<p>Anyone have any suggestions for Shakespeare monologues that aren't overdone for young men? I'm thinking of doing one from Taming of the Shrew, the character Petruchio. My contemporary monologue is from an Edward Albee play so pretty much anything will be contrasting. Any suggestions? </p>
<p>Do colleges prefer to see monologues from his comedies and histories rather the tragedies? Boco specifically suggests that. Why is that? Thanks!</p>
<p>I would assume that a lot of auditioners come in with a contemporary comedic and another from a classical (Shakespearean) tragedy, and there are only so many monologues one might pick. Don't know about the comedies, but I would bet histories are done MUCH less. When I was hunting for classical monologues from plays I didn't know well, I googled the synopsis/character breakdown first to see if there was a character I could conceivably play, then found an online text of it (public domain, yessss) and skimmed through to see if there were any monologue-sized chunks of text, or things that could be made into one.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend "Alternative Shakespeare monologues for men" by Simon Dunmore volume i an 2 (you can buy them on Amazon) - there is also a female equivalent.</p>
<p>JIJane - can these alternative monologues be used instead of actual Shakespeare monologues for college auditions?</p>
<p>The book contains Shakespeare monologues - it just offers alternatives to some of the more "standard" ones.</p>
<p>thanks JIJane, good suggestion!</p>
<p>JIJane - thanks, that's helpful.</p>
<p>MusTHCC - thanks. We didn't know this.</p>
<p>Thanks I actually found a really good one, that is not overdone but thanks! :)</p>
<p>Cymbeline has a great monologue for its villain Iachimo -- I think it's in Act II or III.</p>
<p>For the comics, Two Gents from Verona has a great one for Lance--it's a whole scene going on and on about his dog named "Crab."</p>
<p>As You Like It as a comedy actually has the "all the world's a stage" piece in Act III.</p>