Multicultural Monologues for Young Actors (The Young Actors Series) [Paperback]

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

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1880399474 | ISBN-13: 978-1880399477 | Publication Date: March 1995 | Edition: 1st

In this volume you will find a collection of life experiences from throughout the many cultures that people our world. By design, we've challenged ourselves to offer a usable collection of monologues for young actors that will serve as exploration tools, while at the same time provide a journey rich in diversity. To be successful in this journey you will have to venture in to worlds that are not, perhaps, immediate to your own experiences...As with our prior collections for young actors, we've selected what we believe to be quality literature by significant writers. Once again we've included speeches from plays, first-person poetry, and cuttings from fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tomorrow's Tony winners can prepare for casting calls (and demonstrate their cultural diversity) with Multicultural Monologues for Young Actors and Multicultural Scenes for Young Actors, edited by Craig Slaight and Jack Sharrar. Both titles emphasize selections from contemporary playwrights, among them Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson and Horton Foote (Smith and Kraus, paper $11.95 each ISBN 1-880399-47-4; -48-2 July).

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up--Selections that cover the continents for 23 male and 21 female solo performers. Unfortunately, the authors have neglected not only to index the entries, but, in several cases, even to identify the characters' ethnic heritage. The monologues, while quite good, are copyrighted and, in many instances, subject to royalties. This carelessly tossed-together offering meets a need, but requires a hunt-and-peck method of finding an ethnic interest. The idea is great; the presentation is not.

Judie Porter, Media Services Center, Portsmouth School Department, RI

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc; 1st edition (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880399474
• ISBN-13: 978-1880399477
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Teenage filmmakers and actor auditions, June 21, 2009

By 

Phil Lee (Minneapolis, Minn, Silicon Tundra, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Multicultural Monologues for Young Actors (The Young Actors Series) (Paperback)

Most High School Drama and filmmaking classes don't target multicultural themes. A close critique "On the making of" and reading the script of youth Hmong (untrained) actors in Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino (08)" is a case-in-point. While a local, first-time Minneapolis Anglo screenwriter, Nick Schenk, wrote the dialog, ethnic film school aficionados have said that the dialog was not delivered using the Hmong lyrical idiom characteristic of their language. Essentially Hmong actors were winging dialog as nuevo-Americans in many scenes.

Slaight and Sharrar's book of Monologues is a giant legitimizing step towards encouraging the next generation of actors needed for the emerging Multiculturalism genre. Mainstream youth directors and screenwriters can use the essence of this pioneering book harbinging advanced ethnic themes which can better bridge to the mainstream American audience as well as preserve the linguistic heritage. In short, use the ethnic foundation and go beyond Paul Haggis's "Crash (05)," and Danny Boyle's "Slumdog (08)," both produced by "establishment" directors and screenwriters.


While this book has four Asian monologues, two poems each 1.5 pages long are in English, already translated from Vietnamese (girl) and Chinese (boy). Reference to original Viet or Hanzi is not included and no notes on enunciation or slang terms is shown, other than an a 3.5pg listing of playwright cites at the end of the booklet.

WorldCatDotORG shows that this book is well distributed in college and public libraries nationwide.

Ethnic distribution:

For the Girl's parts: Native Amer (4), Black-Amer (3), Hispanic (3), Asian (2), Euro (2), East Euro (2), Mid-East (1), African (1), Amer (1).

For the Boy's parts: Hispanic (8), Black-Amer (5), Euro (3), Asian (2), E Euro (2), Native Amer (1), Mid-East (1), African (1).

Below is a listing of the Monologue titles, ethnicity or cultural basis, as well as the playwright, for more research or info:


The Smith & Kraus "Youth series" has 6 books. The "Multicultural Scenes for Young Actors" has not been reviewed to see if this is a companion book with corresponding content.

S&K also has a 3-book Hispanic Latino Monologues for Young Actor series by Marco Ramirez (NYU Tisch BFA Dramatic Writing, currently studying at Juilliard, and a Miami-based Cuban-Amer playwright in NYC and Humana), "My First Latino Monologue Book: A Sense of Character: 100 Monologues for Young Children (2009, My First Acting Series)." He is a fan of Anton Chekhov's Short Stories. As a new book series, this is not widely distributed yet 157525607X, -6088, -6096. Not many multicultural monologues are on YouTube.