<p>She should always have a back up, and if possible, a back up for her back up. When my son did Unifieds, he came out of his first audition and due to various reasons, was not feeling his monologue. He completely switched things out and this was only possible because he had alternatives ready to go. Plus, some schools will ask for different ones on the spot and you want to be prepared.</p>
<p>photomom5 I will tell her…she is reading 3 plays right now in hopes of finding something else she likes and will continue to do so until she has a nice repertoire. She has one Shakespeare and two contemporary ones so far. Should she have more than one classic?</p>
<p>The school that requires 4 for us requires 2 classical, so yes. And remember Shakespeare is not the only classical writer.
I have read stories here on cc where kids end up doing 4 or 5 monologues for schools that asked for 2. Of course this is when the auditor is really liking the kid and its a good thing, but you want to be prepared in case it happens to you. You should have all your working monos typed in a binder for easy reference that you take with you to all auditions.
My D needs extra monologues because she gets tired of hers after she has “mastered” them. A few times I have had to say NO when she says “I’m going to look for a new monologue” the day before an audition…because she is tired of the one she has. But she really can’t prep properly in a day and needs to stick with the practiced one until she has time to rehearse a new one properly. She think a day is enough time- I say no!
Haha. In about a year I won’t have any say anymore though, and she will be doing all this just the way she wants!</p>
<p>He had multiples of both contemporary and classic, he used Shakespeare and Sophocles, he had funny and serious for all genres.</p>
<p>My son had three monologues polished to a high sheen – one classical and two contrasting contemporaries. He had three more that he could have delivered if asked.</p>
<p>No copies in binders…it didn’t seem necessary.</p>
<p>^Mine didn’t have copies printed out either. He did bring the actual books, but not till after his first real audition, where the pre-audition information sheet asked for some detail about his monologues (I forget specifically what it was) that he didn’t remember. We googled like crazy on my iPhone till we found it. After that he carried the entire script copies with him (well, Sherpa Mom carried them) in case it happened again. It didn’t. ;)</p>
<p>I insisted that my son have copies “in the cloud” though he felt it was not necessary. My winning argument was, what if you found out you needed to edit one to be shorter, because it’s a lot easier to do that when you’re looking at the text.</p>
<p>^^LOL, “Sherpa Mom,” Times3! I love the comparison to climbing Everest!</p>
<p>Heeehee somebody had to haul the iPad, giant notebook, scripts, water bottles, battery-powered speakers, bags full of cough drops, etc. At least I didn’t have to worry about an MT daughter–would’ve needed a push cart for that! :D</p>
<p>At least you will never have to be responsible for the dance belt!</p>
<p>If you are preparing two classicals, seriously think about making sure one of them isn’t Shakespeare. I’ve written about this a lot here on CC. Pretty much all of Shakespeare’s monologues for young actors are now overdone, but many other classical playwrights are hardly explored at all. You may impress simply because you KNOW a classical playwright other than Shakespeare. (I have also maintained it is a good idea to go non-Shakespeare when you are preparing only ONE classical!)</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>I am so stealing the term “Sherpa Mom”!</p>
<p>At Kevp - my D tells me she has 2 non Shakespearean classical monologues now! She was excited to find them although she loves Shakespeare too.</p>
<p>My D loves Chekhov and works on a monologues from Seagull and Uncle Vanya. I think it’s more than overdone for Russia, but she thinks it’s different for US theater schools. Anybody had experience with presenting a monologue from Chekhov’s plays?</p>
<p>Chekhov does not seem to be overdone at all in the US. I would avoid it for Russia.</p>
<p>My issue would be, “Does this count as classical or contemporary?” Many people would say Chekhov would be too old to count as contemporary. Others would say Chekhov was one of the playwrights who created “modern” theatre, so doesn’t count as classical. If you are auditioning for a school that requires something like 1 classical and 1 contemporary, you may wan’t to keep Chekhov for your backup, so nobody thinks you aren’t meeting the requirements.</p>
<p>Of course, if the school gives you specifice instructions about what constitutes “classical” or “contemporary” follow those. But the instructions for one school will not apply to all the others.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>notactingmom I would also suggest she does not perform both Chekhov monologues at auditions, as she needs to show a range. Performing two pieces by the same author will produce work with similar style. Also, if the faculty has some sort of bias against Chekhov or feels it is wrong for her and they do not ask her for a backup, she will have nothing else to show them.</p>
<p>Here some other classical playwrights, as suggested by Juilliard: the Greeks, Lope de Vega, Christopher Marlowe, John Webster, John Ford, Racine, William Congreve, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. To Juilliard, Chekhov is the beginning of the contemporary playwrights.</p>
<p>Chekhov is extremely difficult to perform as his characters often walk the knife-edge of tragedy and comedy. If you can do it, though, great. Don’t do more than one though, and make sure to check each individual school’s requirements. Definitely, some schools count Chekhov as contemporary, and others as not. THey’ll specify.</p>
<p>We found it frustrating that Chekhov, Shaw and Ibsen all seemed not to fit any of the criteria. It’s a shame. Many “modern” playwrights are also not considered to be contemporary - eg post 1960. They do make these kids jump through some pretty difficult hoops.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advise. No, my D does not plan to perform both Chekhov’s monologues, she just picked two and considers them for audition. I think she told me she researched if it will be considered classical or contemporary. I am not sure but she may not use it at all, she just wants to have it prepared just in case.</p>