in the classroom...
Choosing Your Monologues

Most likely, those conducting the auditions for the college program, the auditors, will want you to perform two monologues, of contrasting character, for a total of four minutes. Choose monologues from characters that are closest to your experiences and age. You are not out to win a Tony or an Oscar here, just show them that you are determined and talented. I highly recommend not choosing a Shakespeare monologue. "Why not a Shakespeare monologue?", I hear you mutter. If you have had training and experience in performing Shakespeare, then by all means, do Shakespeare and do it well. But my guess is that most of you know only the Shakespeare from Senior English. This does not constitute training in performing the Bard's work. The point I want to make here: Why make it harder for yourself? Don't sweat over learning a scene from Shakespeare with language 400 years older than you; with hidden context that would make even Kenneth Branaugh's head swim. Relax and choose another "classical" monologue. Show them that you are comfortable with your choice of monologue and with the language. Choose something from a Greek play, or from Chekhov (he's classical too, you know).

Do not choose a monologue with violent behavior patterns and vulgarity. The auditors do not want to hear or see such a monologue. You are not auditioning for Mamet or Sam Sheppard. Show them talent, not a violent temper tantrum. Use your own judgement when it comes to content of a monologue. Would you like to sit in their place and watch you perform this monologue? Sorry if all this seems negative, but I focus on the "don't do's" to get them out of the way. Ultimately the choices are yours. This is your audition, and you need to make the decisions regarding your monologues for your audition. I am just showing you the major no-no's that I have learned about auditioning for theatre programs.

Contrasting monologues
What are contrasting monologues? Two completely different characters from two different plays and play genres. One classical and one modern piece is the norm. Make one a comedy and the other dramatic. One character may be slightly psychotic (if that fits your personality...) and the other character may be a complete Mamma's Boy. One character may be a love-struck fool, the other a hacker nerd who let loose a devious computer virus. Contrast is day and night. Not shades of gray. But if all you can presently do is romantic, love-struck fools, at least contrast those fools by who they are and by each character's situation.

Timing is everything
Keeping your monologues under the time limit is the way to go. If you run over, you will be stopped. They will not let you continue past the time period stated. Do not abuse this. To be honest, if you can give them great stuff in less time, the better. You do not have to use your full four minutes (or whatever) for your monologues. They will appreciate your brevity. Trust me on that one.

Cut your monologues for content
If your character is carrying on a conversation with some other character, cut it out. Try to choose a piece of the monologue where you are speaking to someone actively, but with little to no interruption from the other character. Try to avoid "telling a story". There are a hundred and one monologues where the character is telling a story of what happened to them at a party, or on a hunting trip, or on the subway... you get the picture. Or worse, they are telling a story about what happened to someone else! Don't do it. It is boring. You want your character to be active, not sitting and telling a boring story (out of context) to some other character who is also probably bored. My advice: Stay away from them.

There is an exception to the "story" monologue (there are always exceptions). XXX, from "A Boys Life" by XXX, tells about an incident that happened to him when he was younger. It is a story about his father taking him out for a drive, at night, with a bag of knives, and he thinks his dad is going to finally kill him. Come to find out his dad was taking him "hunting" by running a cow over with the truck and the knives were used to butcher the cow in the field. Why is this different? Because the character relives the action of the story. You find yourself sitting with him in the truck as his father drives him, in the dark, to a deserted field. You can taste the kid's fear. You can see the knives and hear them rattling around in the dark. You can smell the blood of the butchered cow. The visualization of such a horrific, yet relieving event is rich and meaty (no pun intended). You are drawn into the story by the character reliving the story. This is active storytelling. It involves the character and thus involves you, the listener.

