Product Description

A collection of 222 men's and women's monologues, 2 minutes and under. Simply the greatest audition book every published. Two hundred carefully chosen monologues for men and women, all under two minutes. All monologues are indexed by play title, author, age, and gender of character.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #200267 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 258 pages

Amazon.com Review
The Ultimate Audition Book is not fancy, but it's just what the working (and aspiring) actor is looking for: a treasury of well-chosen, short monologues from many time periods and sensibilities that enable an auditioner to make a positive impression fast. What could be better? Jocelyn Beard draws on a variety of writers, including Aphra Behn, David Mamet, George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, and Samuel Beckett, with enough surprises such as Suzan-Lori Parks and Jose Echegaray thrown in to make the selections flexible for today's growing multicultural arena. The monologues are organized by century, which is perhaps not the first thing an actor considers, but there is ample material in the mix of male/female, comic/dramatic, classic/contemporary, and romantic/political roles.

From Library Journal
This latest entry in the publisher's popular monolog series contains choice selections from mostly major dramatic works for brief auditions. Written from the 15th through the late 20th century, these excerpts derive from some of the world's great dramatists, including Moliere, Mercy Warren, Oscar Wilde, Eugene O'Neill, Christopher Durang, and Harold Pinter. The book is divided between women's and men's monologs, and each work is prefaced by a very brief contextual paragraph. Auditioning actors should find this a valuable resource. Recommended for theater arts collections in high school, academic, and public libraries.?Howard E. Miller, St. Louis Science Ctr.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
It is the best of the recent collections of audition materials, particularly for period pieces. -- Choice, February 1998

Since actors often are called upon to provide both a classical and modern monologue, Beard's collection fills a need nicely. -- Stage Directions, April 1998

Customer Reviews

Monologues not well-chosen
This book was a real disappointment. I am not sure if the editor was lazy or used whatever source material was the cheapest or what. Out of 100+ selection for men, maybe 3 or 4 were at all useful. There are much, MUCH better monologue anthologies out there - pass on this one and keep looking!

helpful.....
i would think this book would be for 25+or so actors...i looked through all the monologues and as a teenager, i didn't find a lot of them very interesting or appealing. this book is definetely not a book for beginners because a lot of the monologues are to long for a beginner.....

The greatest audtion book I have ever read
Wow this book is great. I know that all the monologues in this book are at least 2 minutes and there is a great range of dramatic to comidic. All the monologues have dates by them so you know if they are classic or modern. Buy this book!