<p>P.S. And you MUST read the entire play that the monologue is from!</p>
<p>Yes! Reading the play is essential - and analyzing your character's relationships and desires/needs at the moment the monologue occurs. As an auditor, I will often ask a student questions before giving any coaching - I want to see where their choices are coming from before I stampede over their creative impulse.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>But often, the students have no idea what is going on in the monologue, who the character is, who they are talking to, or where/when the monologue takes place. This can be particularly embarrassing if, for example, one is doing a monologue from Butterflies are Free, playing the role of Donny (aka Donny Dark), and don't know that the character is supposed to be blind. Or that Edmund has consumption, Jamie is an alcoholic, and their mother is a (supposed) recovering morphine addict in Long Day's Journey into Night. Or that Jonathan has been locked in a hotel room all his life, with a super-dominant mother, and his dead father in the closet of mom's room, in Oh Dad, Poor Dad...</p>
<p>Not reading the play is a sure sign of laziness. If you don't have the time to read about the character, you shouldn't use the material in an audition. Save the material until you have time to do the proper homework on it.</p>
<p>eve</p>
<p>Not to cause those of you who are still searching any more frustration than you are already feeling but I want to reiterate what Susan commented on. Many schools will ask students who are auditioning if they have another monologue, or even two more, the day of the audition. My D started her monologue search early and actually had a list of six which she liked. She worked with the assistance of one of her drama teachers in finalizing her list and then with an audition coach to learn them properly after reading all of the plays. Something which I have told many kids I've advised over the years is to think of all of the plays which you've seen, performed, read, or discussed at school and surely that will give you a basis on which to start your search process. In any case, it's sometimes advisable for auditionees to have more than two monologues ready to go on audition day. My D was not asked to do more than her first two, but several other kids that day at Tisch were indeed asked for another. And as Susan said, CMU is famous for doing this.</p>
<h1>12-#17 contains some discussion on your audition request form questions</h1>
<p>I think that it is probably safer to go with a monologues from the ages of 16-24, if you are 17, but last year when I auditioned to depaul my character was in her mid to late 20s.</p>
<p>For classical monologues, I would suggest greeks.</p>
<p>Hey I re-looked at the schools i am applying to and only one of them specifies that you have to do an age appropriate monologue. I have a monologue from "The Bad Seed" for a character who is 20 years older than I am but I do it really well and I love it. Do you think it is ok to do for the colleges who don't specify age appropriate monologues?</p>
<p>I'm afraid the answer is still NO. Even though the websites and discussions don't stipulate age appropriate material, I believe that it is assumed that you, the auditioner, understand that it is in your own best interest to use material that allows the auditors to see you in a role or roles in which they might actually cast you. Why make them work harder and have to think that you don't understand this concept rather than allowing them to just sit back and evaluate your work? There is so much age appropriate material out there. I'm afraid you will be better served by looking for a bit longer and finding another monologue.</p>
<p>Sorry!</p>
<p>Operanoodle...I agree with TheaterMom's advice here to you. Just because the college website doesn't stipulate that you need to use age appropriate material, does not mean that they do not care about that. Some college websites give you lots of hints about the audition and some just tell you what sort of monologue and song you need to sing and not much more. What any auditionee should know, however, are many "rules of thumb" about auditioning itself. So, you may want to pick up a guide book about auditioning (or of course read here and trust the advice being given). </p>
<p>You want to pick material in which you might be realistically cast. This is not the time to pick material that will stretch you as an actor or show them what you CAN do. You want to use material that is right for you at this moment in your life. They want to see you and envision you in roles that you could be cast in, but also will take notice that if you use material for a much older (or younger person) that you are inexperienced with auditioning. I'm not saying you must pick material that is necessarily for a 17 year old as that is a bit limiting. But certainly pick material meant for a young adult, ranging from approx. 16-25. A monologue meant for a 37 year old is not right. The person could be a mother, for instance, and you have no background upon which to draw and will not be believable even if you do act it well. There are many monologues that a young adult can do so you don't have to limit yourself as ones just for 17 year olds. The monologue should be believeable with you acting it, in other words. </p>
<p>You also want to try to use material that is your type. This is not the time to say, oh I'm tired of playing the innocent sweet thing, I want to show them I can be a character actor or a comic actor, when that is not your strength (example). Also, look for pieces that show your particular strength.This is not the time to take a risk and it is important to show what you are BEST at. If you are best at comedy, make sure you show them. If that is a real novel thing for you, don't do it in the audition. If you are good at heavy emotional material, show it. If that is a stretch for you, pick what monologues show your best suits.</p>
<p>So colleges may not have stipulated on their website or in their brochure all the audition "tips" or do's and don't's but will assume you are familiar with them. For instance, they all don't tell you how to dress at an audition but you hopefully will brush up on suggestions in that facet of auditioning. They may not tell you to mark your music for the pianist but you're going to do that, right? What most college sites do is to tell you how long the monologue is, if there is a period it must come from, if it must contrast, etc. They don't necessarily say make sure it is age appropriate but that is an understanding that is implied.</p>
