Audition Suggestions
from Artistic Director Stephen Legawiec
(revised on January 10, 2025)

If you’re an actor who likes reading - read on! (and this is a long article, so feel free to jump around…)

Introduction

Finding an audition piece that works might be the most important thing an actor has to do, with regard to getting work. Here’s why the expectations are high: You can cast yourself in anything you want and you have an unlimited time to rehearse it. Here’s why they can fall short: actors frequently choose overdone monologues, sometimes receive weak direction, or don’t put in enough time on it. More about this later, but when finding a monolgue, find something that no one else is going to do. That’s a tall order, but it really involves doing your own research, not relying on the suggestions of others, or lists of monologues, or monologue books. This is a much harder way to go than to pick up a monologue book. But it will pay off in the long run. And directors really want to work with actors who don’t go the easy route. So there’s that. As to direction, you must have someone direct you in it, who is a director. Don’t direct yourself, or have a fellow actor direct you. Ideally have a director who is used to seeing a lot of monologues direct you. As an example, in the last two months alone, I saw 3,000 of them.

Age Appropriate

Please pick a character that you believe you could conceivably be cast as in the professional world. University theatre normally casts within a fixed group of college-age actors. As an example: A college production could certainly cast a twenty-year-old as Julius Caesar. And if that actor was you, you might have been successful in the role. But I recommend finding an age-appropriate monologue. A professional company doing Julius Caesar will almost certainly cast an older, more experienced actor. A solid, age-appropriate monologue will also demonstrate that you are clear on how you expect to be seen and cast.

Overdone Shakespeare

Although we are a Shakespeare company, we don’t require a Shakespeare monologue. At least not at first. If you are introducing yourself with a monologue, a contemporary one might show you off better. This is because there are limited number of Shakespeare monologues, especially for women. If you are going to do a Shakespeare monologue, I suggest you don’t do Phebe (“Think not that I love him”) or Cressida (“Hard to seem won,”) or Helena (“How happy some or other some can be”) or Viola (“I left no ring with her”). And probably the Jailer’s Daughter (“Why should I love this gentleman?”). Because I have seen them hundreds of times, it is unlikely that you will bring something fresh to them, even if they are performed well.

I actually saw a female Shakespeare monologue this week that I had never heard before in an audition. I didn’t think that possible. It was so refreshing. You might also take a scene and just remove the other character’s lines, if this can be done and make sense. But, it has to make sense without the responses. I’ve seen that done successfully. And you can bet that you’ll be the only one doing it.

Men have an easier time because there are more monologues, but stay away from Hamlet and Romeo. Women will sometimes do male character Shakespeare pieces, but I believe this is very hard to pull off. Also, stay away from extremely emotional speeches. I am thinking of something like Romeo’s “Tis torture and not mercy.” Or Claudio’s “Sweet sister let me live.” They never come across well out of context.

Still, if you think you have an interesting take on a well-worn monologue, have at it. I am just saying the odds are really not in your favor.

TV and Movie Monlogues

If you do a contemporary monologue, don’t do one from TV or a movie. Chiefly because this is theatre and not film. But also because I will always think you are copying the performance, which you have most certainly seen. And I will be comparing your performance to the famous actor who originated it in the first place.

Monologue Books

Do monologues from full plays, not ones that exist solely as monologues. Not only because the stand-alone monologues tend to be overdone, but also because they provide very little room for interpretation. And that is what is at issue - what is your take on this particular character?

Accents

If you are doing a British character, do the British accent. I see actors audition with Oscar Wilde (and others) in an American accent and this just bewilders me. Chiefly because character is British, not American. If it’s a British play, be British; If it’s an Irish play, be Irish. The questions at an audition is “can this actor play a character?” I know you can be yourself, but can you be someone else? All of acting is pretending to be people you are not. (Even after this posting, we are still getting British characters in American accents…)

Overdone Contemporary

There are always overdone contemporary monologues, and these change with the times. (This year’s winner is the sloth/squirrel speech from “The Staggering Heartbreak of Jasmine Merriweather.”) Google “overdone monologues.” There are sites which will give you a list of ones not to do. I suggest you avoid the speeches on those lists. Find a monologue from a play no one has ever heard of. There’s tons of them.

Costumes

Also, other directors may disagree, but I don’t think there is anything to be gained by an audition video which uses costumes or a set. For example, You can dress like a boy to do a Viola monologue, but for me, it won’t give you any edge. The day is won by the actor creating interesting behavior, not costuming themselves. An actress once sent a callback video for Juliet, which she shot in a gown, on a balcony. It looked great, but it made no difference. We cast the actress who auditioned in normal clothes, shot in her kitchen, because her acting was more interesting.

Comedy

One of the questions that I ask if I am casting a comedy (in fact the only question) is: Can this actor be funny? There is no guarantee that you will be funny, just because you are doing a comic monologue. I think that being funny is much harder than being dramatic, and that’s why so few people can do it. The Oscars almost never give awards for comic performances. Most of that is because comedy gets very little respect as a serious art form. But the other reason is that it’s so hard to do. Just because your speech is from a comedy, it doesn't mean the speech is funny. Unless you are one of the very few who are natural comedians. find a speech that is funny on the page and then work out “the funny” in a painstaking way. The greatest stand-up comedians agonize over every aspect of their performance. It’s an example worth following.

Truth

Most of this blog is about monologue choices, but here is something about performance. We spend a lot of time in acting schools working on truth. Truth is necessary, but in an audition situation, truth is the bare minimum required. I don’t believe that just being true and believable will ever get you noticed. What we look for are actors who are interesting. When making notes during auditions, I would frequently write BBNI, which means “believable but not interesting.” Usually this comes from the actor really using themself in the role. But there are other factors too. Ask yourself: what is interesting about this performance? Yes, there are some actors who are interesting no matter what they do and who would be hard-pressed to tell you why. But for the vast majority of others, it might be worth asking the question. There is a story about Matthew Modine doing multiple takes for Director Stanley Kubrick, during the filming of “Full Metal Jacket.” After one of the takes Modine said. “That felt real.” Kubrick said, “Real is good. Interesting is better.”

Thanks for reading. I hope any of this is helpful.