# Great Contemporary Monologues? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827 "2002-06-25T04:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827/1 "2002-06-25T04:03:07Z")
Anyone have any ideas on some really great contemporary monologues, suitable for audition? I currently only have one in my repertoire that is any good, and it’s not contemporary (St. Joan by Shaw). I need female monologues from contemporary playwrights. I tend to do serious stuff better than comedy, but would really love to find a good comedic piece as well. It would be especially cool if I could find something that not every other actor in town has done to death… something relatively obscure but really really good. Unfortunately at this point I’ve a dearth of ideas… I tend to be a hyper-literary type that leans towards more classic, older stuff. 😛 Any ideas welcome… thanks. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827/2 "2002-06-25T04:15:08Z")
[This site](http://www.monologuemadness.com/cgi-bin/mm/choose-group.cgi?g=0) will at least point you to lots of sources. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827/3 "2002-06-25T10:48:09Z")
GQ is for questions with factual answers. The responses you get will be a matter of opinion. Since this is about the stage, I’ll send this thread over to our arts forum, Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![KXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KXL)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827/4 "2002-06-25T18:50:00Z")
This is basically what you don’t want, but at least not everyone is doing it. It’s comedy, sorry. The most effective audition piece I’ve ever seen was a performance of an essay. Peter David is a science fiction and comic book writer. He also used to write essays for “The Comics Buyers Guide.” His best/funniest essay was on “Why The Wizard of Oz is a Bad Movie” in which he points out the inconsistencies, etc. The guy performing it didn’t do the entire essay, but a trimmed version. Everyone loved it. ---
**Author:** ![KXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KXL)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-contemporary-monologues/115827/5 "2002-06-25T18:52:41Z")
This is basically what you don’t want, but at least not everyone is doing it. It’s comedy, sorry. The most effective audition piece I’ve ever seen was a performance of an essay. Peter David is a science fiction and comic book writer. He also used to write essays for “The Comics Buyers Guide.” His best/funniest essay was on “Why The Wizard of Oz is a Bad Movie” in which he points out the inconsistencies, etc. The guy performing it didn’t do the entire essay, but a trimmed version. Everyone loved it. The essay can be found in David’s collection, BUT I DIGRESS [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0873412869/](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0873412869/)