The Free Monologues Page (They're at the end of the article...)
Beyond the audition monologues - Make the casting people care about YOU
I used to start this page off with a question that went something like "Are you making the most common audition killing mistake?" which always felt a bit corny to me. I still do think that it's a valid question, even aside from the sales pitchy tone of it.
Sadly enough, I think MOST actors and actresses don't really have a solid idea of how to approach their auditions. To make matters worse, I feel that women in particular have a much harder time of it just because of the relative lack of material out there to audition with.
While I lean towards helping actors and actresses with their film and television careers, I still seem to get quite a lot of email regarding monologues and auditions for theater, as well as colleges and universities. It seems to me that those young ladies are faced with some of the same dilemmas as their film and television counterparts. Namely, HOW should they choose a monologue and WHERE can they find solid material that hasn't been "done to death"?
How do you stand out?
This is the biggest thing in auditioning as far as I'm concerned. It's sometimes hard to fathom just how many people the casting folk have to see on a daily basis. The same is true for the university admissions folk as well. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people that want to be actors and as a general rule, they're going to be attracted to the same opportunities to act as you are.
So, the things I've noticed that just seem to kill off enthusiasm and worse yet, the ENJOYMENT of acting are:
1- Seeing that kind of blank, empty look on the casting peoples faces at the end of your audition.
2- Hearing a plain old "thank you" at the end of your audition.
3- Not KNOWING and second guessing what the casting people may have wanted or not at the end of your audition.
Taken singularly, these things aren't so bad. But, pile them up day after day after day and they become very burdensome. I think people that don't act have a hard time understanding how tough it can be emotionally. My ex-wife's brother in law was a fairly prominent actor in his youth and he once told me somthing that always stuck with me. He said "when people go on job interviews, they may go to two or three, sometimes even four or five, but they KNOW that sooner or later they're going to get a job, It's just a matter of time."
But, then he said "but, imagine if after the 5th interview you didn't get the job. And then the next and the next and a year later it's been 200 interviews and you still haven't gotten a job. How would you feel?"
And I said something like, "probably pretty low"
To which he replies, "that's NORMAL for acting work."
It's hard to keep up with, as I'm sure you're probably aware. Well, hopefully we can start changing that experience for the better right now!
Fixing the problem(s)
First off, be sure to read the introduction to "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues For Women" below. It's won't cost you anything but time. For your effort, you will learn how to avoid one of the biggest and most common mistakes actors and actresses make in choosing and delivering monologues. Plus, I have given you some free monologues to work with as well. The best part about them is that they are powerful, from a unique perspective, professionally written and hardly anyone has ever seen them.
How can you beat that?
I hate to see good and talented actors and actresses struggle in auditions, so I'm more than happy to share this information and these wonderful monologues with you. I sincerely hope they will help you really shine in your next audtion.
So, please take the time to read the article and get to know the audition monologues really well. It is my firm belief that you will find your auditioning experience go to a whole new level. If you like what you read and see here, then please check out the e-Book version of "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues For Women". Inside this easy to read and printable eBook, you will find many more of these incredible monologues.
Even more significant, you'll learn the inside track on how we learned to approach these monologues during the second year of Sanford Meisner's professional acting program. And, believe me, it's no small thing to get through the FIRST year of that program!
These monologues present you with a literal wealth of opportunity to "show off" your chops. I've seen these exact same monologues put up in front of a full house and the effect is just show stopping incredible. People REMEMBER these performers when they do these right.
Read on to learn how to make YOUR casting people feel the same way.
Introduction to '44 Fantastic Audition Monologues For Women'
We all know the difficulties of choosing a strong monologue, especially when it comes to female characters. The last thing anyone wants to be is the 105th "Blanche DuBois" the casting director has seen that day. Unfortunately for the aspiring actress, there seems to be a real limit on quality material that hasn't been performed into the ground.
I decided to put this little collection together after receiving numerous requests from women looking for audition advice. More specifically, for information about not only HOW to prepare a monologue, but how to CHOOSE one that is appropriate. Now, I am no acting coach here, but I have a fair amount of experience on both sides of the camera, as well as the auditioning table. I've seen a lot of what works and what doesn't. More importantly, are the things that have stood out through the years.
The first thing I want to focus on is CONNECTION. That is connection with your audience, in this case the casting people. I feel the major stumbling block with most monologues is the fact that they end up being INTROSPECTIVE. Now, that's great if you're playing a role that requires that, but the casting people see that all the time. Just about every woman that walks into the audition is going to launch into her best rendition of whichever character she has chosen. These characters tend to be from well-known plays and therein lies a two-fold problem.
The fact that most of these plays are well-known means that a lot of the casting people will have seen some or, even worse, MANY renditions of that particular character. Often times they see that character over and over in the same day. It's kind of like wearing your favorite little black cocktail dress to a party and seeing EVERY OTHER WOMAN in the room wearing the EXACT same thing. Now, imagine that every woman in the room is vying for the affections of one particular gentleman...how are you going to stand out?
My advice would be to wear something different.
Choose something vibrant and fresh, something that no one else is wearing. I mean, why compete on the same level? Setting yourself apart from the crowd is a great first step in my opinion. To continue with the cocktail party analogy, now imagine that every woman is a really great person, but they are completely self-absorbed.
Everything they talk about is to themselves or the wall or the ceiling. How interesting do you think they will be to our gentleman in question? Probably not very, am I right?
As we all know, it's about the CONNECTION. Now, imagine that when YOU walk into our make believe room, you are the only one wearing a red dress and when you talk to our particular gentleman, you are the only woman who addresses him directly and ENGAGES him in your conversation. If the tables were turned, who would you rather spend the evening with?
