So it’s that time of year again, audition season! You’re hoping to get cast as the lead in the play or musical at your school. As you’re reading the requirements for the audition in a few days, you see that dreaded line and groan. “One minute monologue required.” As a performer, one of my biggest troubles while preparing for auditions has always been finding those perfect audition monologues and memorizing them. This summer, I had the opportunity to talk to some college theater teachers to see what they’re recommendations are for finding the best monologue for you.
The first step might not be very helpful at all but it is the one thing you must do if you want to find good monologues: simply, read plays. Read all kinds of plays; comedies, dramas, horror, classics, anything you can get your hands on. If you don’t know where to start ask around and see what plays your friends, teachers, or fellow actors enjoyed. At my musical theater camp this past summer, in acting class, I decided to write down the play titles for every monologue that was performed. Now that I’m home I have many new works to read and pull monologues from that I can workshop and make my own.
Once you find a play you like or that seems to have characters that fit you, read more plays by that author. Playwrights tend to write the same types of characters into many of their works. So you might be able to find new and more obscure monologues that none of your competitors will know about. It also doesn’t hurt to look at new works created by young playwrights because you might relate more to the modern content.
The key to finding the perfect monologue is to start ahead of time and immerse yourself in as much theater as you can. If you see a show you like, buy the script and try to piece together a monologue from there. Find pieces that you could see yourself saying or that you could create a believable character for.
Hope this helped and happy monologue hunting!