I have to choose a monologue from a play for tomorrow, and I've narrowed it down to 2 choices. I like the first one slightly better, but I think it might be too short - we weren't given a time range or anything, but i don't want to get up and do the monologue in like 30 seconds or anything.
#1 - from Broken Glass by Arthur Miller
Sylvia: You don’t know – I’m trying to tell you something! For some reason I keep thinking of how I used to be; remember my parents’ house, how full of love it always was? Nobody was ever afraid of anything. But with us, Phillip, wherever I looked there was something to be suspicious about, somebody who was going to take advantage or God knows what. I’ve been tip-toeing around my life for thirty years and I’m not going to pretend – I hate it all now. Everything I did is stupid and ridiculous. I can’t find myself in my life. (Hits her legs) Or in this now, this thing that can’t even walk. I’m not this thing. And it has me. It has me and will never let me go.
2007-01-16 14:21:47 · 9 answers · asked by mighty_power7 7 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
#2 - From Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Martha: You know what's happened, George? You want to know what's really happened? (Snaps her fingers.) It's snapped, finally. Not me... it. The whole arrangement. You can go along... forever, and everything's... manageable. You make all sorts of excuses to yourself... you know... this is life... the hell with it... maybe tomorrow he'll be dead... maybe tomorrow you'll be dead... all sorts of excuses. But then, one day, one night, something happens... and SNAP! It breaks. And you just don't give a damn anymore. I've tried with you, baby... really, I've tried. I'm loud, and I'm vulgar, and I wear the pants in this house because somebody's got to, but I am not a monster. I am not.
SNAP! It went snap. Look, I'm not going to try to get through to you anymore... I'm not going to try. There was a second back there, maybe, there was a second, just a second, when I could have gotten through to you, when maybe we could have cut through
2007-01-16 14:23:01 · update #1
all this crap. But that's past, and now I'm not going to try. Well, maybe you're right, baby. You can't come together with nothing, and you're nothing! SNAP! It went snap tonight at Daddy’s party. I sat there at Daddy’s party, and I watched you... I watched you sitting there, and I watched the younger men around you, the men who were going to go somewhere. And I sat there and I watched you, and you weren’t there! And it snapped! It finally snapped! And I'm going to howl it out, and I'm not going to give a damn what I do, and I'm going to make the damned biggest explosion you ever heard.
2007-01-16 14:23:34 · update #2
There are some things you should consider before selecting a monologue. Your age and your "type". Having been a theater arts teacher/director and actor/writer for many years I have often seen actors display amazing performance ability but they were not physically similar to the character in question nor was their inherent personality up to the challenge. If you're a seasoned performer, the second certainly has more bang for the buck. #2 has more range in character and is more three dimensional. Time range is unimportant to a director. He/She usually knows if you're the right one after the first couple of sentences are uttered. Good luck on your audition!!
2007-01-16 14:48:06 · answer #1 · answered by ronaldherz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like #2, but if you like #1 and think it's too short, is there another line or two just before or after the section you've chosen that could be added to it? For my comedic audition monologue I pasted three sections of a character's lines together by taking out the short retorts the other person in the scene was supposed to interject. It works well. Break a leg!!
2007-01-16 14:29:15 · answer #2 · answered by incandescent_poet 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like the second one. It has a poetic rhythm and build in the drama that helps the monologue 'stand alone' as a performance piece, without the audience having to understand the whole play. In terms of character and theme, the two monologues sound very similar. Good luck!
2007-01-16 14:37:28 · answer #3 · answered by markus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It takes a lot of maturity to understand and play the Virginia Woolf bit. Be careful in choosing. Both are very emotional. They can be underplayed and come across enemic or overplayed and and repulse the audience.
Choose the one you feel most at home with and don't worry about length.
2007-01-16 15:55:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you're better at being angry do #2 because really she just goes off on a tangent and does her thing. That one would be more fun. However, if you think you can pull of some tears do #1, that one touched me much more than the second one but it's much harder to do.
2007-01-16 14:47:04 · answer #5 · answered by The FudgeMaster 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know much about serious acting but if i was you (and i've been there) i would say choose the one that takes you out of ur comfort zone. choose the one that completely out of your elements not one that is a chapter out of ur life but someone elses. I like the second one. its dramatic but not overdone. i hope you do great with which ever one u choose. GOOD LUCK, HON!
2007-01-16 15:44:00 · answer #6 · answered by Sweet Shay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Martha is a middle-aged woman. You didn't say what the monologue was for, but I'm guessing that Sylvia is more age-appropriate for you.
2007-01-17 01:54:05 · answer #7 · answered by shkspr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
im not an authority with auditions and this sorta stuff yet you answerd mine so i gave united statesmy perfect shot. i think of huge sort a million then my next selection huge sort 4. thank you for answring mine. wow it is going to of taing you a protracted time to variety that hi?
2016-10-31 07:51:34 · answer #8 · answered by gilbert 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd go with #2...Break a leg!!
2007-01-16 15:43:28 · answer #9 · answered by light12 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