Customer Reviews

One on One: The Best Men's Monologues for the 21st Century

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I borrowed this from the library for my boyfriend, who was beginning an acting workshop. He found so many useful monologues in this book that we ended up buying it. The pieces span a wide range of ages, ethnicities, types, and topics, and it is an indispensible as a source for fresh and exciting audition pieces that haven't been done to death by a million other aspiring actors. Highly recommended for all male actors.

The monologue is an important part of the theatre, but even the best actor will falter with poor material. "One on One: The Best Men's Monologue for the 21st Century" is an anthology of great monologues geared towards male actors. Comprised of contemporary writers' best work, the monologues range across diverse topics, from serious social issues to entertainment-based matters. "One on One" is a must for any theatre producer or writer who wants to be inspired or use the best.

I agree with a previous reviewer that this book contains monologues that seem to lack objective. Most of the monologues in this book seem to have been arbitrarily taken from play excepts with no sense of purpose, range of emotion, dramatic essence and for some, no logical ending point. I purchased this book a while back and fed into the hype of the description. I loved the fact that it had the monologues broken down by age, ethnicity, and genre. However, i started an acting workshop this month and just "knew" that i could find at least one good age and content appropriate monologue in this book. I was completely wrong. After reading most of the monologues in the book, especially those described as being for males anywhere from 20's-30's. WORTHLESS. Most of them were very short with little sense of meaning or "heart" to any of them. I do not recommend this book for serious actors.Especially African Americans. Don't get me wrong there are a few decent monologues in here, but try your money elsewhere.

It is sad to learn that unfortunately this book equates "21st century" with vulgarity and sexual innuendo. The only monologues I found able to use were the first two, as the rest were either entirely inappropriate or lacking a sense of objective. Even those that were not entirely tasteless read more like descriptions rather than objective-driven monologues. If you are seeking interesting and appropriate subject matter, look elsewhere.

Was searching for materials I could use for senior adult male parts over age 55. This fit the bill nicely.

This monologue book is amazing. It tells you what shows the monologues are from. This is handy in case the judges of an audition ask you what show the monologue is from. It also gives you a synopsis of the show and the scene. I have performed several monologues from this book and I have only gotten amazing responses. My favorite in the book is from the show called "New York." I won a state monologue competition with it. I have also used this book for many auditions. I highly recommend.