Advice from Knox Faculty - Theatre Auditions and Portfolios

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Advice from Knox Faculty

It is preferable for you to perform only one character in each monologue, though there are instances in which a character imitates or performs another persona.
Avoid trying to play both or more characters in a given scene, or pausing to accommodate the other character’s dialogue.
Try to choose a section of a scene where the character is forcefully trying to achieve something that is strongly desired i.e. to convince, to intimidate, to defy, to impress, to confess etc
Try to avoid sequences in which the character is recounting an event or incident that happened in the past. These are recognizable because the verbs are usually in the past tense and frequently the phrase “I remember…” is used.
You are welcome to edit together a monologue from a sequence of dialogue, rather than rely only on text that already is in monologue from in the play. To do this effectively, pick a scene (often the climax) where two characters are going head to head, each trying to achieve their respective desires. If necessary you may tweak a word or two to make transitions less awkward. You are likely to be more comfortable if you select pieces within your range: usually a youth or young adult. You are encouraged to take risks, but be sure that you are confident of your choices and are very well prepared. What might be such a risk? Some examples are Hamlet’s “To be or not to be….”, Willy Loman in The Death of a Salesman, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, or Violet in August Osage County.
Monologue choices should show range, and there should be contrasts both between the selections and within each selection. Consider that you want your monologues to demonstrate your ability to act effectively in multiple situations: to struggle against fear, to celebrate, to threaten forcefully, to assault, to vow etc. A monologue that starts the character in one state of being and transitions to another through some sort of event or discovery can be very dynamic.
The pieces should be fully memorized, well rehearsed out loud, and staged to include movement as appropriate.
You may use a chair, but it is wise to avoid performing the entire monologue seated.