r/acting • u/ImaginaryBody • Sep 10 '12
Monologue Thread
Monologue Guidelines: Audition Monologues should...
Be one you like and are comfortable doing.
Be no more than 2 min. in length. You will be given a time frame but it is always better to be under time than over, also they will be able to tell pretty quick if you have what they are looking for.
Make sure the text is appropriate for your age.
Be geared for the play/ character you are auditioning for.
Allow you freedom to move and make choices
Have a clear, identifiable, and specific objective.
Have a clear identifiable arc (beginning, middle, end)
Never mirror any emotional situation you are going through with the audition.
Always be active, make the monologues about your acting partner. Story monologues are hard to make about anyone but yourself.
Be found in in a variety of sources but avoid anything that has been a major release in the past 5 years, including currently running show.
Be introduced with character, play, and author.
Never be given a synopsis. If you need one it is not a strong piece
Be chosen with consideration for who you will be auditioning for.
Allow you to show a part of who you are.
Be played in an honest truthful way without the need to force emotion.
Never cut one character out of a scene and force the audience to imagine the other character for the whole piece
Not need to rely on props or costumes
Have language and actions of consequence. Make sure it's worth doing.
Be well prepared, never "winged". Should be rehearsed 100 times.
Never use the person auditioning you as your acting partner.
Not be self-written if you can't write dramatically.
Not require preparation in the room
Not be self-indulgent.
Every good rule is meant to be broken, just make sure you have a good reason to break it.
*Based off of a list compiled by Rich Cole.
thread still under construction
Note all monologue threads outside of this one will be removed.
4
u/stonedpockets Sep 10 '12
A good monologue will not be a story.
-
The best monologues will actively be achieving something with the other character (Seducing, belittling, comforting, etc).
I don't really agree with the middle two points here, monologues are an incredibly varied medium and I think it is wrong to make those such assumptions.
I can think of a number of good monologues which are just stories, "The Weir" by Conor McPherson, for example, has a number of great monologues involving the characters telling ghost stories.
As for the third point, In my opinion some of the best monologues ever written are not done to another character at all. There are loads incredible monologues from Shakespeare in soliloquy form, many of which are nothing more than a character explaining his thoughts to the audience.
2
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 11 '12
As for the third point, In my opinion some of the best monologues ever written are not done to another character at all. There are loads incredible monologues from Shakespeare in soliloquy form, many of which are nothing more than a character explaining his thoughts to the audience.
In these speeches the characters will always be talking to god, nature, or themselves. Even if the acting partner is not apparent I would urge you to find someone you actively want something from to help bring your monologue to life. Art does not happen in a vacuum.
2
u/stonedpockets Sep 11 '12
Yea I get what you mean, it's just when you said
actively be achieving something with the other character
I assumed you were not including talking to the audience or a character talking to themselves.
→ More replies (1)1
u/wig-ham Jan 17 '13
But in the first case, the point being made is that while these kinds of story monologues are easy to find, they aren't effective pieces for monologue auditions. Active pieces in which one is trying to effect an other just work better in this situation. In Shakespeare, most people consider the other to be the audience if the piece is being played that way while some people like to think of the gods or the muses as the other.
2
u/Trifax Sep 10 '12
I just had an audition the other day, and I did a monologue from It's A Wonderful Life
1
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 11 '12
How did it go?
3
u/Trifax Sep 11 '12
It went really well, I think. I had chosen the monologue because I had consistently heard from TONS of people that my stage work reminds them of Jimmy Stewart.
Anyway, I've got 4 callbacks scattered throughout this next week which I'm looking forward to.
2
u/keithcelt Sep 17 '12
Never cut one character out of a scene and force the audience to imagine the other character for the whole piece
I totally disagree. Maybe you mean don't simply cut out one character from the scene.
If you take a dialogue and edit it well, then you can use the omitted character to evoke an emotional response. If you have a true monologue, imagining it as a dialogue significantly enhances the emotional stakes because it gives you someone to fight with.
0
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 20 '12
Maybe you mean don't simply cut out one character from the scene.
Yeah that's what I meant.
1
Sep 11 '12
In reference to the first point--do you mean it should not be a short story that you turned into a monologue? Monologues should, generally speaking, have a story arc to them. Most monologues are cuts created from larger pieces, and in learning to make the cuts, you strive to create a piece that will stand on its own--usually with an arc that makes sense. Your skilled presentation of the material and effective communication of the story are what directors are usually looking for.
Just asking for clarity.
1
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 11 '12
No I mean it should not be a "Joe do you remember mamma's slipper's....." kind of monologue.
1
u/ZBeebs Sep 11 '12
So avoid your exposition heavy, "here's what happened before the play" or "here's what happened between scenes" type monologues ("Hey Hamlet, you'll never guess what happened while you were away from Denmark!").
1
u/ZBeebs Sep 11 '12
I'll just go ahead and throw this out for discussion: monologues from movies - good idea or bad idea? What about television, or books? Is a good monologue fine regardless of its source, or should you stick exclusively to stage plays? What about plays that have been adapted into movies (or vice versa)?
