Customer Reviews

Monologues from Classic Plays: 468 B.C. to 1960 A.D. (Monologue Audition Series)

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I bought this book for a couple of main reasons: I wanted to get a copy of both monologues from "The Skin of Our Teeth" that it has, and it had some Shakespeare monologues. I'm a comedic actress, and so I thought monologues from "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Midsummer Night's Dream" would be a good choice for me. Unfortunately, the editor has picked some non-comedic monologues from each of these plays. The VAST majority of pieces in here are dramatic monologues. It's probably a great book if that's what you enjoy, and certainly I can use it to develop my skills, but there are VERY few pieces for women that show OFF my talents. There are more comedic monologues for men, (the insult speech from Cyrano is here) but there are still WAY more dramatic monologues.
This brings me to the "Skin of Our Teeth" monologues. Or specifically, the opening monologue. The editor has taken out a sizable portion of the speech, wherein the actress breaks character to rant about the play. It's one of the reasons I like this piece so much. It's gone. AND there's no mention that the monologue has been edited. It causes me to wonder what's missing from the monologues I don't know as well. To add insult to injury, the book lists the character's name as "Sabrina." Her name is "Sabina." It's a smallish detail, but it points to a general lack of care. Again, I can't help but wonder what other details are wrong. There's a great variety of speeches, but VERY little explanation of the circumstances surrounding the speech, and NO footnotes to help interpret the older (Elizabethan and earlier) plays. It's a good idea, but the execution is sorely lacking.