Additional Suggested Pieces for Auditions MONOLOGUES FOR MEN
Picnic By William Inge BOMBER: Hi, Madge! I hope I didn’t wake you, Madge, or bother you or anything. Hey, Madge, a bunch of us guys are chippin’ in on a hot-‐rod – radio and everything. I get it every Friday night. Lemme pick you up some night after Seymour brings you home. I seen you riding around in his Cadillac like you was a Duchess. Why do good looking girls have to be so stuck on themselves? Lemme pick you up some night! We’ll get some cans of beer… Aw, c’mon, Madge! Give a guy a break! Our Town By Thornton Wilder GEORGE: Hello, Emily! You made a fine speech in class. Gee, it’s funny, Emily. From my window up there I can just see your head nights when you’re doing your home work over in your room. You certainly do stick to it, Emily. I don’t see how you can sit still that long. Emily, what do think? We might work out a kinda telegraph from your window to mine; and once in a while you could give me a kinda hint or two about one of those Algebra problems. I don’t mean the answers, Emily, of course not – just some little hint. Well – I better be getting out to the baseball field. Thanks for the talk, Emily. Brighton Beach Memoirs By Neil Simon EUGENE: There are some things that grown-‐ups just won’t discuss… For example, my grandfather. He died from – (He whispers.) – Diptheria! ... Anyway, after Uncle Dave died, he left Aunt Blanche with no money. Not even insurance… and she couldn’t support herself because she has – (He whispers.) Asthma… So my big-‐hearted mother insisted we take her and her kids in to live with us. My father thought it would just be temporary but it’s been three and a half years so far and I think because of Aunt Blanche’s situation, my father is developing – (He whispers) – High blood pressure!
Antigone By Jean Anouilh HAEMON: That giant strength, that courage. That massive god who used to pick me up in his arms and shelter me from shadows and monsters – was that you, Father? Was that man you? You are not that man today. For if you were, you’d know that your enemies were abroad in every street. You’d know that the people revere those gods that you despise. You cannot put Antigone to death. She will not have been dead an hour before shame will sit on every Theban forehead and horror will fill every Theban heart. Already the people curse you because you do not bury Polynices. If you kill Antigone, they will hate you! The Rainmaker By Richard Nash STARBUCK: Dry? I tell you, those people didn’t have enough damp to blink their eyes! I look up at the sky and pretty soon – way up there – there’s a tiny cloud like the size of a mare’s tail – and then over there – there’s another cloud. And then I look up and all of a sudden there’s a herd of white buffalo stampedin’ across the sky! And then, down comes the rain! Rain in buckets, rain in barrels, fillin’ the lowlands, floodin’ the gullies! And when I rode out of there, I looked behind me and I see the prettiest colors in the sky – green, blue, purple, gold – colors to make you cry! And me? I’m ridin’ right through the rainbow! Dark at the Top of the Stairs By William Inge SAMMY: I always worry that maybe people aren't going to like me, when I go to a party. Isn't that crazy? Do you ever get kind of a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you dread things? Gee, I wouldn't want to miss a party for anything. But every time I go to one, I have to reason with myself to keep from feeling that the whole world's against me. See, I've spent almost my whole life in the military academies. My mother doesn't have a place for me, where she lives. She...she just doesn't know what else to do with me. But you mustn't misunderstand about my mother. She's really a very lovely person.
MONOLOGUES FOR WOMEN The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-‐In-‐The-‐Moon Marigolds By Paul Zindel TILLIE: Mr. Goodman said I should tell what my future plans are and how this experiment has helped me make them. For one thing, The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-‐In-‐The-‐Moon Marigolds has made me curious abut the sun and the stars, for the universe itself must be like a world of great atoms – and I want to know more about it. But most important, I suppose… my experiment has made me feel important – every atom in me, in everybody, has come from the sun – from places beyond our dreams. The atoms of our hands, the atoms of our hearts… Atom. Atom. What a beautiful word. Picnic By William Inge MADGE: Mom, please don’t get mad. I’m not doing this for spite but … I’m going to Tulsa, Mom. I know how you feel, but I don’t know what else to do. I have to go. My bus leaves in a few minutes. He needs me, Mom. I guess you don’t love someone because he’s perfect. Mrs. Potts, take care of Mom for me, will you? I’ll write, Mom. Mom, don’t worry. I’ve got some money I’ve been saving and there are lots of jobs in Tulsa. I can always work. Oh, Mother! Tell Millie I never meant it all those times I said I hated her. Tell her I’ve always been very proud that I had such a smart sister. Antigone By Jean Anouilh ANTIGONE: It was beautiful. The whole world was grey when I went out. And now – you wouldn’t recognize it. It’s like a post card: all pink, and green and yellow. You’ll have to get up earlier, Nurse if you want to see a world without color. The garden was lovely. It was still asleep. The fields were wet. They were waiting for something to happen. The whole world was breathless, waiting. I took off my sandals and slipped into a field. Do you think that if I got up every morning like this, it would be just as thrilling every morning to be the first person out-‐of doors?
Brighton Beach Memoirs By Neil Simon NORA: I’m going to be in a Broadway show! It’s a musical called Abracadabra… This man, Mr. Beckman, he’s a producer, came to our dancing class this afternoon and he picked out three girls. We have to be at the Hudson Theater on Monday morning at ten o’clock to audition for the dance director. But on the way out he took me aside and said the job was good as mine. They start rehearsing a week from Monday and then it goes to Philadelphia, Wilmington and Washington… and then it comes to New York the second week in December… I mean, can you believe it? I’m going to be in a Broadway show, Momma! The Member of the Wedding By Carson McCullers FRANKIE: I think something is wrong. It is too quiet. I have a peculiar warning in my bones. I bet you a hundred dollars it's going to storm. A terrible, terrible dog-‐day storm. Or maybe even a cyclone. Everything's been so sudden today. I never believed before about the fact that the earth turns at a rate of about a thousand miles a day. I didn't understand why it was that if you jumped up in the air you wouldn't land in Selma or Fairview or somewhere else instead of the same backyard. But now it seems to me I feel the world going around very fast. Fifth of July By Lanford Wilson SHIRLEY: I’m going to be the greatest artist Missouri has ever produced. I am going to be so great! Unqualified! The greatest single artist the Midwest has ever known. Doing something astonishing! Just astonishing! A painter. Or a sculptor. Or a dancer! A writer. A conductor! A composer! An actress! One of the arts! People will die. Certain people will literally have cardiac arrests at the magnitude of my achievements. I will have you know that I intend to study for ten years, and then I will burst forth on the world. And people will be abashed! Amazed! Astonished! At my magnitude.