Are you looking for scripts to practice acting at home? If so, you’re definitely in good company. While there might not be open theaters to perform in these days, that doesn’t mean young actors can’t keep their skills sharp by practicing their acting craft at home.
By the looks of Backstage.com, perhaps the best known resource for actors looking for acting opportunities, the prevalence of zoom readings, online workshops, and social media acting challenges has exploded. There is no shortage of ways for actors to practice and show off their talents.
Here are some tips for finding monologues to practice at home.
“Know What Looks Good on You”
This is a quote from my freshman year Acting 101 professor. This simple advice has stuck with me for many years, and I think of it whenever I consider a monologue to practice or a role to audition for. When we shop for clothes in a store, we often try on the item and check the mirror (or at least ask a trusted friend or family member to give us their honest opinion). Just like an item of clothing, not every role suits us.
While we try to avoid stereotyping people in real life, in acting it’s part of the process of making the character believable. What “type” are you? Leading man? Leading lady? Comic sidekick? Character player? If you’re not sure, ask those who know you to tell you what actor you remind them of. People used to say I reminded them of Stockard Channing: when I look at a monologue, I ask myself: could I see Stockard Channing play this part? If not, then it might not be right for me either.
Don’t Limit Yourself to Just Monologues for the Stage
While most monologues we find in collections are taken from stage plays, there are some very powerful monologues in films and television (after all, quite a few prominent playwrights have written for both the large and small screen). However, it is very important, as an actor in training, to read as many plays as you can. Knowing the difference between work written for the stage and work written for the screen is a critical part of an actor’s education.
Another word of caution about monologues from screen and TV: be very careful to NOT try and imitate the actor’s performance. The point is to develop our own unique acting style, not copy someone else’s. Miranda Priestly’s “Pile of Stuff” monologue from The Devil Wears Prada is brilliant, but I’d be foolish to try and mimic the great Meryl Streep!
One last tip: don’t overlook poetry as potential monologue material. Some poems can be very funny, dramatic, and unique choices.
Choose a Variety of Monologues for Your Actor’s Toolkit: Classical, Contemporary, Comic, and Dramatic
Practicing only one type of monologue is like a musician practicing only one scale. The more variety of work in your practice routine, and the more scripts to practice acting you have, the more you will grow as an actor. You’ll also be more prepared for the opportunity to audition, whenever that comes!
Acting coaches often recommend that an actor practice at least one classical monologue (from a play or sonnet by Shakespeare, or one of his contemporaries, or from ancient Greek or Roman theater) and one from the modern era (really anything from the late 1880’s onward). Modern doesn’t have to mean contemporary, which means in the last 10 to 15 years. Furthermore, actors like to stay in their comfort zone (understandably), but that’s not a place where growth happens. If your default is comedy, go out of your way to find a dramatic piece, and vice versa.
*Special note for women looking for classical monologues: yes, your options are limited (far fewer roles were written for women, partly because women were not allowed to act until the mid-19th century), but there are some great ones; also, consider “gender-neutral” parts such as the Chorus in most of Greek drama, or the Prologue at the beginning of Romeo and Juliet. You could, if you wanted to take the challenge, play a man’s part: hey, if men could play women in the Elizabethan theater, why not flip the script?
Below are some great online resources for finding monologues and scripts to practice acting at home:
Here’s a good list for female and male monologues for teenagers, from a wide range of sources:
https://www.stagemilk.com/monologues-for-teenagers/
Theaternerds.com has several lists of monologues, organized by gender and type (dramatic or comic). I like that they also list the approximate running time for each selection:
https://theatrenerds.com/17-dramatic-monologues-for-men/
https://theatrenerds.com/17-dramatic-monologues-for-women/
https://theatrenerds.com/17-comedic-monologues-for-men/
https://theatrenerds.com/17-comedic-monologues-for-women/
A short list via Backstage, but some really good choices (The Laramie Project is one of my favorites)
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/dramatic-monologues-for-teens-701
Some possibilities by legendary Greek dramatist Sophocles:
https://www.thoughtco.com/dramatic-monologues-by-sophocles-2713305
Finally, a contemporary monologue finder tool from Backstage: https://www.backstage.com/monologues/contemporary/
Laura Rebecca