Mamet Monologues

[PJ]

Posted: 7/20/04 at 8:49pm

I need a contemporary monologue from a play for my college auditions this winter. I was thinking of using something from Mamet's body of work. Any suggestions as to which plays I could find a fine, dramatic monologue. The only criteria is that it not exceed two minutes.

"The Woods" and "American Buffalo" were suggested to me by a Carnegie Mellon student recently. Would those work?

Posted: 7/20/04 at 8:53pm

It's from the film version of Glengarry Glenn Ross, but I've always been quite partial to "F*CK you, that's my name."

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/20/04 at 9:27pm

"American Buffalo" should have one or two you could use.

Glengarry Glenn Ross has a few very good monologues, especially Roma's from scene three (it's a bit longer than two minutes, but there's definitely a two minute excerpt or two that would work out of context for an audition).

Also, it's been YEARS since I've seen or read it, but check if there's something from "Sexual Perversity In Chicago" -- the characters are closer to your age group than most of Mamet's other characters.

Since Mamet's very popular in auditions, how about some non-Mamet stuff? If you don't know them, check out Kenneth Lonergan's "This Is Our Youth" (Warren), "Lobby Hero" (Jeff) and "The Waverly Gallery" (the narrator Daniel), as well as Christopher Shinn's "Four" (June -- he's a 16 year old male character), Tristine Skyler's "The Moonlight Room" (Joshua), and Adam Rapp's "Nocturne" (the entire play is an almost uninterrupted two hour monologue by the 20-ish narrator that won Dallas Roberts who created the character at NYTW all the off-Broadway awards that year). These are all acclaimed plays that ran off-Broadway in the last several years and garnered those who played the roles I've named, awards and/or special mention in reviews -- these characters are all also either in their teens or early 20's.

Not sure where you're located, but all of these scripts are published and available at the Drama Bookshop in NY or another theatre-related bookstore or a library with a good theatre section. I can come up with other ideas, probably, if you'd like. Good luck.

[bobby_strong]

Posted: 7/20/04 at 9:33pm

theres a good dramatic piece from "the house of ramon iglesia" by jose rivera. Javier's character. I used it for my thr 101 class this past fall and it made half the class cry.

really powerful if staged right.

Posted: 7/20/04 at 9:39pm

Saroyan's Time of Your Life has some good stuff. Depending on how old you can play, I'm also a huge proponent of the Cricket Bat monologue from The Real Thing.

[PJ]

Posted: 7/20/04 at 10:00pm

Wow. Thanks for so many suggestions, Margo. I'll definitely look into those you mentioned. And unfortunately, I live in Pennsylvania. Meaning, I'll have to special order and buy the plays to see what I like. My local libraries don't carry anything theatre related to my knowledge.

Oh, and Bobby_strong, thanks to you as well. I will look into that play / monologue as well.

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/20/04 at 10:30pm

Not sure where in PA you are, but I'd imagine Philly and Pittsburgh would have Barnes & Noble, Borders or the equivalent (which may or may not be helpful -- the ones in New York actually have pretty good theatre sections, but, then again, this is a city full of theatre fanatics). Also, call or go by the college or university closest to you with a good drama/theatre department. No doubt, the students and professors there would be able to point you to a university library or bookstore that would have decent collection (you just want to go somewhere and be able to sit and skim through as many scripts as possible and see which ones appeal to you and play to your strengths -- you can order the ones you really want from Drama Bookshop, Amazon or Samuel French afterwards). The people at the college would probably also be helpful in helping you choose monologues that are right for you.

Worse comes to worse, talk mom and dad into letting you come to NY for a weekend -- I have friends from around the country who make pilgrimages to the Drama Book Shop (250 W. 40th Street) once or twice a year and spend hours reading plays and picking up the scripts they need.
Drama Book Shop