One performer acts a speech or short scene drawn from the plays of William Shakespeare, judged on understanding of the text, verse speaking and characterisation.
Shakespeare Acting Solo is a class in which one performer takes a speech or a short passage from a Shakespeare play and acts it alone. The words are fixed, so the marks are won by what the performer does with them: understanding what the character wants, shaping the verse so that the sense is clear, and making the audience believe the person speaking.
On the Sri Lankan speech and drama festival template that carries it, the class is run in English for boys and girls together, and only for the two older age bands. Entrants aged ten to fourteen have three minutes and entrants aged fifteen and over have four minutes. The adjudicator marks out of 10, and the time limit applies to each performer.
A round is simple to run. The performer is called, may name the play and the character, and performs within the limit while the adjudicator watches and writes marks. A strong entry chooses a passage with a clear want and a clear change, such as a decision, a plea or a moment of realisation, and lets the verse carry the thought instead of rushing through it. A piece that is too long for the limit has to be cut, and the cut should still leave a beginning, a turning point and an ending.
Organisers run the class because it gives older entrants a demanding text to work on and rewards careful reading as well as performance. It sits beside Drama Solo and Devised Drama Solo in a speech and drama programme, but it differs from both: the words come from a published play rather than from the performer, and the language is the heightened verse or prose of the Elizabethan stage.
Where Shakespeare Acting Solo is run
On the eTalenter templates this item appears on one: a Sri Lankan speech and drama festival, where it is one of the solo drama classes for older entrants. Classes built on Shakespeare's plays are a long-established part of speech, drama and youth-theatre programmes in many English-speaking countries, but this page describes only the class as the template defines it.
- Sri Lanka
Key facts
- Individual entry, open to boys and girls together, performed in English
- Offered to two age bands only: 10-14 years at 3 minutes and 15 years and over at 4 minutes
- Marked out of 10 by the adjudicator
- The text comes from a Shakespeare play; the performer chooses and may cut the passage within the festival syllabus
- Sits beside Drama Solo and Devised Drama Solo among the solo drama classes on the template
On eTalenter, Shakespeare Acting Solo 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, Shakespeare Acting Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to 3–4 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Shakespeare Acting Solo
What a Shakespeare Acting Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Understanding of the text: the performer clearly knows what each line means and what the character wants
- Verse speaking: sense carried across line endings, sensible pauses, and rhythm that is respected without sounding sing-song
- Clarity and projection: every word audible and unforced, including the older vocabulary
- Characterisation: a believable person with a clear situation, shown through voice, face and posture
- Shape of the passage: a clear beginning, a turning point and a definite ending within the time limit
- Stagecraft: a confident entrance and exit and movement that supports the speech rather than distracts from it
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Shakespeare Acting Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full mono act judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Shakespeare Acting Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Shakespeare Acting Solo right on the day:
- Choose a speech you can explain in your own words, and read the whole scene around it so you know who you are talking to and why
- Cut the passage to fit the limit and keep the turning point; time a full run and trim until you finish comfortably inside 3 or 4 minutes
- Paraphrase every line in plain English, then speak the original while thinking the paraphrase
- Mark the breaths and the words that carry the thought, and let the punctuation guide the pauses
- Decide who the listener is, and speak to that imagined person rather than to the floor or the ceiling
- Practise slowly and aloud before adding movement; add only gestures that show the situation
- Perform for a small audience and ask what they understood; if they lost the sense, slow down
- Keep any props minimal and check the festival syllabus before relying on them
Frequently asked questions
Is Shakespeare Acting Solo 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.
Which age bands can enter Shakespeare Acting Solo?
On the Sri Lankan template the class is offered at 10-14 years and 15 years and over. Younger bands are not entered in it, so check the festival syllabus for your event.
How long can the performance be?
On the template the limit is 3 minutes for ages 10-14 and 4 minutes for ages 15 and over.
Is this the same as Drama Solo?
No. Drama Solo is a separate solo class on the same template. Shakespeare Acting Solo uses a text from Shakespeare's plays, so the language and verse are part of what is judged. Check the syllabus for what each class requires.
Can I cut the speech or use a scene with other characters?
Cutting a passage to fit the limit is normal practice, but whether a scene with other voices is allowed is set by the event syllabus, so check before you prepare.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full mono act judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.
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