<p>Despite what Juilliard says, in general I would avoid using foreign playwrights for your “classical”. Unless auditioning for somewhere like Juilliard that says it’s okay. And yes, this is another one of those “guidelines” that has been succesfully broken in the past.</p>
<p>The problem with foreign playwrights is that you are working with a translation, and the translation may not be into “classical” English, the translator may have translated the play into “contemporary” English, which means the monologue isn’t really “classical.”</p>
<p>I agree that there are many playwrights who don’t meet the definition of either “classical” or “contemporary”. This was my point about Chekhov. So keep Chekhov as your backup.</p>
<p>The list from Juilliard is a good start for learning something about theatre history. If you really are planning to study theatre at college or university, you really should know that there is more to theatre history then just Shakespeare!</p>
<p>I never know the extent of the training the kids on here already possess, so for those who don’t know, it is possible to cut a monologue from dialog in a play that has a character in a given set of circumstances that speaks to you. That’s actually how I got most of my contemporary pieces. If you haven’t been taught how to go about doing this effectively, there’s a book entitled [The</a> Perfect Monologue](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Monologue-Find-Perform/dp/0879103000]The”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Monologue-Find-Perform/dp/0879103000) by Ginger Howard Friedman that will show you how. Just for God’s sake don’t cut the Bard’s verse without the help of someone who really knows what he or she is doing!</p>
<p>And unless something has changed in a major way since I went through this, Shakespeare is fine for college auditions. In fact, some schools require it. If the work of some other classic playwright really speaks to you, great. Do it. But don’t go looking here and yonder just to be able to say you’re doing something besides Shakespeare. It’s not like most of these faculty members who’ll be holding the auditions haven’t seen it all. They mainly just want to hear where you’re at with handling verse with your classical piece.</p>
<p>Oh, and Jessica is listed as being 5’4", but I think that might be in heels. Then, maybe she just seems smaller since I doubt she weighs 100 lbs soaking wet. Very fortunate bone structure … :)</p>
<p>I agree with Fishbowlfreshman about Shakespeare. I do not think it’s worth it to search specifically for a non-Shakespeare monologue simply for the sake of not doing Shakespeare. This is college. You’re not going to startle and wow them with a classical monologue just because it’s not Shakespeare; I’m just a lowly English geek and I"m perfectly familiar with most classical playwrights. Of course, if you fall in love with a Marlowe, great. But I’ve said this before–Shakespeare is Shakespeare for a reason; his monologues are a joy to work with (with coaching/mentoring). His monologues, if you choose carefully, will offer a great deal of character depth. In addition, many colleges specifically ask for Shakespeare, so if you choose a non-Shakespeare, you will still have to do a Shakespeare anyway. Again, if you happen to like a non-Shakespeare classical, go for it. But I do not think you should go out of your way to search for non-Shakespeare for the sake of being ‘different.’ Plenty of students, most, have successfully gotten into top BFA programs with their Shakespeare monologues. THere are so many plays and so many monologues to choose from; just look up the overdone Shakespeare ones and avoid those if you are too worried about overdone monologues; there are still many left over (but both my S and D did ‘overdone’ monologues quite successfully by the way). <em>Do</em> make sure you understand thoroughly what you’re saying, have read and preferably seen the whole play, and if possible, get mentoring/coaching for the monologue.</p>
<p>Always follow the school’s own instructions and advice. That is the only rule. If they say they want Shakespeare, then, yes, you MUST give them Shakespeare.</p>
<p>I realize that everything else I say is just “guidelines”, and all of them can be successfully broken by the right people. Jessica Chastain was I am certain the right person to use a Juliet monologue when auditioning for Juilliard. Are you the right person? I don’t know.</p>
<p>The reason that monologues become “overdone” is that they are great monologues. They are indeed a “joy to work with” and “offer a great deal of character depth”. And this is true of any overdone monologue by any playwright, not just Shakespeare.</p>
