25 Apr 2010, Posted by Susana Baker in Acting,Articles,Drama,General,Theatre, 0 Comments

8 Tips for Selecting an Audition Monologue

Almost every audition you will ever attend will require a monologue. Choosing the right monologue for you can absolutely make or break your audition. After auditioning for 15 years and occasionally having people audition for me, here is a compilation of the best advice I’ve been given on the subject.

1. Pick something that moves you. If you don’t like, don’t do it.
2. Pick a monologue from a real play. Steer clear from monologue books that don’t tell you what play the monologues are from. That usually means that a poor playwright out there got paid $25 to write a random monologue for this book. You’ll never find it in an actual play.
3. Read the play the monologue is from. This is the reason the previous item is so important. Read the play to get an idea of who the character is. If you take the monologue completely out of context, it is likely that the casting director will notice. Use the rest of the play to help guide you in your monologue preparation.
4. Pick a piece within your age and type. Though not always the case, usually you want to stick with your type unless otherwise noted. If you are a 20-25 year old leading lady type, don’t pick a monologue for a 40-50 year old bag lady.
5. Choose something that isn’t a narrative. Unfortunately, most monologues out there tell stories. But casting directors don’t want to hear you tell a story, they want to see you ACT. Acting requires action, and there is no current action in a story about the past. So if a monologue begins, “One time…,” steer clear. This is one of the biggest challenges of finding a good monologue.
6. Pick a monologue that is active. This goes along with the previous item. You want something to be happening in the monologue between you and another person. Your character has to be out to change something about the situation or the other character. Inaction is boring.
7. Choose a monologue with an arc. This is sometimes written into the piece or sometimes added in with working the piece. Your character must change from the beginning of the piece to the end of the piece. Show your acting range a bit.
8. Stay away from pieces that have been overdone. You know what they are. Everyone has heard them a thousand times. No one wants to hear them again.

Stay tuned for tips on working and presenting your monologue!