Monologues That Land Roles

By Robin Snover

Professional actors, who have been in the business for any number of years, have discovered the importance of having an array of strong one minute long monologues within their acting arsenal. Having a variety of impacting monologues, honed and ready to roll, will give you the assurance that no matter what the nature of the role you're shooting for, you also have a matching audition piece. These monologues have been test-driven by acting coaches in several large cities and have elicited multi-layered emotions from the actors who have used them and the agents and directors who have experienced them. So, take your time, read them all, find the right ones and get to work. Wrap yourselves around them, take them to heart, learn them inside and out, feel them in your bones, sense them with all your being and go land those roles!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257696833

Book preview

Monologues that Land Roles

one minute monologues for people of all ages

By Robin L. Snover

Illustrations by Terra Snover

Copyright 2004

ISBN: 978-1-257-69683-3

FORWARD

Choosing the right monologue, one that showcases an actor’s talent, is paramount.  Selecting one that is not up to the talent level of a performer will drag the overall audition down. Likewise, choosing one that is beyond the grasp of a talent does not work well, either.  As an actor, writer, director and teacher, I have experienced them all.  In my own search for monologues, either for myself or for actors I have coached, I found a frustrating array of pieces that fell short of what was needed.  It was especially difficult to locate ones that worked in film auditions.  Finally, I began writing my own, ones for me and everyone else. This includes monologues for young actors ages five to twelve, ones for teens, and adults.  Of the monologues I wrote, you will find comic and dramatic pieces are interspersed with each other.  I have not separated male and female ones; many are not gender specific at all. In addition, these monologues cross socio-economic barriers and incorporate ideas and a range of emotions relevant to people of any race. I’d advise you to pick a monologue that you feel emotionally connected to, one that speaks to you, because auditors want genuine and honest performances.  

Monologues need to be one to three minutes long.  The pieces, which follow, are around one minute long.  If you keep it short and you’re good, you’ll leave them wanting more.  They need a beginning, middle, and end  (which can be a problem when pulling a monologue from a larger manuscript).   In other words, the monologue needs to be able to stand on its own as a performance piece.  It’s important that your monologue show varying levels of emotion and that the foundational feeling is ‘love’.  Monologues pack more punch if they are directed to one person, talk about no one else but whom you’re talking to, and are placed in the present moment.  Having your piece begin at the height of a life or death situation pulls an audience in.  It can be the life or death of a character or relationship.  My monologues abide by these criteria, with little deviation from these guidelines.  Remember, don’t say a word of a monologue before you can completely imagine whom it is that you’re talking to, what they’re telling you between the lines and you are emotionally responsive and attached to your words.  Break a leg!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I want to thank New York City’s Peter DeAnello, for creating his Write to Act Workshop.  His Six Points Process for writing monologues, scenes and screenplays has been invaluable and many of his ideas are drawn upon in this forward and in my monologues.  Thank you, Peter.  You are a gem!

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my family, friends, fellow artists and all of the fascinating people who crossed my path in seemingly synchronistic manners. You are my muses. The treasures of who you are lie within the bounds of this book. I also dedicate this book to all of those individuals or groups that take the time to research and publish relevant news issues. A free and open press is essential in the world in which we find ourselves. I bless you all on your paths.

**  Warning—Many of these monologues are edgy and intense.

If you’re looking for something benign, you’ll need to look elsewhere else!

Child Monologus

Monster in My Closet

by Robin Snover copyright 8/03

You’re not trying to be scary are you?  If you make those growls in my closet one more time while I’m trying to sleep, well…well I won’t be your friend! It’s one thing to pop out from under my bed and grab my toes