This is where choosing a monologue correctly can really make you shine. If you have a really strong, UNIQUE, EMOTIONALLY FILLED audition piece that DIRECTLY engages the casting people, you will most likely be the only one that day that does! So, what's so hard about that, right?
Avoid what everyone else runs to
The first major problem is finding unique material. As you are already reading this, I imagine that you have been looking and are discovering how tough unique audition monologues can be to find! They have either been done to death, or they are too lightweight or amateurish. Even worse, if you do choose one that has been done to death, it's usually NOT something that will engage you with the casting people!
This is because these monologues are usually lifted from plays and often the best material isn't directed at the audience. That's where these monologues are different. They are from the same book that Sanford Meisner chose for his acting classes and he used them for his entire career.
To this day, Meisner students STILL use this material in class and, more importantly, in auditions. Some of the best in film, television and theater have been using this exact material to book work for over 70 years. They do this because they work.
These monologues are unique because they concisely blend excellently written, emotionally filled writing that is directed to and engages the audience. Further, it is virtually unknown outside of the Meisner circle...it's like the "Ace" up your sleeve in auditioning. Just ask Joanne Woodward, Grace Kelley, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen...the list goes on and on. And everyone of them has used these monologues in their careers.
Why shouldn't you?
With these monologues, you are almost guaranteed to be unique, because, unless they are Meisner trained, they probably aren't using these. Just like the red dress at the cocktail party. Futher, when you deliver them, you are talking directly to the casting people. They are designed so that you COMMAND attention and you draw the casting director into YOUR world instead of having them sit back and WATCH you in their world.
I tell you, the casting people will never know what hit them! Be sure to check out the rest of "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues For Women" to learn how we approached these monologues in the second year of our Meisner training. In the meantime...
Some Free Audition Monologes For You To Use
MRS. BENJAMIN PANTIER
I know that he told that I snared his soul
with a snare which bled him to death.
And, all the men loved him,
and most of the women pitied him.
But, suppose you are really a lady, and have delicate tastes
And loathe the smell of whiskey and onions
and the rhythm of Wordsworth's "Ode" runs in your ears,
While he goes about from morning til' night
Repeating bits of that common thing.
"Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?"
And then, suppose you are a woman well endowed,
and the only man with whom the law and morality
permit you to have the marital relation
is the very man that fills you with disgust
every time you think of it - while you think of it
every time you see him?
That's why I drove him away from home
to live with his dog in a dingy room
back of his office!
______________________________
FLOSSIE CABANIS
From Bindle's opera house in the village
to Broadway is a great step.
But I tried to take it, my ambition fired
when sixteen years of age,
seeing "East Lynne" played here in the village
by Ralph Barrett, who enthralled my soul.
True, I trailed back home, a broken failure,
when Ralph disappeared in New York,
Leaving me alone in the city -
but life broke him also.
In all this place of silence
there are no kindred spirits.
How I wish Duse could stand amid the pathos
of these quiet fields
and read these words.
______________________________
NELLIE CLARK
I was only eight years old;
And before I grew up and knew what it meant
I had no words for it, except
that i was frightened and told my Mother;
And that Father got a pistol
and would have killed Charlie, who was a big boy,
Fifteen years old, except for his Mother.
Nevertheless the story clung to me.
But the man who married me, a widower of thirty-five,
was a newcomer and never heard it.
Til' two years after we were married.
Then he considered himself cheated,
and the village agreed that I was not really a virgin.
Well, he deserted me, and I died the following winter.
______________________________
DORA WILLIAMS
When Reuben Pantier ran away and threw me
I went to Springfield.
There I met a lush, whose father just deceased left him a fortune.
He married me when drunk. My life was wretched.
A year passed and one day they found him dead.
That made me rich. I moved on to Chicago.
After a time met Tyler Rountree, villain.
I moved on to New York. A gray-haired magnate
went mad about me - so another fortune.
He died one night right in my arms, you know.
I saw his purple face for years thereafter.
There was almost a scandal.
I moved on, this time to Paris.
I was now a woman, insidious,
subtle, versed in the world and rich.
My sweet apartment near the Champs Elysees
became a center for all sorts of people.
Musicians, poets, dandies, artists, nobles,
where we spoke French and German, Italian, English.
I wed Count Navigato, native of Genoa.
We went to Rome. He poisoned me, I think.
Now in the Campo Santo overlooking the sea
where you Columbus dreamed new worlds,
see what they chiseled: "Contessa Navigato Implora Eterna Quiete." ****
****translated means "Countess Navigato Asks For Enternal Peace."
______________________________
AMELIA GARRICK
Yes, here I lie close to a stunted rose bush
in a forgotten place near the fence.
Where the thickets from Siever's woods
have crept over, growing sparsely.
And you, you are a leader in New York,
The wife of a noted millionaire,
a name in the society columns,
beautiful, admired, maginfied perhaps
by the mirage of distance.
You have succeeded, I have failed.
In the eyes of the world.
You are alive, I am dead.
Yet, I know that I vanquished your spirit;
And I know that lying here far from you,
unheard of among your great friends
in the brilliant world where you move,
I am really the unconquerable power over your life
that robs it of complete triumph.
______________________________
To Sum It Up
As you can (hopefully) see, there is some pretty serious and powerful stuff in these wonderful monologues. If you find that you like them and would like to explore these monologues futher, as welll as get more insight into the way they should be approached, be sure to check out "44 Fantastic Audition Monologues For Women." It can be delivered straight to your inbox if you like, or if you're more of a purist, you can order the paperback directly from Amazon.com.
If you have any questions or thoughts, or would just like to share some of your successes, please feel free to drop me a line. I actually answer them.
Best of Luck out there and remember, you can't fail if you don't quit.
D.L. White