Tips for Actors
Monologues
Where do you find useable monologues? The
most obvious and often over-looked place to find audition
monologues is directly from the original source. Plays.
If you read all the
plays you can get your hands on you'll be surprised how many
potential monologues you'll come across. There are thousands
of published plays with monologues that are virtually unused
in auditions.
To get started, all you need to do is choose
one playwright you admire. Get a copy of all the published
plays and start reading. Set some goals for yourself, read
a play every week or every month. As long as you are consistently
reading plays, you'll come across plenty of audition monologues
you can use. You'll also become a better, well-educated actor
by familiarising yourself with the profession you want to
pursue.
Choose a monologue that is "active" -- one
that actively engages the other character. Inactive monologues
are less engaging than active, they're more like speeches
that simply recount a story.
OK, you found a monologue with a character
around your age and one that you can relate to. Make sure
you have read the entire play so you can properly grasp the
surrounding circumstances and background of the monologue.
If you feel freaked by auditions use this incredible book
Here are some fabulous monologues for women
you'll find invaluable
One
on One: The Best Women's Monologues for the Nineties (Applause
Acting Series) Over 75 monologues for women from the contemporary
stage, written by such dramatists as David Mamet, Paul Rudnick,
Brian Friel, Steve Tesich, Harold Pinter, David Lodge, Alan
Ayckbourn, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Neil Simon, John Patrick
Shanley, Jane Anderson, Elizabeth Swados, Herb Gardner, Ariel
Dorfman, Craig Lucas
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