<p>The problem with overdone monologues is that you are inviting the auditors to compare you to every other person who they have heard perform that monologue. I love Shakespeare, and I have seen a heck of a lot of Shakespeare. Good and Bad. And also INCREDIBLE Shakespeare. When you perform a monologue, I am thinking about all the other folks I have heard perform that same monologue. And if it is one of those monologues that is overdone at auditions, I may have heard someone else use the very same monologue earlier that very day. And maybe they did it better than you. So all I can think about is that your audition isn’t as good as the other one. You do not want the auditors to be thinking your audition is “not good”.</p>
<p>Connections says pick one of the “not overdone” Shakespearean monologues. The problem is that pretty much EVERY Shakespearean monologue for young actors (i.e. under 35) has become overdone. So if you are a young actor looking for a classical monologue, it would not hurt you to look at some other classical playwright. You should be reading lots of plays by lots of different playwrights to choose your monologues anyway.</p>
<p>The “idiot” doesn’t know any classical playwrights other than Shakespeare. Of course, I know you are not an idiot. But do the auditors know you are not an idiot?</p>
<p>I am sure, as I said before, that when Jessica Chastain did her Juliet monologue at her Juilliard audition she got away with it because it was the best Juliet they had ever heard. As I mentioned, she had just finished a professional production of Romeo and Juliet. And she’s Jessica Chastain. And yes, there will be someone else who will be able to get away with this. Maybe you are that person. But I don’t know.</p>
<p>My son took a risk and did the “Jailer’s Daughter” monologue for his Shakespearean one. Traditionally that role is played by a man. He got a good response.</p>
<p>“Two Noble Kinsmen” is not so well-known a Shakespeare play, because it only fairly recently was realized that Shakespeare wrote it (in collaboration with John Fletcher). Older copies of the “Complete Works” simply don’t have it.</p>
<p>It is very rarely performed, and has NEVER been adapted to film or television.</p>
<p>All of this makes it more likely that the auditors will NOT have heard anyone perform your monologue better than you perform it.</p>
<p>RealKEVP, I didn’t say to pick the not-overdone Shakespeare monologues. I actually think you should simply pick whichever ones you connect with, overdone or not. I only said that <em>if</em> you wanted, you could avoid the overdone ones. I disagree with you that all Shakespeare monologues are overdone in college auditions. Some are definitely done much more than others: A few technically ‘overdone’ ones off the top of my head: Viola’s Ring monologue, anything in Romeo and Juliet, Edmund in King Lear, etc. Other monologues are much less used, typically those from the lesser performed plays.</p>
<p>My own kids actually successfully performed overdone Shakespeare monologues because these were the ones they connected with best. But if it bothers you, by all means, please read and view Shakespeare, read extensively, find those that you connect with and fall in love with. Just remember to choose a character you would be likely to be cast as; if the character is middle aged or older, don’t choose him/her. </p>
<p>The purpose of choosing monologues is not to show off your knowledge of playwrights. I mean, of course, it’s great if you’re widely read. And again, if you connect with a non-Shakespeare, great. </p>
<p>I am only stressing this point because I would hate for students to get the impression they have to go search out esoteric classical playwrights just for the sake of doing that, or to second-guess their choice of Shakespeare. Many aspiring college students have successfully auditioned using Shakespeare. (And many programs require Shakespeare specifically.) The best way to stand out is to fully connect with your monologue.</p>
<p>I found an overdone list that is more current than 2009…so I am going to have my D check that one out when looking for additional monologues. This has been a great discussion. One of her schools is requiring Shakespeare so we will be following those rules and perform one that hopefully she connects with.</p>
Yeah, I’d say that one’s done a quite a bit. A good test I like to do is to search google for “play title - monologue” and see what pops up. If there’s a youtube rendition, or multiple, I’d say that’s a major red flag it’s overdone. If monologue appears in a monologue book or otherwise pdf not from the original play, that’s a good indicator as well. If you feel you can deeply connect to the piece in a way no other actor can, you can ignore that. However, I’m of the belief there is always a perfect piece out there that you can deeply connect to and is relatively scarce.
D just got an email from professors at NYU about summer assignment (which involves choosing scenes from shows written in the last 15 years) which said they should not choose anything by Neil LaBute, they are listing his works as “overdone”. D had a monologue from one of his shows (“The Mercy Seat”) in her group of monologues year before last. Not sure if people at other schools would agree, but thought I would pass it on!