Great Monologues for Young Actors, Vol. II [Paperback]

Jack Sharrar (Author, Editor), Craig Slaight (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1997 | Series: Young Actor Series

As professional directors and teachers who work with young and adult actors at the Tony Award-Winning American Conservatory Theater, Slaight and Sharrar have years of experience helping actors uncover the dynamics of the monologue, as acting exercise and as audition material. Now in their impressive third volume of age-appropriate monologues, culled from plays by substantial playwrights from an international field, the editors have assembled an impressive collection to take the actor/director/teacher to new levels of sophistication and breadth. The volume's introduction is a concise guide to today's audition obstacles and how to overcome them. As in their other award-winning collections, Slaight and Sharrar have selected character speeches from the finest dramatic literature. In addition, they have included a special section on the use of the song lyric as an exciting and useful exercise in solo work.

Some of the writers included are:
Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Constance Congdon, Kia Corthron, Bob Dylan, Horton Foote, Timothy Mason, Sharman Macdonald, Lynn Nottage, Adam Rapp, George Bernard, Shaw Shakespeare, Sam Shepard, John M. Synge

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-This title includes speeches from a variety of works by well-known playwrights such as Shakespeare, Lanford Wilson, Christopher Durang, Tennessee Williams, and Maria Irene Fornes. There are also odd choices in that the play or playwright is not well known, or the chosen selection is not of high interest or dramatic quality. For example, a weaker speech of Portia's from The Merchant of Venice is given rather than the one that is usually singled out. There is little comedy included. The choices made in beginning/ending cuts are sometimes awkward; actors often would do well to read the plays and recut the selections themselves. There is a concise introduction to the uses of monologues, but the authors neglect to advise young actors of the importance of reading the entire play when working on a monologue. The book is divided into two sections: "Monologues for Young Women" and "Monologues for Young Men." Brief introductions (some of which contain grammatical and factual errors) give the setting and context for the speeches.
Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

English teachers, drama coaches and teachers need to include Volume II of this series in their collection. --KLIATT, July 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus; First Edition edition (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157525106X
• ISBN-13: 978-1575251066
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book I've found!, November 29, 2000

By 

A. Steinhardt "librarilana" (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Monologues for Young Actors, Vol. II (Paperback)

As a young actor, it is very hard to find monologues that do not insult my intelligence or acting ability. So many books have shallow monologues that cannot really show off a young actors strong points. I love this book because every page has a challenging and effective performance piece. As a student or young actor, this book is a must have! The pieces come some well known plays, are challenging, and are open to iterpretation to many different styles. The cuttings are great (the best I've found actually). You'll love this book. It's wonderful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lot of great, rare monologues, December 24, 2004

By 

B. Naylor (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Monologues for Young Actors, Vol. II (Paperback)

I actually don't own this book, but I was looking through it in the book store and initially noticed all of the great playwrights with work in the book. This is probably one of the best books I have found for age appropriate monologues for teens. They're not your usual, melodramatic "I'm a teen drug addict" monologues. They come from great plays and each monologue contains a brief synopsis. I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for monologues from college that are rarely seen but still great pieces.