I'm a theatre design major (costume design), but I have to take several acting classes for my major. For these classes, I need 2 monologues, each one no longer than 2 minutes, one "contemporary" and one "classic", and of contrasting nature ( 1 dramatic and 1 comic). The "contemporary" can even be from a movie, provided it's not too overdone or well-known. What female monologues do you absolutely love? I'm open to any sugguestions! Thanks!

Glen Close's monologue in Dangerous Liaisons.

I second Dangerous Liaisons, great monologue when she talks about sticking a fork into her hand under the table

I love St. Joan's monologue towards the end when she tells her persecutors that they are not fit that she should live among them...makes me cry.

Also check out "Alice of God", a few great monologies in there

Also, the play "Shadowboxes" has some great female monologues

"Amadeus" has 1 good monologue for Stanzi near the end

If you want a serious/comic monoloque you might want to try Lily Tomlin's _The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe_. It's old (I used it when I was in acting classes during the early 90's), but it is probably easily accessable at the library.

HTH,
Dawn

There are also several great ones to choose from in The Vagina Monologues, also available at your local library (probably! hopefully!). If not, I've got a copy.

For a classical/serious one, you could always do Lady Macbeth's mnologue in Macbeth....................but Shakespeare is V. hard to remember!!!!

"Also check out "Alice of God", a few great monologies in there"

do you mean agnes of god?

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most of the suggestions are serious. as far as comedic, here are some contemporary suggestions.
** my left breast, by susan miller. it's about her fight with breast cancer, but pretty funny. **chicks... i don't remember the author - the piece is about a messed up kindergarten teacher.


also, if you go to your library, it most likely will have the series "best plays/monologues/short stories/poetry (pick what you want) of (insert year of choice). these are good yearly anthologies where you could find some lesser known contemporary pieces.

If you can find a copy of the book or script, "Blown Sideways Through Life" by Claudia Shear is an amazing 1-woman show chock-full of great material - dramatic, but with lots of funny parts. I must get my book back from the friend I lent it to...

I was just looking through my husband's Samuel French catalog (yes, he has play catalogs lying around the house) and found one of my favorites, "Back County Crimes" by Lanie Robertson. It was my first high school play, and I had a monologue that's in the script in both male and female versions - it's a little longer than 2 minutes, but can be cut. The play is out of print now but you can still get a copy for $25 (kinda steep, but I'm thinking about it). I used that monologue in auditions for over 20 years.

For some brand-new material, check out the Famous Ghost Monologues at http://www.tomatonation.com/ (this one http://www.tomatonation.com/jessgarn.shtml is one of my favorites). Sarah is still in the process of writing them, and I think they're currently about to be performed for the first time. Most of them are also a little longer but can be cut down. I'm sure she wouldn't mind giving you permission to use one for audition purposes if you asked.

You could do the Vagina Monologues. I played the part of Harper in Angles in AMerica by Tony Kushner and she has some really great ones.

Oops! Yup, I meant Agnes, not Alice.

There are great contemporary female monologues (from two different characters) in The House of Blue Leaves. One is comedic, the other is serious.