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Monologue help

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  • 14-04-2009 12:29am
    #1
    Aisling(",)
    Registered Users Posts: 6,390 ✭✭✭


    I've been accepted to do a workshop and an audition for one of my college courses-drama and theatre studies in Trinity and ive to prepare a monolouge but have no idea where to start.

    Ive looked online but it dosent tell you when the plays were written and most seem to short.

    I need a 3-5 minute long one from a play that was written in the last 40 years.

    Any help would be great because im lost at the moment

    (sorry if this is in the wrong place)


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    #2
    bronte
    Registered Users Posts: 11,331 ✭✭✭✭bronte


    Hiya,

    I would start by buying or borrowing a few plays you like the sound of, and with characters similar in age to yourself.
    If you enjoy the play and can relate to the character, you'll do a good job on the monologue.
    I'd usually pick a monologue at a point in the play where something pivotal has happened.
    Make sure you've read the play thoroughly and are able to discuss the journey of the character you've picked ....if they decide to ask questions!
    I'd generally avoid 'monologue books' ..they're grand for getting ideas for speeches but can be full of overdone to death pieces.
    Shelagh Stephenson is a favourite playwright of mine..and writes beautifully.
    Maybe have a read of some of her stuff?
    Recently worked on The Long Road and Five kinds of silence.
    It all depends on your age and casting type.
    For auditions..I'd definitely stick to what you think you'd get cast as.
    Also, pick a character YOU would like to play yourself!

    Break a leg! :)


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    #3
    TygerKrash
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭TygerKrash


    ...Moved thread to Theatre & Performing Arts.


    How about something from the Weir The Weir

    good little play and modern too, plenty of monologues in there.


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    #4
    Silvio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 413 ✭✭Silvio


    Check out Brian Friel's "Lovers" particularly "The winners" section some very good monologues. If they are too "young" then have a look at "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf", the character of Martha has a number of fine Monologues. :cool:


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    #5
    jorg
    Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭jorg


    Co-incidently ... excuse second plug .....

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055537035

    ... but building on the Brian Friel theme; in "Faith Healer", Grace's monologue is approx. 30 minutes. Also, Friels "Molly Sweeney" has a similar construction as Faith Healer in that it is all monologues.

    You could also look at Willy Russel for "Shirley Valentine" or "Educating Rita"


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    #6
    Aisling(",)
    Registered Users Posts: 6,390 ✭✭✭Aisling(",)


    Thanks everyone for your help


    ill be looking at all the plays you sugested and asking my drama teacher aswell when im back in school.just need to find something that fits!

    :)


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    #7
    inisboffin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,388 ✭✭✭inisboffin


    Aisling, another tip would be to pick a piece where the 'want' of the character is quite high. A lot of monologues are telling a story that happened to the character, and these are fine to warm you to the auditors, but not as strong in terms of character motivation.
    Pick a piece where the character really needs (whether disguised or not) something from the person to whom they are talking.
    irishplayography.com is a brilliant resource.
    Best of luck :)


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    #8
    Aisling(",)
    Registered Users Posts: 6,390 ✭✭✭Aisling(",)


    thanks.im gonig to try and read the friel plays just have to find the time now with the leaving cert so soon.ill check that site out now.:)


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    #9
    TriceMarie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 645 ✭✭✭TriceMarie


    I did many auditions for drama colleges here and england myself,and I know how stressful it is tryin to find a suitable piece.Here's a few options:

    1 Artist descending a staircase-Tom Stoppard
    2 The Belle of Belfast City-Christina Reid

    Pieces are about three minutes long,which is the usual preferance.


    Remember to have a good nights sleep the night before.Have it learned off very well.Know all about the play and character.Remember the use of sub-texts.And go in confident,BREATHE beforehand,be calm and gather yourself and take a moment to get in and out of character.Remember the imagination of the room as when you were a child playing house lol :D

    Good luck!:D


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    #10
    inisboffin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,388 ✭✭✭inisboffin


    Aisling, it might be worth having some shorter pieces under your belt too.
    The tradition in Ireland used to be 3 mins, but I have audited actors for a company in the States, and more and more they are asking for a 2 or even 1 min piece!
    It seems a bit harsh but I saw that quite often, in the UK too.
    No harm to have a few!
    Break a leg!


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    #11
    jack2009
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4 ✭jack2009


    Jay Sankey -- stand-up comic, magician, and cartoonist -- is back with another book for performers. Building on the success of his" Zen and the Art of Stand-up Comedy," Jay is moving further into the uncharted wilds of solo performance. Spalding Gray and Eric Bogosian have made the monologue a significant part of contemporary theater, and more and more one-person performances crop up every season. The monologue gives you incredible freedom -- as well as posing real dangers, especially, as Jay puts it, for 'the vain and inexperienced'. Stand-up comedy is funny, cathartic, and usually over in minutes. A monologue is reflective and can run an hour or more. Comedy entertains; the monologue explores.
    With his trademark blend of calm, sound advice and unexpected, anarchic humor, Jay Sankey guides you through the experience of performing your monologue. His question-and-answer format allows him to cover the issues central not only to the full-length monologue, but also to explain how his techniques and ideas can help you perform a short monologue (like Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' speech) within a play or, taken out of context, as an audition piece.
    What Sankey has to say about the monologue will give you the nerve to sit on a chair by yourself for an hour and talk about anything at all. And, as Jay says, if you're lucky there will be other people in the room.

    =======================================
    cheaters
    Apartment Austin


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