Soliloquy!: The Shakespeare Monologues - Women (Applause Acting Series) [Paperback]

Michael Earley (Author), Philippa Keil (Author)

Book Description

Series: Applause Acting Series | Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Your one-stop classical workshop! At last, over 175 of Shakespeare's finest and most performable monologues taken from all thirty-seven plays are here in two easy-to-use volumes (Men and Women). Selections travel the entire spectrum of the great dramatist's vision, from comedies, wit and romances, to tragedies, pathos and histories. Soliloquy! is an excellent and comprehensive collection of Shakespeare's speeches. Not only are the monologues wide-ranging and varied, but they are superbly annotated. Each volume is prefaced by an informative and reassuring introduction, which explains the signals and signposts by which Shakespeare helps the actor on his journey through the text. It includes a very good explanation of blank verse, with excellent examples of irregularities which are specifically related to character and acting intentions. These two books are a must for any actor in search of a 'classical' audition piece.'- Elizabeth Smith, Voice Director, Juilliard

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books; annotated edition edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936839791
• ISBN-13: 978-0936839790
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for actors, January 31, 2004

By 

tahl2 "tahl2" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soliloquy: The Shakespeare Monologues--The Men (Applause Acting Series) (Paperback)

This compact little book, and its companion volume (same editors) of Shakespeare monologues for women, are wonderful resources for anyone who likes to memorize poetry.

Learning verse, rather than just reading verse, is tremendously rewarding: think of it like stocking a pond with fish so you've got food for thought for the rest of your life.

The book is thin, covers all the "best bits" of Shakespeare for memorization, and has all the explanatory & interpretive notes you need to understand them. Highly, highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good guide to the most popular Shakespeare for women, March 4, 2002

By 

Margaret P Harvey (Charlottesville, Va United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soliloquy!: The Shakespeare Monologues - Women (Applause Acting Series) (Paperback)

This book explores many of the most widely-know and popular monolouges for Shakespeare for female characters and a few select monolouges for male characters. The best part about this book is that the monolouges not often comprised of smaller speeches, cut up and pasted. Most of these monolouges are classic, tried and true and really useful for Shakespearen auditions and readings. An adequate amount of plot explanation and scene information is provided, as are explanations for the Elizabethan terminology. Nothing is left unsaid as far as preparation, meaning and suggestions on how a scene should be done. But the lack of variety and the absence of many well-known and good monolouges made me give this book only four stars. I would only recommend this to an actress just starting out in Shakespeare, who dosen't know a lot of Shakespeare plays and would be unable to go direct to the source for a monolouge, or have a certain play in mind. This gives a nice sampling of plays and characters to start out with. But for actresses who know and have experience with Shakespeare, it would probably be even more useful to go to the actual play to find your monolouge.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HELPFUL, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Soliloquy: The Shakespeare Monologues--The Men (Applause Acting Series) (Paperback)

This book is very helpful in the memorization of the Monologues. It has full footnotes and even guidelines on how to act out the lines. If it weren't for this book I highly doubt I would have gotten as many Shakespearean parts as I have.