Please save these guidelines and follow the instructions carefully!
1. Memorize and prepare two monologues
- Each monologue should be approximately 1 minute; please time your monologues and cut as needed
- One monologue must be by a character from a play by Shakespeare. (PLEASE DO NOT PRESENT YOUR Shakespeare piece in a British accent)
- One monologue should be by a character from a published modern or contemporary play
- Choose characters close to your own age, of the same gender as yourself, whom you understand and to whom you can relate
- Put the person you are talking to in the monologue “out” on the fourth wall
- Props are not necessary; do not sit unless the monologue calls for it
- See a list of suggested monologues below
2. Your audition will also include movement, improvisation, a cold reading, and voice and movement warm-ups.
3. Please dress comfortably and appropriately for all portions of the audition.
- DO NOT WEAR JEANS
- Wear loose pants and a shirt which will remain tucked in securely during a physical workout
- Bring soft soled shoes for the movement and warm-up portions of your audition
4. The audition committee may ask you to perform additional material provided by the committee.
5. Please report at 8:15 a.m. on the morning of your audition.
- Please ensure that information on your audition application is complete
- Your audition will conclude between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
- Lunch will be provided
6. PLEASE NOTE that any audition is also a presentation of yourself.
- This includes your conduct, your ability to follow the above instructions, dress, personal grooming and your interaction with others during the audition.
Also, please be advised that the audition will entail physical activity which you may find strenuous. Please inform the Audition Committee of any physical limitations which may affect your participation in the audition.
Suggested Monologues
You may choose but are not required to choose, from the following list of suggested monologues.
Women
Modern
Maggie from The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer: “How long? Two weeks....”
Anne from Ashes by David Rudkin: “There were two....” (cut interjecting lines)
Harper from Angels in America I: The Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner: “Tell me without...”
Miss Julie from Miss Julie by August Strindburg: “You don’t think I can stand....”
Patsy from Little Murders by Jules Feiffer: “Honey, I don’t want to hurt you....”
Carol from Oleanna by David Mamet: “For Christ's sake...”
Woman from Laughing Wild by Christopher Durang: “O, it's all such a mess...”
Maggie from Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel: “When I was sixteen....”
Squeaky Fromme from Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman: “I was like you once...”
Eve from Waiting for the Parade by John Murrell: “I knew he'd drive me...”
Shakespeare
Lady Percy from Henry IV Part II, iii: “O my good lord....else he loves me not”
Isabella from Measure for Measure II, iv: “To whom should I....for his soul’s rest”
Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream I, i: "How happy some..."
Paulina from The Winter's Tale III, ii: "What studied torments..."
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet II, iv: “The clock struck nine.....send thy man away”
Lady Macbeth from Macbeth I, v: “The raven himself is hoarse....to cry, Hold, hold!”
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet II, iv: "Thou knowest the mast..."
Jailor's Daughter from The Two Noble Kinsmen II, iii: "Why should I...he shall love me"
Julia from The Two Gentlemen of Verona I, ii: "Nay, would I were...what you will"
Men
Modern
Tuzenbach from The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov: "What is it? It's you..."
Man from Laughing Wild by Christopher Durang: "I was in the supermarket..."
Phil from Boy's Life by Howard Korder: "I would have destroyed myselt..."
Rick from Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare: "He told me..."
Petie from Love and Anger by George F. Walker: "Your paper is a fascist rag..."
Danny from Danny and the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley: "I was at this party..."
Phil from Jitters by David French: "George, take part of my salary..."
Paul from Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare: "The imagination..."
Cosmo from The Pitchfork Disney by Philip Ridley: "I hate being touched..."
Biff from Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller: "Hap, I've had..."
Maniac from Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo: "No wonder he jumped..."
Shakespeare
Young Clifford from Henry VI Part 2 V, ii: "Shame and confusion...those woes of mine."
Proteus from The Two Gentlemen of Verona II, iv: "Even as one heat...use my skill"
Ferdinand from The Tempest III, i: "There be some sports..."
Sebastian from Twelfth Night I, viii: "This is the air...here the lady comes"
Valentine from The Two Gentlemen of Verona III, i: "And why not death...from life"
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet III, iii: "Tis torture...that word banished"
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet II, ii: "But soft...touch that cheek"
Malcolm from Macbeth IV, iii: "MacDuff this noble passion...why are you silent"
Edmund from King Lear I, ii: "Thou, Nature...stand up for Bastards"