to shakespeare or not to shakespeare

geekgirlgo · 06-26-2012, 05:51 PM

hey i was just wondering, do you guys think its better to do a monologue from shakespeare for your classical piece for college auditions or is it better to do something less done to death like greek plays or something?

TheRealKEVP · 06-27-2012, 09:19 AM

My vote is NOT Shakespeare.

My vote is that for your classical you are best with an English playwright, other than Shakespeare, who lived before 1800.

But of course first of all you should always follow the instructions from the school you are auditioning. If they say they PREFER Shakespeare, or that they actually EXPECT Shakespeare, then Shakespeare it is. You may well end up preparing more than one classical monologue so that you can meet the needs of your different auditions.

There are a LOT of reasons for not doing Shakespeare. First of all, the general rule of thumb is to avoid using any monologue that is overused at auditions. Unfortunately, that includes EVERY ONE of Shakespeare's monologues written for actors under 35.

Shakespeare is the "classical" playwright that EVERYONE has heard of. All of the other auditioners are going to be using Shakespeare. If you choose a different playwright, the auditors are going to be impressed that you have a wider range of theatre history knowledge than all the other auditioners, who seem to have just reached for their complete works of Shakespeare to choose their monologue.

My choice of "1800" is pretty arbitrary, but after this time Western theatre began to change, evolving into contemporary theatre. My suggestion that you stick with an English playwright is a little more subtle. There is a problem that some people will think that a monologue translated from another language isn't really a classical monologue, because generally foreign language monologues are translated into "contemporary" English.

There are LOTS and LOTS of English playwrights before 1800. Shakespeare certainly isn't the only one.

abtsmom · 06-27-2012, 10:59 AM

You should look at the audition criteria very carefully for EACH school you plan to audition. Every criteria is different--some require you to do a Shakespeare and a few even have a list you must choose from. Some say absolutely no classical pieces (that includes Shakespeare). Some allow you to pick. Unless it is required or you have tons of experience and/or coaching in Shakespeare, I think it is never a good idea! (If you love Shakespeare, you may have it in your pocket as a backup monologue if requested)

Jackfamily2 · 06-27-2012, 11:22 AM

There are great monologues from Johnson (Volpone) and Marlowe (Faustus) that you could use. Tougher for female roles, need to investigate more.

TheRealKEVP · 06-28-2012, 10:20 AM

Yes, I agree with abtsmom that you MUST follow instructions. If the instructions or advice require Shakespeare, or say that they prefer Shakespeare, then you really should do Shakespeare. If the instructions say they don't want any classical, then you should not have any classical (such as Shakespeare).

All I am saying is that if the instructions require a classical, but don't say it has to be Shakespeare and don't say Shakespeare is preferred, you probably should NOT do Shakespeare, for the reasons I gave in my previous post.

What this means is that you may have a lot of different monologues prepared for the different schools you are applying to. You may need a Shakespeare monologue for one school (where Shakespeare is required or preferred), and a different classical for another school.

geekgirlgo · 07-02-2012, 01:52 PM

thanks for the posts. of coarse i know that you should always follow the directions that the school gives you. my question was really about those schools that don't specify if they want shakespeare or not (which the majority of them do not) being a shakespeare geek i have a few monologues in my back pocket that i can use for auditions but i will start looking at some other classical play writes as well.

connections · 07-03-2012, 02:11 PM

geekgirlgo, if you're a 'shakespeare geek,' then I don't see why you wouldn't do Shakespeare? That is, what is your rationale for *not* doing Shakespeare? Simply to do something different? There is something to be said for doing a less done to death monologue, but you can also achieve that while doing Shakespeare too (for instance, don't do the Juliet balcony scene). In my opinion, Shakespeare is Shakespeare for a reason--he has amazing, deep, complex monologues.

ULtimately, I guess I'd simply ask you what YOU want and what YOU feel comfortable doing. Sure, you can explore other classical authors but the choice should be fed by what suits YOU most. Also, if a college requires Shakespeare, that is one more monologue you need polished. Already, as a rule of thumb, you need two moderns and two classical, all contrasting with each other (extra back ups in case of callbacks or if they request another). Since many schools require Shakespeare, that will require that you do an additional fifth monologue. That's fine if you're cool with that and you fall in love with a non-Shakespeare classical. But the most important thing is that it matches you. You'll stand out best if you give a knock out audition, and you stand the best chance doing that by choosing a monologue that suits you best.

geekgirlgo · 07-03-2012, 07:01 PM

connections, thank for your input, i do have a shakespeare monologue that i love and think suits me fairly well but the problem is i am afraid it might be considered overdone because i was looking on a few sights that listed overdone monologues and it was one of them. However it seems like there are very very few monologues that are not on those lists and the ones that are don't really speak to me as much. Upon searching i do have a classical monologue that is non shakespeare which i do like but not not nearly as much as the shakespeare that i already have. However this might be because i have already spent time working on the other monologue and i just got this one. So really i am not sure what to do but i know i don't want to hurt my chances by doing a monologue that is too overdone.

Jackfamily2 · 07-04-2012, 04:21 AM

IMHO, if you can make the monologue truly yours, connect with it, and tell your characters' story in an interesting way, for your adjudicators, it will NOT be overdone.

TheRealKEVP · 07-04-2012, 07:18 AM

I am well aware that this advice that I give is merely "guidelines", and every one of these "guidelines" has been broken succesfully by somebody somewhere.

Maybe geekgogirl will be someone who can succesfully break the guidelines. But maybe not. Should she really risk it?

The general guideline is "don't use an overdone monologue". And that pretty much includes EVERY MONOLOGUE BY SHAKESPEARE FOR AN ACTOR UNDER 35.

