Medieval Confessional: Monologues from the Middle Ages

International School of Louisiana Uptown, 5th Grade, Social Studies and Theatre

This year, 5th graders are studying the Middle Ages. In their eyes, this is truly ancient history. Sometimes it's a challenge to relate to anything that happened before you were born, and you’re left wondering why it is even relevant to learn. But the one thing that has never changed over thousands of years is human nature. I thought it would be fun to step into the shoes of someone who lived during this time, and use the theatre strategy of monologue to tell their story. 

The students picked characters out of a hat. There were Kings, Queens, Jesters, Serfs, Falconers, Knights, Nuns, Monks, Blacksmiths, Musicians, Tax-Collectors, Money-Lenders, and even the Pope.

They researched these characters, and answered several questions:

What was going on in the world at this time?
What was a typical day like?
What were my character’s living conditions?
What was my character’s standing in society?

From there, they were able to use inference to answer other questions:

How does my character feel about their situation?
What does my character want?
What is standing in my character’s way?
What can my character do to get what they want?

Students then learned the fundamentals of a monologue, which is a character’s emotional reaction to a situation or event, and they wrote monologues to describe their character’s situations. After selecting appropriate backdrops, we got into costume, got into character, and taught our fellow students about our characters- giving them a glimpse into the life of a person in the Middle Ages! The end results are here: