<p>I have several contemporary monologues prepared but I can't seem to decide which one I'm going to choose to perform at my audition.
I want to go with this one (link below) but I saw a comment that said "if you can't even do that just don't audition" and now it feels too 'easy' and 'easy' to me means 'lazy' and I don't want to come across as lazy.
What do you think?</p>
<p>You have to consider a monologue in the context of your entire monologue “arsenal.” Is this monologue different from the others you are doing? Is it right for you? Do you perform it well?</p>
<p>I have a few alternatives and they are all very different and lets assume they are all right for me and I perform them all very well.
This is the one I like best and I want to get some opinions about it.</p>
<p>Why do you like it best? I think something you enjoy doing and you feel you do well will come across well at an audition. Make sure you know the whole play, the character and the context as well. I couldn’t get a feel for the age of the character but I do know the auditioners want age appropriate monologues. And most of them want to ‘see you’. So if this monologue showcases who you are as an actor, then go for it. You’ll need more than one anyways.</p>
<p>This seems to me to be a perfectly fine monologue for the right auditioner.</p>
<p>Make sure that you study the ENTIRE play very carefully so you understand the place this monologue has in the play and what is specifically going on for this character at the time. If you are auditioning for RADA, they may very well ask you about those things.</p>
<p>Make sure you are the right “type” for the monologue. Is Charlie a male or female? (I can’t tell from the monologue). You need to be the same. How old is Charlie? You need to be able to play the correct age. Also other factors as well. (Nationality?)</p>
<p>Try to avoid sarcasm and anger. This is a monologue that COULD be done sarcastically or angrily. Or even both. But sarcasm and anger are actually quite easy emotions (out of all the possible emotions that actors might be required to use). If you do the whole thing with sarcasm and/or anger, that will look like you are taking the “easy” way out, and that you can’t handle the more difficult emotions. Which might be what that comment meant. Yes the character says they are angry, but they might have other emotions that they are not admitting, but that the audience still needs to see.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Charlie is female and about the same age as I am. I researched a bit and saw several versions of this online, some were done with zero anger full on weepy, some were 100% angry.
I think there has to be SOME anger here because she is standing up for her disabled brother after all, but at the same time she feels a bit guilty too because even though she blames her mother for not showing Tom any real affection other than playing nurse she herself isn’t that different and she knows it. And the fact that she was able bodied and she wasn’t deprived of the emotional intimacy Tom needed just adds to that guilt.
That’s my approach to this piece.</p>
<p>KEVP can comment on this but I would think that researching online versions would not be a very good way to come up with your acting choices as you risk just being derivative of what someone else had done. I would think a much better way would be to read the entire play (if you have not done so already) and spend the time with the written words to come up with your own understanding of the character.</p>
<p>Always, always, always read the ENTIRE play. Study it very carefully. You must be prepared in case the auditors interview you about the play. And you must understand the character completely to perform a monologue.</p>
<p>I can see why ActingDad is saying what he is about online versions. But if you look at A LOT of online versions, not just one, the problem of modeling your performance won’t be as big. For example, when I directed Twelfth Night, I had already seen LOADS of productions of Twelfth Night. I am sure I incorporated ideas from some of these productions I had seen, but also knew to avoid mistakes that I had seen in other productions.</p>
<p>Anger and guilt are possible emotions, but there may be others as well. See what you find. Again, don’t think that RADA auditors are going to be impressed with anger, they know how easy it is to be “angry” on stage, and they are looking for someone who can do something more difficult.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>