There are a lot of reasons for the "don't use an overdone monologue" guideline. For one thing, your auditors will have seen professional actors do the monologue, and probably do it better than you. That's particularly true of Shakespeare. You are also taking a big risk that someone else auditioning chose the same monologue. I once had two actresses in a row at auditions use the same monologue!

For a well-known play, like anything by Shakespeare, the auditors may have clear ideas about the "right" approach to the play, and even the "right" way to read that monologue! If you don't do it the way the auditor believes is "right", you could potentially hurt your chances. It's better to go with a play that the auditor may not have heard of.

Think of it this way. If you are choosing to do an overdone monologue, such as Shakespeare, can you be absolutely certain that you will do it better than any other person the auditor has ever heard do that monologue?

Shakespeare, and all of these overdone monologues, become overdone monologues for the simple fact that they are great monologues. Every auditioner is reading the same scripts (and alas the same monologue books!) and is seeing the same monologues and is saying "Hey, that looks like a great monologue!" They are all "falling in love" with exactly the same monologues. And then the auditors are subjected to the same monologues over and over again.

There are many many MANY classical English playwrights, playwrights before about 1800. Shakespeare is NOT the only one. And if you think Shakespeare is the only classical English playwright, you will look rather ignorant, which is not the impression you want to give when applying for college. If the OP really is someone with an intense interest in Shakespeare, and not the kind of "trainspotter" type geek, she will have studied the context in which Shakespeare wrote, including his contemporary playwrights, some of whom were his friends. No, none of these overall was as good a playwright as Shakespeare, but they all had moments where a monologue from one is as good as a monologue from Shakespeare.

I think it would be okay to have one of those overdone monologues as a "backup", for when the auditors say "can we hear something else from you?" This also addresses the issue that some colleges "prefer" Shakespeare or even require Shakespeare. You then have a Shakespeare and a non-Shakespeare for the colleges that prefer each, and the other classical is the "backup" for the other college.

The people who whine about the extra amount of work this will take I really wonder about how serious they are, and whether they really should be majoring in theatre.

KEVP

connections · 07-04-2012, 03:05 PM

KEVP, Who is 'whining about the extra amount of work'? The fact is however that these are high school students with TONS on their plates, and it takes quite some time to really own a classical monologue (on top of homework, etc). It can take months. No one is 'whining,' but to be practical, the number of monologues are something to consider.

My own D did a done to death monologue by the way, simply because it suited her best; it worked out well (so there's hope!). My son, several years ago, did two super-done-to-death monologues, and in retrospect, I don't even think he did them very well--but he got admitted to Purchase & Tisch (although he's a boy, much less competitive). Don't forget colleges are also looking for potential and a look that balances others in their program. But I do hear you, geekgirl, about your desire to look for something less well known. It's great you're asking now. This gives you the whole summer to investigate and try on different monologues. The tricky part is to look for very deep, young, female characters. Antigone, for instance, might be cool (just to throw out a character off the top of my head). Or any number of Greek heroines. It's too bad Chekhov isn't always considered 'classical' because he's amazing, imho!

Jackfamily2 · 07-04-2012, 09:11 PM

I feel the same about Ibsen.
Mephistopheles is often cast as a woman in Faustus.
Lysistrata, the Trojan Women, Clytemnestra in Agamemnon, and Antigone are good sources of Classical Greek drama.
There are 16th and 17th English and French (Moliiere) options as well. Get an older academic translation if you can, as French plays post 1970 were translated into a modern sounding language.

connections · 07-05-2012, 11:02 AM

Racine is good too. Moliere is trickier in finding parts because his female characters tend to be older, but I'm sure there are some you can find; however, in general I think he'd be very difficult as he does farce and satire, which would be extremely difficult for a high schooler. But maybe you'll fall in love with it. But Jackfamily2, you're right about translations--that's why we were hesitant to do the non-English classical plays, because we weren't sure which translation to use. Some are translated into very contemporary-sounding English, often not even in verse anymore. I guess that's the solution, to get the older translations or those more committed to sound as well as sense. Great summer project, geekgirl, and best of luck! Let us know what you end up choosing :-)

TheRealKEVP · 07-05-2012, 12:26 PM

I'm concerned that monologues that are translated (eg from Greek or French) may no longer be "classical". This is why I suggest that the classical monologue should be a monologue originally in English.

I am well aware that all of the "guidelines" I am suggesting have been succesfully broken, I'm just saying that if it is close, doing something other than Shakespeare may be the edge you need.

KEVP

lovingtheater · 08-01-2012, 01:55 AM

KEVP, should I not do my strength just because others have done it? I do a theatre devoted to Shakespeare, Shaw and Dickens. I do Wilde and other playwrights of the like. Shakespeare is my strength; I study it, and I know it better than most all kids my age who will want to try it for an audition. Should I not use my strength because other people do it (often badly?). If I know that I could blow the random high school thespian out of the water with a monologue, why would I turn my back on it? I can use the contemporary to explore much more range, but my strength is in the Bard.
You are right, there are many other writers of Shakespeare's time that would be even less done than he, but Connections is right in the amount of time spent to sift through all the roles to find the outnumbered appropriate female roles. And - unfortunately, and quite frankly - I don't have that time. I work, I have school, rehearsals, directing, college applications and essays, AND apprenticing and interning more than one thing. I simply don't have the time or focus to sit down and dig so deeply to find a speech.

I have a Shakespeare. I have a second Shakespeare, I have a third and fourth - both of which are male. I have friends who, to this day, use Shakespeare as an audition monologue and still kick serious butt in the audition room.

If we know where our strengths lie, and the school has given a go ahead for it, why should the people who don't know what they're doing destroy the richness of his speeches for those who can handle them?