own organiser whether the recording counts inside it.
Is it judged individually or as a team?
Individually. One performer is on the stage, the adjudicator marks that performer alone, and boys and girls enter together in English.
Do I need to make the recording myself?
The schedule we build from does not say, so ask your own organiser. In general an original, simple recording is safer than a famous track, because rules on copyright and on content vary from one festival to another.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full mono act judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.
Try Multimedia Monologue in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Multimedia Monologue, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
