Great Monologues for Young Actors, Vol. 1 by Craig Slaight, Jack Sharrar (Editor)

From the Publisher

As professional directors and teachers who work with young and adult actors at the Tony Award-Winning American Conservatory Theater, Slaight and Sharrar have years of experience helping actors uncover the dynamics of the monologue, as acting exercise and as audition material. Now in their impressive third volume of age-appropriate monologues, culled from plays by substantial playwrights from an international field, the editors have assembled an impressive collection to take the actor/director/teacher to new levels of sophistication and breadth. The volume's introduction is a concise guide to today's audition obstacles and how to overcome them. As in their other award-winning collections, Slaight and Sharrar have selected character speeches from the finest dramatic literature. In addition, they have included a special section on the use of the song lyric as an exciting and useful exercise in solo work.

Some of the writers included are:

Edward Albee
Lee Blessing
Constance Congdon
Kia Corthron
Bob Dylan
Horton Foote
Timothy Mason
Sharman Macdonald
Lynn Nottage
Adam Rapp
George Bernard
Shaw Shakespeare
Sam Shepard
John M. Synge

Dramatics

. . . a terrific collection of 84 monologues for young actors. (Praise For Great Monologues For Young Actors Vol. II)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up

A fresh and challenging collection, ideal for classroom or practical use, this eclectic volume offers more than 50 speeches. A few of them contain language that ventures into mature territory, but most teens will find everything here very accessible. The brief but fantastic introduction includes intelligent advice on how to best make use of the material and to handle auditions professionally. A helpful appendix gives contact information for copyright permissions to those seeking to produce paid performances, but all of the speeches are royalty-free for auditions or study. With selections culled from playwrights such as Shakespeare and Shaw, Beth Henley and Christopher Durang, as well as from exceptional new talents, this is a volume that theater professionals and librarians will definitely want to have.-Madigan McGillicuddy, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Gr 9-12-- Unlike many collections for young actors, this book includes only material from published works and is thereby subject to roy alties. Amateur and professional actors are warned on the verso of the title page to secure written permission from agents before per forming or in any way reproducing any of the monologues. However, aspiring actors seeking material from recognized stage plays will ap preciate the time saved on finding cuttings themselves. This collection is divided into con temporary, classic, and nondramatic literary selections, all assorted by gender and ranging from 418 B.C. to the present. Although a one- or two-sentence overview of the piece and a short character description precede each brief entry, the editors encourage YAs to ``study these monologues in the context of the total work.'' Libraries serving young actors may want to include this book in their collections, but all should be aware of the performance limitations of these selections.-- Dona Weis man, Northeast Texas Library System, Gar land

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