Audition Monologues

MusThCC
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:17:32 +0000

If you want to start on the Internet, I would use it to research plays who may have characters you could realistically play. (For most college prospects, that would probably put them in a 16-24 age range.) Look for plays who have characters that fit that range - then look for other aspects that might appeal to you - you like the author, you find the subject matter intriguing, etc.

Monologues should be from published plays, and you should read the entire play before you would consider using a mono for an audition, particularly college auditions. The best way is to just read every play on the shelf of your local library - however, in the interests of time, if you look for a monologue book, make sure that the monos are from actual plays, and not written just for mono books. Then, if you find a mono you like, then find the play and read the whole thing.

Although reading through a shelf of plays may seem daunting, if you first look at the cast page in the front, and see if there are any potential characters that meet your needs, then skim through, plays usually are fairly quick reads. I would also recommend reading passages that look promising out loud. I recently read an obscure little play because I had heard a mono from it; I must say, if I hadn’t heard it as a mono first, I would have read right past it/through it, without realizing what a gem it was. I think reading aloud would focus me more on monologue potential. If you’re scanning dozens of plays at a sitting, they can start to run together, with nothing really standing out. Depending on your learning style, saying them instead of just reading in your head might make much more of an impact on you.