Drama
Tips for Finding Monologues That Aren't Found in Monologue Books
- Consider your parameters: Does it need to be Canadian? Does it need to be Contemporary? etc.
- Consider playwrights you like. Take a look at their works. Have they written anything new? Anything that hasn't been published yet?
- Consider theatres that put on plays you have liked that are your style and taste. These can be local theatres or international. Do you like what Alberta Theatre Projects produces? What Royal Court Theatre produces? Look at their past seasons and see if there are any plays that look interesting.
- Browse the play you've selected for scenes where a character has a large chunk of text or a scene that can be edited to remove the other character's interjecting lines. Traditional monologues are when a character is telling a story and can be less active than a scene that you might be able to splice together in a way that works and could be more interesting.
-Browse library subject headings for other plays that deal with the subject matter of plays that you enjoy. This can lead you to new plays you haven't yet discovered that deal with similar themes.
Some Tips for Shakespeare Monologues
- There are only so many Shakespeare monologues, so pick one you love and do it well.
- Consider the context of the play. Does the monologue come in too hot of the hop? Romeo's "Banished" monologue is stunning, but a bit too hot for an audition setting where we haven't had the whole play to work up to it.
- Some Shakespeare monologues are done less frequently for a reason.
Speak the Speech! by ISBN: 0571211224Publication Date: 2002-09-18The most comprehensive sourcebook of Shakespeare's monologues ever available in one volume. A detailed guide to approaching Shakespearean text,Speak the Speech! contains everything an actor needs to select and prepare a Shakespeare monologue for classwork, auditions, or performance. Included herein are over 150 monologues. Each one is placed in context with a brief introduction, is carefully punctuated in the manner that best illustrates its meaning, and is painstakingly and thoroughly annotated. Each is also accompanied by commentary that will spark the actor's imagination by exploring how the interrelationship of meter and the choice of words and sounds yields clues to character and performance. And throughout the book sidebars relate historical, topical, technical, and other useful and entertaining information relevant to the text. In addition, the authors include an overview of poetic and rhetorical elements, brief synopses of all the plays, and a comprehensive index along with other guidelines that will help readers locate the perfect monologue for their needs. More than just an actor's toolkit,Speak the Speech! is also an entertaining resource that will help demystify Shakespeare's language for the student and theater lover alike.
