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Overview
Monologues are a fast-growing area of theatre, with new opportunities to perform them popping up left, right and centre.
Most actors only learn short monologues for auditions. Equally, most monologues you come across are written expressly for this purpose, with a typical duration of 1-3 minutes. Longer monologues – from 5-10 minutes and onwards – aren’t all that easy to find and the majority of actors don’t know one by heart.
This is not a good thing. There’s no excuse for an actor not to have at least one comedic and one dramatic monologue ready to go at all times. From a career perspective, it’s beyond undesirable if they don’t – it’s borderline negligent.
Why such a strong statement?
An actor who doesn’t have monologues in their repertoire is like a musician who doesn’t know any songs. They might be good at what they do but it will be hard for them to prove it.
Monologues provide an opportunity for an actor to showcase their work, putting them alone in the spotlight to demonstrate just how good they are. They are not designed for auditions, which are usually done in front of a small panel; they are designed for performance, meaning they are something you can put in front of an audience of any size. They are easily transportable, rarely being dependent on props and costumes (since we have mime and imagination to compensate) and never reliant on other actors being around. There are many thousands of festivals around the world which produce monologues, providing a platform for any actor who wants an audience. A monologue is the perfect vehicle for you to show off your stuff.
On top of that, many drama students around the world are required to perform monologues as part of their schooling and it’s incredibly difficult to find well-written pieces which are longer than 2-3 minutes.
As a playwright, International Literary Manager, and former Festival Director of the world’s largest short play festival (Short+Sweet Sydney), I know for sure there is a great market need for quality monologues. Quite simply, it’s hard to find good ones. There are many out there but they’re often weak on story and character, therefore not providing the raw materials an actor needs to shine. I had an epiphany when actor after actor told me they struggled to find a piece they liked: I realised I could help them!
So I moved the focus of my writing away from novels and full-length plays and onto monologues, emphasising rich characters and original, engaging stories that stay with you well after the performance. That said, actors thrive when they’re having fun on stage, so there are also a few “silly” pieces in here which are simply designed to make people laugh.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have these monologues produced over 600 times around the world and win 19 major awards from them. What’s more, 17 actors have won major awards from performing them. As my main aim is for people to enjoy watching and performing them, I’m glad to be on the right track.
For this volume, I’ve collated my best 30 pieces for you. Drama, comedy, male monologues, female monologues, gender-neutral monologues, good silly fun and dark serious stuff – this book has it all. All ages, races, genders, sizes, and personalities are catered for. And it’s formatted for performance so you can print the scripts and start rehearsing.
Do yourself a favour. Learn one of these pieces. The next time someone says, “So you’re an actor eh? Show me what you can do,” you’ll know exactly what to show them.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940153798158 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pete Malicki |
| Publication date: | 10/22/2016 |
| Sold by: | Smashwords |
| Format: | eBook |
| Sales rank: | 883,341 |
| File size: | 248 KB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Pete Malicki is a versatile writer and a maverick of the arts and entertainment industries. He's won writing awards all around the globe and holds a world record for running the longest short play festival in history.
As a writer, Pete began by writing five novels before broadening his horizons and diving into the theatre world. His first published novel, "Eyes And Knives", was named book chain Berkelouw’s "Book Of The Week" upon its release. His fifth novel, "The Travellers' Guide to the Afterlives", is an endearing mock-autobiography affectionately thought of as The Most Important Book In The History Of Literature, because no other book tells you how to secure the best eternal life!
In theatre, Pete has had over 750 productions of 70 different plays in 20 countries. His plays have won 21 awards between them at nationwide/international events. “V.D.”, his full-length one-woman show, has toured Australia, England and New Zealand to great critical acclaim.
His speciality is writing theatrical monologues which actors love to perform. These have rich, textured characters and engaging stories, and with 200+ performances of them each year they are among the most popular and successful monologues in the world. Six volumes of these monologues have been published at SpeechGeek and a collection of the best 30, called Monosauce, are now available at Smashwords.
Outside of writing, Pete is a heavyweight producer in his hometown of Sydney Australia. He's run the world's largest short play festival - Short+Sweet Sydney - four times and been the coordinator of artist development program Crash Test Drama for close to a decade. He founded The Monologue project in 2013, which offers live shows, a script resource and workshops for drama students. He's directed dozens of award-winning actors and stood at the helm of major Sydney productions. On top of that, he runs workshops on business skills and monologue performance, works as an editor for New Holland Publishers and his own company Editors Australia, and holds regular writing courses.
He is also developing Monologue Master, an online educational resource for actors wanting to get better at performing monologues, and co-founded Horizon VR, a virtual reality production company.
www.petemalicki.com