The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook

An Actor's Guide to over 1000 Monologues and Dialogues from More Than 300 Contemporary Plays

Ed Hooks | 3.93 | 51 ratings and reviews

Ranked #90 in Actors

Preparing for an audition and unsure of what you want to do? The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook is the book you've been waiting for.

Unlike “scene books” that reprint 50 to 75 monologues excerpted from plays but don't include any background information, this annotated guide tells you what you really need to know about audition material from more than 300 contemporary plays.

Here is how the book works. Suppose that you're looking for a dramatic male/female scene. When you scan “Part One: Play Synopses and Analyses,” you come across an entry for The Middle of the Night by Paddy Chayefsky. This is what you see:

The Middle of the Night
by Paddy Chayefsky (Samuel French)
Synopsis: A kindly 53-year-old widower falls in love with a 23-year-old woman who is unhappily married to a musician. No one in their circle of acquaintances approves of this union, but their love is true.

Analysis: Excellent human drama, frequently touching. Actors who play the widower need to have a good feel for New York City/Brooklyn speech patterns. This sensitivity isn't as essential for the part of the woman. All levels.

Scenes/Monologues: Male Monologues (1), Female/Female Scenes (1), Male/Female Scenes (2)

In addition to basic information about the play (author and publisher), the entry provides you with the story line, a critique of the play, and the number of audition-worthy monologues and scenes it contains. If the description of this particular play piques your interest, your next step is to turn to “Part Six: Male/Female Scenes” for specifics about the selection. This is what you'll see there:

The Middle of the Night
by Paddy Chayefsky (Samuel French)
Drama: Act II, Scene 2, pp. 40-44; The Manufacturer (53) and The (23).
After an unsatisfactory attempt at lovemaking, The Manufacturer feels awful that he wasn’t able to perform ually. The is very understanding. He then asks her to marry him. The actor playing The Manufacturer must have a good feel for regional New York speech patterns. This skill is less critical for the actress playing The . Start, The Manufacturer: “I’m sorry, Betty.” End, The Manufacturer: “Oh, my sweet , I love you so much you don’t know. If you change your mind tomorrow, I won’t be angry with you. I won’t lie to you, Betty. I’m afraid.”

This entry tells you what type of scene this is (dramatic), where you'll find the selection (act, scene, and page numbers), the length of the scene, the names and ages of the characters, the context in which the characters are speaking, and the first and last lines of the scene. If the material seems appropriate, all you have to do is get a copy of the play and get to work.

Because The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook enables you to make informed decisions about the suitability of more than 1,000 monologues and scenes-which you can find easily through the book's extensive cross indexes—you’ll gain a critical edge in the auditioning process. less

Buy on Amazon

Similar Books

If you like The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook, check out these similar top-rated books:

Learn: What makes Shortform summaries the best in the world?

Learn More