Art of the Monologue

The Art of the Monologue contains several monologues, ranging from four or five minutes performance time to a full performance of around 45 to 90 minutes. There are parts for male and female actors. Also included is a complete play, from which a monologue has been developed. This allows students to see how a monologue can be created from a play using more than one actor. It also allows students to develop their own monologues from the other characters.

The monologues in this book can be used for performances in their present form, but they can also be used and developed by individual students preparing their own performance.

There is also a substantial introduction on the monologue as drama, looking at different types of monologue. It also provides specific suggestions for using the monologues in the book as performance pieces.

Contents

• Foreword – suggestions for use and study
• Seeing the Unseen, Hearing the Unheard – an introduction to monologues
• Alone in the Crowd – three monologues for women
• The Life Of The Barbie: Melinda Plant, 20s, school fete volunteer
• Moving Up In The World: Jackie Grayson, late 30s, qualified accountant
• A Very Nice Type of A Person: Grace Grimshaw, 60s, retired shopkeeper
• Other Voices – two monologues for men.
• The Stranger: Luke Donnelly, 16, high school student
• Before The Law: Gavin Lang, barrister
• Machiavelli, Machiavelli – a full length play for one actor
• Leah Hunt: 60, ex-mayor and formidable political operative.
• Waiting for Rupert Murdoch – a full-length play, plus a monologue.
• Waiting for Rupert Murdoch: a two-act play for six characters
• Deadlines and Runaways: Cam Smith, journalist in his 20s. A monologue extracted from the play.