<p>If you follow that advice, then you should shy away from a monologue written for someone 20 years older than you. Why take a chance and have the judges think you are inexperienced, or that they could not envision you in that role, etc. I'd go with all the general rules of thumb and so not to invite any extra "problems". If the rule of thumb is not to use dialects in the college audition, and even though the website does not mention that, you really should not use dialects. Why take a chance? Follow as many "rules" of auditioning that you can. If you are not familiar with them, read lots on this website from the past few years on this topic or buy a book on auditioning. </p>
<p>You may be fantastic at the monologue from The Bad Seed but why risk going against the grain for college auditions. You already said you have seen one college ask for age appropriate material so you have to prepare that for that school anyway, might as well use it for the others. Those are my thoughts.</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>I've been worried about this.</p>
<p>My monolouge is written for a woman of about 20, so thats not too bad. But- she's got mental issues (IE- delusions)</p>
<p>Is this straying too far?</p>
<p>Not for my daughter!!!! Just kidding!</p>
<p>LetMeSing....I don't know you or your strengths in acting but in a general sense, my answer is that the monologue would be fine. You don't have to be LIKE the character you are portraying because after all this is ACTING. It should just be believeable that you could be this person. So the age thing is a different issue because if I saw a 17 year old doing a monologue about her divorce or her kids, I would not find it believable. But if I saw a very put together 17 year old who portrayed another young adult who was delusional, and she acted it well, I'd call it acting and it doesn't mean that YOU have those same traits. Let's say you are a teenage girl who is a virgin and feel strongly about abstaining from sexual activity at a young age and you have to portray a teen who sleeps around in a play. That can be believeable if you get into character. </p>
<p>Try to stay to the age range you play. Also try to stay to "type" but type doesn't mean your character must be just like you. It may mean that you are comedic and and maybe not as believeable at intense heavy emotional serious material. You certainly can stretch yourself as an actress and do heavy emotional material (this is good to do actually) but for an AUDITION, you might want to play to your strengths. If you get to do TWO monologues, then maybe in such an example of type that I just gave, you might do one comedic, one serious, to show a range of emotional acting. If you can do just one monologue, go with your strengths or type. But again, your type does not mean you have to be just like the character you are portraying in terms of traits. </p>
<p>Let me think of an example. OK, I'll take my own kid. In a show like West Side Story, she'd be Anita (and was) not Maria. She'd be Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, not Sarah Brown. She was Ado Annie, not Laurie in Oklahoma. In Jekyll and Hyde, she was Lucy, not Emma. You might see a pattern here of her "type". She knows her type and where she'd be most likely cast. But that does not mean she has to be LIKE the character in terms of eveything about them. She can be Lucy but isn't a whore (I hope). She might be funny like Adelaide but isn't necessarily dumb or flighty. She can portray the character without being just like them but certain characters fit a "type" within a play. </p>
<p>Not sure this makes sense but I think you are OK with your monologue with the understanding that I don't know anything about you and am just making a bit of a generalization.</p>
<p>By the way, the fact that she is 20 and you may be 17 is absolutely fine unless you are someone who looks about 13. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>PS...Lynn, you are too funny.</p>
<p>See, I have no type like that. I've played everything from Anita (west side) , Aldonza (La Mancha), and Gertrude (seussical), to Marian (music man) and Rapunzel (Into The Woods)</p>
<p>I've been told I'm Versitile.</p>
<p>I'd like to thank everyone who has posted in this thread. Your advice has been invaluable. My son is auditioning to be an acting major for several schools, so needless to say, this thread has been a lifesaver. He is presently a senior and majors in drama at a performing arts high school. My question is this: For the classical monologue one of his acting teachers recommended the Cassius "seduction monologue" from Julius Caesar. Is that ridiculous for him? It seems harder to find classical monologues in the 18-24 age range. My son is great at playing a villain so his teacher thought of that one.</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Find out the following:</p>
<p>Does it have to be Shakespeare?
Does it have to be in verse?
Does it need to be dramatic?</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>It doesn't have to be dramatic, but it might be a good idea because his contemporary monologue is comic. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare and they don't specify verse. Any ideas??</p>
<p>you might look at the many young male lovers in Shakespeare </p>
<p>If you are sure it doesn't have to be verse, there is a multitude to pick from for young men.
Remember, there were a heck of a lot of plays written from the Greeks to 1900!</p>
<p>best of luck
xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>Great!</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>
<p>In your note you referenced that some schools ask for your before the audition. I hae talked to several schools who had this on thier form. They all noted that they understand that people change their minds. This is just to get things started. YOu can update at any time and most said they will be required to also list it the morning of the audition.</p>