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  • 1.  good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-27-2015 10:11
    My first year acting class needs some dynamic monologues for their last project. They are all female and in mid teens. The  monologue must be two minutes and from a play or a movie, not from a monologue book written for teens. Any ideas?

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    Kim Silverman
    Director of Theatre
    The Grier School
    Tyrone PA
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  • 2.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-27-2015 11:50

    May I recommend that they be from a play and NOT a movie? The problem with monologues from films is that they are already fixed in a definitive form, and one can never quite get away from that. On the other hand, play monologues were created with plenty of room for interpretation, both by their nature and because there is no one version out there to which we all have access.

    Cheers,
    Jonathan

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    Jonathan Dorf
    Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
    Los Angeles CA
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  • 3.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-28-2015 08:55

    I allow movie monologues and scenes in class, but the students may not select anything that they have seen before.  This allows them to make it their own.  It also decreases the odds of other students having seen it, since they are more likely to have seen the same films, and, during critique sessions, someone saying "It's supposed to be like this."

     I feel that by ignoring film, we rob the students of some rich, well written and chalenging  material, both from classics and more contemporary films.

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    Robert DiMartino
    Theatre Teacher
    Cumberland High School
    West Warwick RI
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  • 4.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-28-2015 07:50

    Lawrence Harbison is the editor of many books of monologues for Smith & Kraus Publishers. His collections are monologues that come from plays and he has a new one coming out soon that focuses on roles for teens. As you know, Smith & Kraus has a number of terrific books of original monologues, but Larry's books feature pieces from published plays.

    It's great that you're looking for monologues from longer works, although I agree with Jonathan that pieces from films invite comparison to the original. 

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    Arlene Hutton
    playwright
    New York NY
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  • 5.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-28-2015 08:22

    We've done two plays by Cynthia Mercati, and both have a number of monologues -To See the Stars and Faces of Freedom.  They are all 'direct address' style - spoken to the audience or to the world in general, rather than to another character.  'Stars' is period (shirtwaist factory girls), 'Faces' is mostly modern (immigration stories).  All are characters in their teens or possibly early 20s.

    The Audition by Don Zolidis has two good contemporary monologues for teen girls.

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    Kristin Hall
    Drama Director
    Lincoln Public Schools
    Arlington MA
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  • 6.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-28-2015 11:18

    There are some really good monologues in Face Forward: Growing Up in Nazi Germany by Brendon Votipka and Voices in Conflict by Bonnie Dickinson. Both can be found on Playscripts.

    In you want something more challenging I'd try Iphegenia and Other Daughters by Ellen McGlaughlan

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    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
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  • 7.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-29-2015 11:25
    When I need to find a women's monologue quickly I usually pull from Neil Simon or Shakespeare, since there are a lot of them floating around on the internet. Arthur Miller also has quite a few good monologues for young women (try looking at Catherine's speech from "A View from the Bridge"). :) ------------------------------ Natasha Schlaffer Simi Valley CA ------------------------------


  • 8.  RE: good young women's monologues

    Posted 04-29-2015 11:44
    Agreed, Shakespeare's always ripe, if the student is up for it. Others could include 'NIght Train to Bolina' (Talita), 'Rosa's Eulogy' (Jeanne, praying for her cat that someone ran over), '15 Reasons to Not be in a Play', 'Letters to a Student Revolutionary.' I haven't read it/seen it, but I'm sure 'Grounded' may well have some decent monologues?

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Ruskin FL
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  • 9.  Female Monologues

    Posted 04-29-2015 14:10

    FEMALE monologues?  Here are a few I use --

    Anne Frank

    Emily from Our Town

    Vera Carp from A Tuna Christmas

    Babe from Crimes of the Heart

    Tassie from Claptrap

    M'Lynn from Steel Magnolias

    Fanny from Funny Girl

    Lucy from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

    Wife from 'The Seduction' from The Good Doctor

     

    I also get them started on Shakespeare -- learning to COMPREHEND what they are saying before they say it . . . lots of simple monologues they can start with.

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    Paul Townsend
    Scottsdale AZ
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