There is a big difference between active storytelling and telling a humorous anecdote about what happened to the character at the grocery store or the bank. It will always draw the listener in to the action. It isn't a story about what happened to some kid at a party with some girl. It is about what directly happens to the character telling the story, reliving the story. Read the monologue to yourself. Have someone read it to you. Does it pull you in? Or are you just amused by it. Can you feel what the character is going through at that very moment? Do your palms get sweaty? Do you laugh with relief when you reach the end of the experience? When XXX finds out that his dad's intention was to kill a cow and not himself, I almost wet myself with relief because of the relief the character is feeling at that very moment! He isn't going to die. And you start to laugh off the uneasy feelings that were creeping in on you. That is a successful, engaging monologue.

Analyze your character's monologue. Is what the character is saying intriguing or interesting? If is isn't, keep looking. This character has to have something important and exciting to say, or that is one poor playwright. Visit your local bookstore. There you will find books that offer great advice concerning the editing of your monologues for content. Check em out!

Read the play
Do not for a minute think that you will get away with not reading the play. That is how you prepare for the audition. You must read the play that your monologue comes from so that you will have an understanding of your character and the situation that your character is speaking about, or is involved with. And not just once for heck of it. Read the play again. And again. Study the relationships between your character and the others in the play. It will show like a red flag that you haven't read the play, believe me. The auditors will know if you have done your homework, or not. If you go into that audition with just a few lines from some character in some play and they ask you about the play or the character in the play (and they will!) you will regret it. The auditors will probably not wrestle you to the ground and pummel you, even though you would deserve it. You probably will not be called back nor be asked to join the program. Read the play and study your character. This will give you a foundation to build your character around. Be prepared. Read the play!

Advice about monologue books
You see them on the shelves of all major bookstores: "1,000 Monologues for Young Actors" or "1997's Best Monologues for Women..." People will say many things about these books, such as: "Those monologues in those books are over-used. Do not use them... etc" My advice? Use them! There is nothing wrong with them. They are great sources to use to find a monologue that fits you, the actor. But here is the trick: Browse through the monologue books to find the best character that you can play, to show off your stuff; read the play that the monologue comes from; then you can choose another monologue from the same character within the play, or stick with your original choice. That way it isn't "over-used" and you may find a monologue that the auditors have not heard. Besides, you have to read the play anyway. You will find some really great monologues this way in a short period of time. Make sure that it is a monologue that you like. Nothing like going into an audition with material that you are uncomfortable performing. This is your audition. Choose your monologues well. These books are a great resource; so why not use them?

Please practice
And I cannot emphasize this point enough: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Sorry for shouting there, but I had to drill that in. The more comfortable you are performing your pieces, the better. Get your family together and go through the whole audition with them as the "auditors". Have them give you notes, if you wish; but for all intent and purposes, get used to performing your pieces. When you walk into that audition you must be ready to go at the drop of a hat. Forgetting your lines is bad, very bad. Practice.

The best monologues
Wanna know a secret? The best monologue you could ever choose for yourself is from the play or plays in which you have just recently performed. Hunh? Didn't think of that one, did you. If you happen to have been in a play or are currently in one, why not use a monologue from the character you are portraying? You've been working on it for weeks, performing in front of a live audience, use it! All the work has been done already, just get up and "perform" your snippet for the auditors. Also, put that monologue in your repertoir to pull out at a later date.

A Monologue Repertoir...
Here is a nifty bit of advice that I have finally started following myself: Keep a file of every monologue you ever work on, and keep it handy. Type or write our your monologue, listing the character type, play it comes from, the playwright and the age-range at the top of the page. Print it out and store it in a file, or save it on your computer in an appropriate folder. Then at a moment's notice you can search for such and such of a character you performed, print out the monologue, or pull it from your files, and refresh your memory.

Every actor should have a monologue from the following genres:

Keeping this repertoir fresh and working will help you out when you hear of an audition, say tomorrow, and you just happen to have the perfect monologue ready to go. Refresh your memory, rework it a bit on your feet and you are ready to go. Start building your repertoir today. Keep it fresh by working in new monologues and retiring older ones.