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Most monologues in the world of theater are directed from one character on stage to another, or to multiple characters, or sometimes to someone or something that is not even there (which makes it an apostrophe). An [[Audience Monologue]] is when a character delivers a speech to the audience. This does not require [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]; the audience does not need to be referred to as an audience, and the character does not need to recognize his or her fictional nature. Rather, the effect is that the audience is drawn into the play as a (frequently ambiguous) separate entity in the plot. Sometimes the audience is meant to be a crowd assembled at the scene being portrayed; sometimes the audience is supposed to be a projection of the character's own consciousness, making the monologue reflect an interior thought process.
Often referred to as a soliloquy, although soliloquies are not necessarily directed to the audience. Lady [[
Note that, when the [[Fourth Wall]] is left otherwise intact, an [[Audience Monologue]] technically ''is'' talking to someone who is not there, at least [[In
Musical theater often uses songs for this effect, which means the [[Audience Monologue]] proper is more frequently used in non-musical plays. It is also a staple of [[Narrator|Narrators]] throughout theatrical history.
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* ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' begins [[Book Ends|and ends]] with these from Tom; the opening explaining the setting and conventions of the play, and the closing explaining the aftermath of the play.
* ''[[The Laramie Project]]'' is almost entirely composed of these, as most of the text is taken straight from interviews with real Laramie residents.
* Many [[
** The best (and most famous) example is Prospero's monologue at the end of ''[[
** Pretty much all early modern theatre is full of Audience Monologues-- as is anything written before the advent of stage lighting, in fact. Before light could be directed at the stage, everything had to be performed in ambient light, which meant that the actors could see the audience quite easily. And of course, it's much easier to talk to people you can see. (Plus, in a company of maybe sixteen or so, it's a whole lot more convenient to use the audience for armies or court scenes or whatever than to bring a bunch of extras onstage.)
* ''[[Equus]]'' features (and indeed, opens with) Dr. Martin Dysart talking at length and frequently to the audience. Who the character is supposed to be addressing is up for interpretation, but the easy answer is that these are enactments of his own internal struggles.
** Peter Schaffer's other famous play ''[[
* The final scene of ''[[Angels in America]]'' is one of these by Prior, occasionally interrupted by a conversation going on within the scene itself. Before this, Harper's last scene consists of one of these as well. Part II (Perestroika) begins with one by Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, the World's Oldest Bolshevik ([[Big Lipped Alligator Moment|don't ask]]), in which the audience is substitute for an assembly at the Kremlin.
* Father Flynn in ''[[Doubt]]'' has several of these, most of which address the audience as a congregation.
* ''reasons to be pretty'' by Neil La Bute contains one of these by each of the main characters.
* Gallimard in ''M. Butterfly'' addresses the audience a lot, as do a few other characters. The whole play is rather fourth-wall-breaky, really.
* [[
* Act 2, Scene 1 of Sara Ruhl's ''Dead Man's Cellphone'' is nothing but 4-6 pages of the titular dead man alone onstage speaking to the audience about his last day alive - it's the first time he's spoken in the play, being, well, dead and all.
* Anna Deveare Smith's ''[[Theatre/Twilight|Twilight:Los Angeles]]'' is a good example of this storytelling device.
* ''[[
* [[Brian Friel]]'s ''Faith Healer'' is nothing but this. A two hour play in four scenes, each scene is one character monologing. Some of each monologue discusses the same events from different points of view.
== Theatre: Musical ==
* A rare musical example: John Adams' opening speech in ''[[
* The narrator of ''[[The Drowsy Chaperone]]'' is a musical theatre enthusiast sitting in his living room talking to the audience about the titular [[Show Within a Show]], providing a running commentary as the action of that show unfolds. So, basically, almost everything he says is in this vein.
* Tevye's monologues (at least the ones not directed to God) are directed towards the audience in ''[[Fiddler On the Roof]]''.
* ''[[Hello, Dolly!]]'' contains a few, mainly held over from Thornton Wilder's play, ''The Matchmaker'', on which the musical is based. In ''The Matchmaker'', they are used quite frequently, with most of the main characters receiving at least one.
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