Use of swear words in audition monologue?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

<p>My acting class just finished monologues, and I am definitely using my piece for auditions, but we have moved onto scenes. My character has a monologue in the scene that I love, but it uses the f-word once or twice. What is your opinion in using swear words in audition material?</p>

2

<p>We attended a session at the Virginia Theatre Association conference recently about college auditions. One of the panelists said it’s OK to use the words in passing, but too often when a high school student chooses a monologue with swearing, “it becomes all about the swearing.” The listeners also don’t want to be yelled at. And one panelist mentioned, plaintively, that he hopes never again to hear a sweet, pretty 17-year-old girl doing a monologue about rape.</p>

3

<p>Here’s a six year old thread from the MT forum that’s pretty well on point in which I attempted humor and Doctorjohn chimed in on the last page with the science behind it … </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/243028-appropriate-monologues.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/243028-appropriate-monologues.html?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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4

<p>I agree with the quote from Dr. John above.</p>

<p>But note that he is saying that he is “generally” against profanity, but, like most audition advice, this is not an absolute rule.</p>

<p>One problem is simply that young beginning actors don’t know what to do with the profanity in a monologue, and so do end up making the monologue all about the profanity. This applies whether the profanity is in a comic, dramatic, angry, or any other context.</p>

<p>A very experienced and trained actor will be able to deliver an audition monologue that contains profanity without any problem, but most of you are not there yet.</p>

<p>Nobody wants to see a child who seems to just be saying “look at me! I know how to say some dirty words!!”</p>

<p>(I do also get the impression that there may be very conservative and/or religious schools that simply do not like to hear profanity.)</p>

5

<p>I would recommend that you, AthenaL, do not include profanity in your college audition monologue. Remember that this is the first glimpse of you that faculty get to see, so it would be great for them to see someone who they would like to work with. One of my friends did a monologue at a workshop for a guest artist we had on campus, and the guest told her that although she seemed like a very nice girl, the monologue had my friend yelling and being mean, and the guest artist told her it was off-putting. </p>

<p>Remember that there are very few things that you can control in your audition. You can decide what you wear, your audition material, and your resume. Go with your gut, but please remember that first impressions are everything in a fifteen-minute audition.</p>