Need help finding monologues!!! Please Help!!!?

Question

I will be auditioning for commercials, television shows (sitcoms) and feature films.

I will also need monologues for agent interviews.

I am having trouble relating to Monologues like Shakesphere and those from that time. They are not focused on the African American Life. I can't relate to tea time and such (It's true.)

I really need monologues for young black women. This way I can pull my life's struggles and energy and protray a similar character.

If anyone can help. I would greatly appreciate it.

Answer 1

There are a number of things you can do. Personally I find that befriending aspiring writers helps a lot. If you have a writer tailor make a monologue for you, then the people you're auditioning for have not heard your monologue ever, which immediately gives you an advantage. They'll wake up and listen.

You can also adapt a monologue from a book. A good monologue has journey, so make sure you find or piece together text fragments that have a concrete start, middle, and end.

You're going to need to find more than one monologue, because it helps to have an arsenal. Many auditions require that you perform contrasting pieces. Some auditions require a five m inute classical monologue, others might want a modern comedic under one minute monologue. The diverse your reportoire, the better.

My advice to you is to find yourself an "ideal" monologue that is under two minutes and is your standard one that speaks to and about you the best. But also you should learn a contrasting one that maybe even plays against your type as well as a classical one. I know that Shakespeare might not appeal to you, but there are lots of classical writers who get overlooked. I also think if you look closely into a Shakespeare piece you'd be surprised.

With classical pieces don't be afraid to take chances. Change the character's gender. Cut compelling dialogue into a monologue. Mephisto in Dr. Faust by Marlowe has some amazing speeches and that role can be played by a man or a woman. If you find something that is universal, pluck it out and change the circumstances for your audition. Timon of Athens doesn't have to be an old white male. As long as the monologue is about the human condition in some way shape and form, and not specifically about being old, then you can own it. It can be yours, and you'll do it in a way nobody else will.

People in charge of casting want to be blown away. They want you to do something they have never seen before, and to be brilliant. Go for it.

Answer 2

The monologues you find up on these website are usually not published and are just made up by some random person. If you are to perform this monologue at a festival or somewhere else then do not use a non published monologue you may get disqualified. You should look through some plays or go to the library and look for plays with nice monologues. You should also pick one which you could relate to or would enjoy to perform and make sure you show someone how you perform it. A lot of times some people think they are doing great but then in front of an audience it doesn't really look that good :P! I wish you best of luck in finding a monologue that will suit you and make your acting ability shine! Good luck!

Answer 3

Hon, if you are are serious about acting, you will eventually have to do Shakespearan plays. Society is accustomed to Shakespearan productions. If you want to act, you had better rethink whether this is the right industry for you.

People do NOT want to see life struggles, leave that stuff at home. You need contemporary American monologues and Shakespearan monolouges if you want to act, as that is what is produced in the USA.

Go to the theater so you can get a reality check on what plays are being produced in the USA.

Answer 4

Alrighty! Here is what I suggest:

1. Don't even bother with Shakespeare- it's overused, and screams, "rookie"
2. Try this book: "221 One- Minute Monolouges for Women" Edited by: Capecci and Ziegler Aston. it's wonderful. It has very classic stuff, as well as contemproary.
3. If you have a choice, go with comedy rather than drama for agent interviews. If you're a really strong actress, then I guess go with drama, but comedy has always worked best for me, and most of the people I know.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 5

Maybe a monologue from the musical Ragtime?

I've only seen the musical twice...
& it's been awhile since I've seen it..

But I'm pretty sure there has to be some sort of monologue from like the character Sarah in it.

Answer 6

Create a monologue from existing sources such as 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker, as well as essays by Alice Walker ---

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Color_Purple
"""The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name.

Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, the story addresses many issues related to African-American life during the early to mid 20th century in the American south, especially focusing on black womens' low position in society. Because of the novel's sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence, it has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number eighteen.[1]

The story is told through a series of diary entries and letters. Celie is a poor, uneducated young woman who, at 14, is sexually abused and impregnated twice by a man she believes to be her father, Alphonso. After her children are taken away to "be with God," she is forced to marry a widower with several children, who is physically abusive towards her. At first she is joined in her new home by her younger sister Nettie, whom Celie's new husband had originally wanted to marry. After he attempts to seduce Nettie, she escapes, promising to write Celie. After a time, not having heard from her, Celie assumes Nettie is dead.

In her writings, Celie refers to her husband as "Mr. ___." One of his sons, Harpo, falls in love with and marries an overbearing and physically imposing woman named Sofia. Even though both Harpo and "Mr. ___" attempt to treat her as an inferior, Sofia fights back, sometimes even physically, and Celie is amazed because of her defiance.

"Mr. ___" has a mistress, singer Shug (short for "Sugar") Avery, and she comes to live with them because of her ailing health. Like "Mr. __", Shug at first has little respect for Celie and the life she lives and continues in her lover's footsteps, abusing Celie and adding to her humiliation. Celie initially feels threatened by the effervescent, liberated version of femininity, but she eventually finds that she is sexually attracted to Shug. When Shug discovers that "Mr. ___" beats Celie when Shug is out of town, she decides to stay at their home longterm in order to protect Celie.""

http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/alicew/

Would also suggest scripts for Diana Ross's 'Lady Sings the Blue,' and the recent Dorothy Dandrige Bio with Halle Berry..
http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/dandridge.html

Good Luck

Pax-------------------------------------