Even More Monologues for Women by Women [Paperback]

Tori Haring-Smith (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2001

Tori Haring-Smith has watched so many women audition using the words of men that she decided to do something about it: she collected the pieces that formed Monologues for Women by Women. The response was so overwhelming that Haring-Smith followed up this classic with More Monologues for Women by Women and now, four years later, with Even More Monologues for Women by Women.

Like the first two volumes in this series, Even More Monologues for Women by Women features a wide range of voices and characters, but this time with a more international focus. There are young women dealing with breast cancer, older women reflecting on lifelong marriages, lesbians, single mothers, students, a fishing guide, a commercial model, a political revolutionary, and a mathematician. These women are concerned about violence, religion, disintegrating families, the feminist movement, the pain of underwire bras, the emotional life of crabs, and their own inability to feel emotion - providing one-of-a-kind audition pieces to help you stand out from a crowd.

This volume is an outstanding sourcebook for professional actresses, acting students, drama students, theatre companies looking for new plays by women, and anyone with a general interest in women's studies.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nothing evokes as much dread and anguish from both actors and directors as the obligatory audition monolog. The "What-are-you-going-to-do-for-us?" call has all too often been met with the chronically abused Blanche DuBois or Sam Shepard response. Fortunately, publishers like Smith & Kraus and Heinemann have raised the monolog selection bar considerably in recent years, with contemporary collections that often address neglected constituencies like African Americans and women. As he did in his 1997 collection, Monologues on Black Life, Edwards (theater, Arizona State Univ.) addresses the paucity of relevant selections for modern black actors by offering a twist on the orthodox monolog compilation. The 50 pieces he assembles are original, including a beautifully elegaic six-part monolog play, "The Sorrows of Elva." Divided among half a dozen short story-like sections, Edwards's speeches are alternately raw and poetic, reflecting a wide diversity of ages, settings, and contemporary themes that are more individually complete and whole than the typically out-of-context three-minute speech. In the third installment of her popular "Monologues for Women by Women" series, Haring-Smith (English and theater, Brown Univ.) takes a more traditional approach. She gathers 57 selections that collectively represent the freshest and most vibrant assemblage of monologs for women by women now available in the contemporary, fringe, alternative, and international theater (the inclusion of playwrights outside the United States is new). Like Edwards's collection, the monologs included here are all over the emotional and social map. Haring-Smith also provides an extremely actor-friendly subject index that groups the speeches by broad subject headings like "Body Image and Issues," "Race and Ethnicity," and "Aging," among others. She also includes a useful section that offers tips for auditioning with a monolog and brief notes on each playwright. Both titles are most enthusiastically recommended for theater and acting collections at all levels serving the needs of black and female actors.DBarry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Tori Haring-Smith has been a director, dramaturg, and translator for more than twenty years in academic and professional theatres. She has served as dramaturg for Trinity Repertory Company; artistic director for the Wallace Theatre in Cairo, Egypt; coordinated the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award; and is now Vice President for Educational Affairs at Willamette University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann Drama (January 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325002479
• ISBN-13: 978-0325002477
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Gay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, March 14, 2007

By 

B. W. (Kansas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Even More Monologues for Women by Women (Paperback)

I bought this, hoping for some good pieces to work with forensics students, since my class is all girls. There are a few good pieces, but I would warn any high school teahers purchasing this that there is a lot of profanity and obscenity. Depending on your community, the recurrent themes of lesbianism and feminism might be a bit more extreme than comfortable. However, I think it is a good choice for adults looking for those hard-to-find female monolgues. Selections are, on average, slightly longer than in the preceding Monologues for Women by Women.

3.0 out of 5 stars Women Monologues..., April 26, 2010

By 

Pamela Jarmon-Wade "Tx Red Rose" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Even More Monologues for Women by Women (Paperback)

I purchased this book obviously because I was looking for monologues for women and it seemed that there were more available for men and teens. I was overjoyed to finally find a book that focused on women. The selection was adequate even though I did not opt to use one in this book for my upcoming audition. In my opinion the best part of this book was the introduction that included a well written piece titled, "Why Monologues" and "Tips on Auditioning". If you are a woman and want to have a library that consists of readily available monologues, then this is a worthy purchase.