About Monologues

What is a Monologue?

A monologue is a speech in which only one character speaks. The character may be talking to another character, addressing the audience or expressing thoughts and feelings. However, the speech is usually free of interruption.

Why Monologues?

​Because it demands that an actor hold a stage all on his/her own. Monologues are also a logistics-free training tool for the actor. As such, they are indispensable at auditions - having ready monologues in one’s back pocket is invaluable to an acting career.

For the audience, these bite-sized performances demonstrate how theatre can be both easily comprehensible and stirring.

​Monologues reflect how drama can exist in the everyday and attest to the recreation of life on stage.

Monologue Masterlist

http://www.actorpoint.com/monologue.html
http://www.backstage.com/monologues/
http://stageagent.com/monologues
http://freedrama.net/small1a.html
​http://www.ace-your-audition.com/
http://www.acting-school-stop.com/monologues.html
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http://www.monologuedb.com/
http://www.arthurjolly.com/monologuesF.html
http://www.arthurjolly.com/monologuesM.html
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International Playwrights
Tennessee Williams
Eugene O'Neill
Sarah Kane
Caryl Churchill
Samuel Beckett
David Mamet
Arthur Miller

Local Playwrights
Haresh Sharma
Chong Tze Chien
Huzir Sulaiman
Ovidia Yu
Alfian Sa’at
Kuo Pao Kun
Lucas Ho 
Joel Tan
Faith Ng 
Jean Tay 

Tips & Advice

8 Questions to help you choose a good monologue.

1. Does it resonate with you?

Find monologues that you identify with and that you could see yourself playing.

3. Does the character resemble you?

 The character that speaks the monologue is ideally close in your actual age or playable age range. This helps your performance to be more believable.

5. Who are you speaking to?

Ideally your monologue is one where your character is talking to a specific individual(s).

​If you do not know the source of the material, create your own reality by asking yourself “who could I be speaking to?” “Where could I be as I am speaking?” “What could have happened to me before this scene started?”

7. Does it showcase your emotional range?

Avoid one-noted monologues that show only one emotion throughout. It becomes predictable, boring and tedious. There is nothing worse than watching someone rant and rave angrily for 2 minutes. We all love to hear stories with twists and turns. Bring us along with you. Work on a monologue that has a physical or emotional “arc” or storyline. 

2. Can it stand on its own? 

Your monologue must be able to stand on its own and make sense even when taken out of context of a full script. There should be no confusion on what the character wants or is talking about. 

4. Is there a point of conflict?

The most compelling choice for monologue material is one where the speaker is in conflict with whomever he/she is speaking to. In short, something is not going “your” way and your objective is to change all that. Right now. Urgency is critical.

6. Substance or style? 

Always choose substance. Avoid monologues that are full of unnecessary foul language or rude sexual innuendos, unless it is essential to the character, who in spite of the language is funny or quirky. But be careful. Well-written monologues like that are few and far between. Choose well written monologues over something flashy to impress.

8. Have you read the play (or watched the movie)?

Read the entire play/watch the entire movie that the monologue comes from. If you have access to it, this is the only way you will completely understand the character and the story. The more you know, the more fully realised the performance will be.