Harbison - Best Contemporary Monologues for Women 18-35

Copyright 2014 by Lawrence Harbison

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2014 by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
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Permissions can be found in Play Sources and Acknowledgments, which constitutes an extension of this copyright page.

Printed in the United States of America

Book design by John J. Flannery

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Best contemporary monologues for women 18-35 / edited by Lawrence Harbison.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4803-6962-7 (paperback)
1. Monologues. 2. Acting--Auditions. 3. Women--Drama. I. Harbison, Lawrence.
PN2080.B42 2014
812.6--dc23
2014012554

www.applausebooks.com

Contents

by Sherry Kramer

by Christine Masciotti

by Christine Masciotti

by Nicole Pandolfo

by Alex Goldberg

by Alex Goldberg

by Don Nigro

by Don Nigro

by Nat Cassidy

by David Lee White

by Elaine Romero

by Erik Gernand

by Laura Marks

by Mike Lew

by Nina Mansfield

by Christina Anderson

by Christina Anderson

by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

by Anne Flanagan

by Rosary ONeill

by Steven Simoncic

by Steven Simoncic

by Michael Weems

by Itamar Moses

by David Johnston

by Steven Levenson

by Madeleine George

by Madeleine George

by Crystal Skillman

by Kimberly Pau

by Abby Rosebrock

by Abby Rosebrock

by Adam Bock

by Adam Bock

by Adam Bock

by Don Nigro

by Stephen Kaplan

by Yasmine Beverly Rana

by Walt McGough

by Walt McGough

by Helen Sneed

by Eric Coble

by Eric Coble

by Jane Martin

by Chad Beguelin

by Patrick Link

by Don Nigro

by Stephen Bittrich

by Greg Kalleres

by Sherry Kramer

by Sherry Kramer

by Sherry Kramer

by Lloyd Suh

by Yussef El Guindi

by Chad Beckim

by Jennifer Maisel

by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig

by John William Schiffbauer

by Migdalia Cruz

by Paul Bomba

by Larke Schuldberg

by Josh Koenigsberg

by Anne Washburn

by Lisa Loomer

by C. Denby Swanson

by C. Denby Swanson

by C. Denby Swanson

by C. Denby Swanson

by Adam Rapp

by Laura Jacqmin

by Jennifer OGrady

by Don Nigro

by Sherry Kramer

by Sherry Kramer

by Sherry Kramer

by Radha Blank

by Mark Dunn

by Mark Dunn

by Merridith Allen

by Daniel Guyton

by Jacqueline Goldfinger

by Don Nigro

by Jane Martin

by Qui Nguyen

by Jonathan A. Goldberg

by Lydia R. Diamond

by Dominique Morisseau

by Jeffrey Hatcher

by Scott Sickles

by Megan Hart

by Glenn Alterman

by Kate Mulley

by D. Richard Tucker

by David Ives

by Sam Bobrick

by Crystal Skillman

by Mona Mansour

by Eric Dufault

Here you will find close to one hundred terrific monologues for women, all from recent plays. Most have a present-tense dramatic action, because I believe these are the most effective, whether in class or for auditions. In the cases where I have included a story monologue, though, it was a great story. Some are comic (laughs), some are dramatic (generally, no laughs). Some are rather short, some are rather long.

Several of the monologues are by playwrights whose work may be familiar to youwriters such as Don Nigro, Itamar Moses, Adam Bock, Adam Rapp, Jane Martin, and David Ives. Other monologues are by exciting up-and-comers such as Nicole Pandolfo, Erik Gernand, Laura Marks, David Johnston, Crystal Skillman, Kimberly Pau, Greg Kalleres, and C. Denby Swanson. All represent the best in contemporary playwriting.

Many of the plays from which these monologues have been culled have been published previously and, hence, are readily available either from the publisher/licensor or from a theatrical bookstore such as the Drama Book Shop in New York. A few of the plays may not be published for a while, in which case you may contact the author or his or her agent to request a copy of the entire text of the play that contains the monologue that suits your fancy. Information on publishers/rights holders may be found in the Play Sources and Acknowledgments section in the back of this anthology.

Break a leg at that audition! Knock em dead in class!

Lawrence Harbison
Brooklyn, NY

Sherry Kramer

Seriocomic

MARY CATHERINE, late 20searly 30s

MARY CATHERINE hasnt been home in a long time because she considers herself too sophisticated to fit in with her all American family. She has come back for the funeral of her Aunt Emily, who died from the shock of seeing MARY CATHERINE s younger sister, AMALIA , having sex with her boyfriend on a pile of clothing. Now, AMALIA refuses to get out of the bathtub. She believes that her aunt spontaneously combusted and that she will too, and that she has to be immersed in water to be safe. MARY CATHERINE has decided that its her mission to get AMALIA out of the tub, and has gone into the bathroom to confront her.

MARY CATHERINE Molly, when people spend days sitting in bathtubs of cold water they catch cold. Yeah, yeah, I know youre not afraid of catching cold. Youre afraid of catching hot. But basically, Molly, I believe it all comes down to a fear of catching a temperature other than your own. This is why, I freely admit, your decision to silently semidrown yourself makes no sense to me. If it is even possible to separate hot and cold, ying and yangif it is even possible, spiritually, theoretically you still cant do it in this instance, because getting a fever is the very body to the soul of catching cold. This spontaneous combustion is just a screen, Molly. Its not what really has you scared. No. What you, Amalia Parker, are frightened of, what has you up to your neck in the wet quarter-nelson of fear is nothing more, nothing less, nothing but the common cold. For most women I know, a man represents a cure for a vital, everyday illness. But they can never quite remember whether the rule really is feed a fever and starve a cold. It sounds obviously onomatopoeic. And the instinct once thwarted, they end up starving the wrong mouth for the greater part of their lives. They get so busy pushing men into places inside them that are not connected to even the suggestion of a digestive tract. Well, maybe youre right. Maybe discretion is the better part of valor. If you cant say something nice, dont say anything at all, and all. You know, when we were kids I thought it said, the better part of velour. Discretion is the better part of velour. Ever since then Ive always suspected that discretion was somehow synthetic. Counterfeit. Thats what I think now, Molly. [ Pause. ] Molly, its just not all that attractive, your sitting there all wet, not saying anything. I mean, your little mermaid routine, I can go for that. But I keep wanting to ask you if the cats got your tongue. Tuna fish, Molly. Thats what this charade suggests to me. Tuna fish. And I dont get it.

Christine Masciotti

Dramatic

TARA, 18

TARA , a college freshman, hates where she goes to school because she thinks its full of cardboard, cookie-cutter phonies. She has come to her father, who has a gun shop in his home in Reading, PA, basically to hang out and talk about her life. For him, Reading is a rapidly deteriorating nowheresville; for her, its just what she needs for a while.