Actually, it's not so much monologues that should be banned. It's how actors think about monologues that should be banned.
Since the actor is doing all of the talking, it's easy to forget that a monologue is supposed to play like a conversation (dialogue). Because there's no verbal interaction between you and the person that you're talking to (the casting director), it's easy to end up talking to no one in particular.
Have you ever been trapped in a conversation with someone who's boring you to tears? As they're droning on you feel that you could scream in their face and they wouldn't seem to notice? This is exactly how the casting director feels.
Thinking monologue instead of thinking dialogue shuts down nonverbal interaction with the people you're auditioning for and also denies them access to you as a person. On the other hand, if you think of what you're saying as a dialogue, than you experience the nonverbal interactions common to a conversation and the casting director feels engaged by what you're saying.
There is no technique to making your monologue play like of a dialogue. It's about thinking. How you think about it is how it will happen. If you're thinking monologue, you will lose your audience. If your thinking dialogue, you will engage and hold their attention effortlessly.
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Labels: audition monologue casting director