1
Sep 11 '12
I love the idea of monologues from books, provided they're not strictly narrative of course. I got a monster of one from War of the Worlds that I need to cut down to a wieldy length.
As far as the rest, my gut reaction is to say no, but if you can find something that works for you, that isn't insanely famous, go for it. I think the nature of films and television means you'll find far fewer monologues, unless you go back several decades (and hey, why not try that). I think you're better off doing a well-known stage monologue, than a well-known film monologue. Being well-known on stage means the auditors have probably seen dozens or hundreds of actors perform it, which I could see actually working in your favor if you're good. Well-known on film means they would strongly attach that monologue to one actor, who's likely quite famous, and I think most of us lose when we force someone to compare us to them.
→ More replies (1)0
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 11 '12
I have been taking a class with a casting director in new york and this question came up. He said that personally he doesn't care where it is from but it is in your best interest to portray yourself in the best light possible; meaning that you probably shouldn't do a piece that is extremely famous because everyone is the room is going to remember how you didn't do it as well as the person who made it famous. This casting directors second point was that even though he doesn't care, there are other people in the room and a lot of them have a stick up their ass. So know who and what you are auditioning for.
1
u/ZBeebs Sep 11 '12
Agreed. I saw someone audition with the "You can't handle the truth!" speech from A Few Good Men, and as much as I tried to judge him objectively, there was just no way not to compare him to Jack Nicholson.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/SoCal310 Sep 11 '12 edited Sep 11 '12
Actors should have both a comedic and dramatic monologue memorized and ready for use, ahead of time. *No last minute "Help, I have an audition and need a monologue" threads.
Monologues should be for a character you can portray. If you're in your 20s, a monologue should be for your appropriate age group. Don't read a monologue written for a character that is 70 years old. *Again, research this ahead of time, and you will not encounter this issue.
And for the record, I would like a monologue thread. Such as monologue for 20 - 30 yr old female, monologue for 50+ yr old male, monologue for young female (under 18). Some basic classification in the title to help Redditors identify if a monologue is generally for their age/gender or not.
1
u/keithcelt Sep 17 '12
Actors should have both a comedic and dramatic monologue memorized and ready for use
This should really be the first item on the list. You need two monologues to show range.
1
u/wig-ham Jan 17 '13
If you're regularly auditioning you should really have a Cheat Book with 20 to 30 pieces that you're comfortable with and can perform or rework at any time.
2
u/brazasian Mar 04 '13
I have a question, using a monologue such as an explanation of something such as Neil Degrasse Tyson's Astounding fact, would that work? I find that piece extremely beautiful if you're into that sorta of thing of course. It is dramatic/emotional in a way.
I am trying to find me a dramatic monologue that I enjoy. Movies are too known, plays are....well.. I've read a few...
Also is it okay to use monologues from stand up? Is it okay to use monologues with curses?
You can see I am new. I have a really good sense of humor, weird sometimes. As a person I use rather bit of curse words.
0
u/HarryLillis Sep 16 '12
Never use the person auditioning you as your acting partner.
That depends. I actually advocate the opposite, err on the side of making the person uncomfortable, because that is truer to the art than playing it safe. Also, the people who are made uncomfortable by this really need to find a new profession. Of course, I wouldn't even call it making them your acting partner; I just sometimes look them in the eyes because you can tell the truth to a human being and you can't tell the truth to a wall. You may think you can tell the truth to a wall, but it's a lie.
I think you should add this one close to the top; Read plays. Have a high familiarity with dramatic literature before choosing a monologue so you don't have to go asking people to find one for you.
Oh, and,
Be introduced with character, play, and author.
Some people actually hate this. Particularly if you're doing Shakespeare. Presumably someone hearing Shakespeare monologues knows a reasonable portion of the entirety of Shakespeare by heart, so they especially don't want to hear where it's from because they'll probably know.
1
u/keithcelt Sep 17 '12
If you need an acting partner to do your monologue, then you are probably doing it wrong. Don't "work off" the director, it denies them the opportunity to watch you work.
→ More replies (9)0
u/ImaginaryBody Sep 16 '12
Never use the person auditioning you as your acting partner.
That depends. I actually advocate the opposite, err on the side of making the person uncomfortable, because that is truer to the art than playing it safe.
I think this is superseded by knowing who you are auditioning for(#13). If you don't know whether they like being the acting partner, don't use them.
You may think you can tell the truth to a wall, but it's a lie.
Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
Be introduced with character, play, and author.
Some people actually hate this. Particularly if you're doing Shakespeare. Presumably someone hearing Shakespeare monologues knows a reasonable portion of the entirety of Shakespeare by heart, so they especially don't want to hear where it's from because they'll probably know.
I agree, if it is a well known piece you probably don't have to fully introduce the piece. But, if you are doing an obscure piece you should introduce with character/play/author, so that they are not sitting there thinking wondering what the piece is from instead of listening to you.
5
u/keithcelt Sep 17 '12
I think we should remove the "if" clause here. The point of performing a monologue is to show others how you interpret a written work. There is no interpretation if you are the author. You deny yourself the opportunity to show what you've really got as an actor by trying to be a writer on stage.