<p>I certainly couldn’t remember the monologues from shows I’ve done in the past. That is indeed an unreasonable request. If I was asked to, I would just say “I’m sorry, that was so long ago that I don’t remember the monologue.” Same if they asked me to do something from a show that I was in rehearsals for. I might have to say “I’m sorry, I just started rehearsals for that show, and I’m not off book yet.”</p>
<p>But this does illustrate a few things.</p>
<p>You should have one or more “backup” monologues in case they want to hear more from you. “Sorry, I can’t do that one, but I can do for you . . .”</p>
<p>In many ways, the best choice of a monologue is a role you have actually played in a play. That way, you have already worked hard on developing the whole character and studying the whole play, not just a monologue out of context. When you get cast in a play with a good monologue, it might be a good idea to keep that monologue for your repertoire. If you have actually played the role and it’s on your resume, they might even forgive you for using an overused monologue.</p>
<p>Professional actors keep a repertoire of many monologues, so they can always be ready for an audition, and always have a “backup” if the auditors want to see more.</p>
<p>It’s very common for auditors to ask you to do your monologue again while performing some task. The most common task is stacking chairs. I have never heard of being asked to perform a monologue while doing pushups, but I would guess the auditors had become tired of asking people to stack chairs, and so started coming up with new tasks. Or maybe they didn’t have enough chairs to stack. This is not sadism, or weird, this is a normal part of an audition.</p>