Auditions for CHS's Fall Musical

General Monologue Advice

A few quick tips when you are searching for a monologue:

1. Keep in mind what you are auditioning for! Research it if you don't know it; then, pick an audition piece/song that is similar to the style/genre/etc of the show. Pay particular attention if the director lists any specifics (historical period, playwrights, plays, etc.)

2. The best way to find monologues is to READ PLAYS. The more plays you read, the more ideas you'll come across for monologues. Also, reading the play guarantees that you'll understand the context of the monologue much better than if you just found it in a book. Lastly, reading a lot of plays is just good for you as a performer, technician, etc. Expanding your knowledge of your area of interest is never bad for you. :)

3. The second best place to find monologues is in monologue books. These are easy to find at any bookstore or library. A few caveats about monologue books:

              a. Once you've found a monologue, you really should try to read the entire play that the piece is from so you understand what is going on in that monologue. Chances are, the director you're auditioning for will have read the play and will be able to tell whether you did or not by your interpretation of the piece. Don't look bad--read the play and prepare.

               b. Look for books that contain monologues from published plays. Monologues that are written to stand alone (meaning, they're just monologues, not part of a larger play) are typically weak, overly dramatic, or both.

               c. Teen monologue books are fine, again, as long as the monologues come from published plays. The stand-alone monologues for teens are usually weak and lack range.

3. Monologue websites are hit and miss. There are some sites that publish monologues from public domain plays (Shakespeare, the Greeks, etc). These are usually pretty decent. Again, you want to make sure that whatever you're looking at is from a published play!

4. Remember that you can cut pieces as you need. You can cut out lines from another character in order to pull together a couple bigger pieces by one character. Be creative!

5. Be creative: maybe you found a passage in a work of fiction or a narrative style poem that offers opportunity to showcase your talent or characterization skills.