Though this fact is often ignored, developing a repertoire of effective monologues is a great way to keep your acting chops in shape and make them ever better. Face the fact that there’s going to be noticeable down time between auditions and performance opportunities and use that time to advance your skills.
Unlike everything else in this business, developing monologues is the only thing that you can do on your own. You have complete creative freedom to explore and expand your capabilities. You don’t have to wait for some director to decide to do a film or play. You don’t have to wait for some casting director to see you as right for the role.
Once you’ve nailed down your basic type, your first objective is to identify different monologues that explore the full range of that type. Build out your repertoire to cover the usual flavors requested by casting directors. Have three or more monologues in each of the following categories; contemporary, modern classic and verse drama.
Contemporary should feel contemporary. That probably means something written in the last 30 years. Google which plays have won Pulitzers or Tony Awards during that time period. At the very least that will give you a list of writers who are considered to be good and who are likely to seem contemporary to casting directors.
Modern classic covers the time period between 1890 and 1940. Most people consider the modern era in the theatre to have started with Chekov and continued with Ibsen, Strindberg, Shaw, etc. Given the march of time Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and William Inge are also starting to slip into this category.
Verse drama would include Shakespeare, Marlowe and Johnson. However, under this same heading I’d place Moliere. There are many good translations of his work, most notably by Richard Wilber. Also consider Classical Greek plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Next… The improvised monologue.
Labels: audition monologue casting director