I’d like to apply for drama school, but I’m an international student and I’m not sure where I can find modern plays to choose monologues from. I’ve looked online but most are from unknown authors and I’m not sure if those would be accepted. Do you know of a good site?
This question was asked over at Formspring and I thought it was a good question to look at. You can see my original answer here.
Every drama school will all have their own rules regarding audition monologues. Some drama schools even have a list of classic speeches to chose from and you’re not allowed to use any others! So it’s crucial you check and double check which schools allow what. Each drama school will specify these on their websites or in their prospectus’.
As for finding a good audition monologue? It takes time and effort. I can guarantee you would not get into drama school if you chose the first speech you found after a quick Google search!
As great as the internet is, get offline for your research. Put some effort into it by spending a day in your local library reading some plays. Great speeches come from plays and the simple answer is you have to read them to find them! To do a speech and character justice you must have full knowledge of the events of the play it comes from. Lifting a speech from a play you have never read is not only lazy but will completely backfire when you’re asked questions about the play by the audition panel. Cover yourself by researching thoroughly.
As I am not an experienced auditionee of drama schools, nor have I much knowledge about being on an audition panel for these schools, here are some incredibly useful links from those who know their stuff.
Mark Westbrook is an experienced acting coach who trains students for drama school auditions. His posts are gold dust to any drama school auditionees! A few of my favourite posts from his blog include;
Lenka is an actress and blogger who created the insightful Inside Drama School Auditions blog. The website is a collection of various actors’ drama school audition experiences with an aim to prepare future auditionees.
Alice is an actress in training who has also blogged about her drama school audition experiences over at Knowing Alice. There are also plenty of other drama school bloggers which you can check out at the Brilliant Blogs Toolkit!