<p>Found a good monologue that my D is interested in. It’s from Anne of Green Gables…here is the question…My D is a redheaded freckled girl. Would doing a monologue from Anne be too obvious?</p>
<p>No. It is never “too obvious” to play a character of your same “type”. That’s exactly what you should do!</p>
<p>Something does occur to me, however. How old is the character when she gives her monologue? Your daughter should be transitioning to “grownup” roles, unless she looks very young.</p>
<p>Yes, I was going to ask the same thing. I think that play goes from age 12 to age 18 though. If it is from the end of the play it will look right but could look too young if it is from the beginning.
My D lists her age as 17 to 22, and has read and been considered for roles up to age 25. Unless your D looks very young, she is probably in the same age range.</p>
<p>It was from the beginning of the play but she certainly could do one in the latter part. Just didn’t want it to be like she was being too obvious. She loves the Diary of Ann Frank but thought she in no way looks like her. Do they care? There are some awesome monologues that are for African Americans…should she even consider those?</p>
<p>Diary of Anne Frank may be on the overdone list…</p>
<p>You only perform those monologues that are a possibility for you to perform in the play so that would mean no monologues for AA. I disagree with the thought that she is already too old to play the Anne of Green Gables monologue. I don’t know your daughter, what she looks like, what her “type” is, etc. That is something she should work on with someone who knows. My daughter has been told she can perform Hispanic roles because of our last name even though we are not Hispanic, she thought that weird but it worked well for her. She was also told that she should no longer do monologues for under 18 unless the monologue is for a street smart or academically smart (nerdy) girl. It’s not that she looks older, she doesn’t really, it’s just that she has an older presence; too sophisticated, street smart, intelligent, etc.</p>
<p>Does that mean she can’t play an innocent high school girl? No, but it means she needs to play to her strengths/type when performing a monologue, especially at the start of her career. So the question your daughter needs to ask is, am I currently similar to this character in my monologue or have I grown past her; would I be cast to be this character if there was an equally talented 15 year old?</p>
<p>Of course we don’t know your daughter, so we don’t really know her “type”. I certainly have met women who were undergrads in college who genuinely did look like young teenagers, but that is an exception.</p>
<p>How old does she genuinely “look” and “seem”?</p>
<p>Again, how old is Anne Frank?</p>
<p>Your daughter will be playing “grownup” roles in college. She will be playing women in their 20s or possibly older who are dealing with all kinds of mature issues. Mostly these will not be children’s plays.</p>
<p>She should find a monologue from a character that realistically she could be cast as in a “not-too-weird” production of the play. Nothing too old for her, nor too young for her. She definitely should stay away from contemporary black roles if she is white.</p>
<p>OP do you have a teacher or coach that can work with you on Monologue selection?</p>
<p>Yes, we have a coach that can work with her and we will be doing that soon. We will look for roles in the 18+ range and stay away from the younger roles. That seems like good advice. She is 6’ tall and very mature acting so I think what you all are saying makes good sense.</p>
<p>KEVP - Colleges have actors aged roughly 17-22 years, how would this population not play kids through grandparents? That is actually one of the problems and contradictions with the college environment, students are often auditioning for roles they would never be considered for in the professional world, but their monologues choices must be current age appropriate. But this is off topic, I just felt it important to correct your statement, and, given that the OP’s daughter is 6’ it is unlikely she will be playing a child.</p>
<p>I don’t want to confuse people, I think we agree about the important things. I think we agree that:</p>
<p>If you are auditioning for college, you should choose a monologue that is “current age-appropriate.” So for an auditioner who is over 6’ tall, a child is probably not a good choice.</p>
<p>Also, I hope you agree that most college plays are not “children’s shows”, but they will occasionally do one. In MOST (not all, but most) high schools, the choice of plays is usually limited to “family-friendly” sorts of things, while college productions can deal with more “mature” issues.</p>
<p>Sorry, KEVP, I do not agree.</p>
<p>What do you not agree with, and why? Obviously I do not understand what you are saying.</p>