speak-the-speeech

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Hi friends, I wanted to take a moment to share this link. Brielle is a dear friend, and more than that she is an incredible actress, activist, and person. She has worked so hard to be where she is, and deserves to spend the next four years pursuing her dreams. I learn from her and am inspired by her every day, and I know countless others feel the same. I feel so honored and lucky to work alongside her in class, and, beyond that, to call her my friend.

Anything you can spare contributes towards the future of a brilliant artist. Brielle deserves to be at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie. Please help the next four years become a reality.

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Monologue/Scene help

Hey there, I just paid my housing deposit at school and I’m broke as hell. For 50 cents I will do all the scansion and folio work for any Shakespeare monologue you’re working on, and for 1 dollar I will do it for a scene. This stuff is a super useful acting tool and a great way to find Shakespeare’s intent in the piece! DM me with inquiries!

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Henry VI part i - Shakespeare

JOAN LA PUCELLE

First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd: Not me begotten of a shepherd swain, But issued from the progeny of kings; Virtuous and holy; chosen from above, By inspiration of celestial grace, To work exceeding miracles on earth. I never had to do with wicked spirits: But you, that are polluted with your lusts, Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents, Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices, Because you want the grace that others have, You judge it straight a thing impossible To compass wonders but by help of devils. No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been A virgin from her tender infancy, Chaste and immaculate in very thought; Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused, Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.

Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts? Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity, That warranteth by law to be thy privilege. I am with child, ye bloody homicides: Murder not then the fruit within my womb, Although ye hale me to a violent death.

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Life update

Kind of stopped posting about the college audition process on here, but I wanted to announce that next year I’ll be attending University of Minnesota/Guthrie’s BFA actor training program!

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Hey do you know of any good Shakespearean comedic pieces and/or contrasting contemporary pieces? I'm starting to look for MFA audition pieces an so far all I've decided on is a monologue from A Winter's Tale.

Which Winter’s Tale monologue is it? DM me I can help you pick something out :)

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Boy Gets Girl - Rebecca Gilman

THERESA

No, it’s more than that (beat) It’s like when I go running in the park...if I still could...every week or so, not every day, but every week or two some guy drives by or walks by and says something to me. You know, “nice ass” or “I want to jog with you.” or “fuck you.” or “fuck me.” It’s been happening since I was twelve, so I know how to ignore it. But every tenth time or so, I still feel it. I feel reduced. I feel like everything that I know about myself- than I’m a good writer and I’ve read a lot of books, and... I like fall better than spring or... I haven’t had many friends really since my parents died, even though that was a long time ago- everything I know about myself, just gets wiped out. It’s like I’m just this thing running down the sidewalk. I’m not me anymore. I’m just this thing. (beat) And that’s how I feel now. All the time.

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Henry VI part i - Shakespeare

JOAN LA PUCELLE

The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly. Now help, ye charming spells and periapts; And ye choice spirits that admonish me And give me signs of future accidents. [Thunder] You speedy helpers, that are substitutes Under the lordly monarch of the north, Appear and aid me in this enterprise. [Enter Fiends] This speedy and quick appearance argues proof Of your accustom'd diligence to me. Now, ye familiar spirits, that are cull'd Out of the powerful regions under earth, Help me this once, that France may get the field. [They walk, and speak not] O, hold me not with silence over-long! Where I was wont to feed you with my blood, I'll lop a member off and give it you In earnest of further benefit, So you do condescend to help me now. [They hang their heads] No hope to have redress? My body shall Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit. [They shake their heads] Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice Entreat you to your wonted furtherance? Then take my soul, my body, soul and all, Before that England give the French the foil. [They depart] See, they forsake me! Now the time is come That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest And let her head fall into England's lap. My ancient incantations are too weak, And hell too strong for me to buckle with: Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust.

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“Jake’s Women” Neil Simon

MAGGIE

For as long as I can remember, I was molded and shaped in the form of somebody else’s concept of a woman, never mine. The church taught it to me, parochial schools taught it to me, my mother, my father- God, you couldn’t get out of the midwest without its stamp of approval. I was taught to be a good girl, a wife and a mother but never a person. You could be a carbon copy but don’t mess with being an original. That’s what you married, Jake. A good girl. As good and as obedient as my mother, never suspecting, of course, that it was three martinis a day that kept her obedient... And then one day I woke up and said to myself, “I don’t want to be anyone’s concept of me except me...not even Jake’s”... You are so important to me, but you’re also consumed with creating your own images and characters, planning every detail of their life, molding them and shaping them into your creations, your concepts...And the minute I tried to step out on my own, to try to be someone I created, that I controlled, you made me pay so dearly for it. You made me feel like a plagiarist... And so one day in Chicago, I let myself become a very bad little girl. The next morning I looked in the mirror and I sure didn’t like what I saw. But I saw the possibility of becoming someone who would have to be accepted on her terms. And until you begin to see me, Jake, My Maggie, I am getting out of this house, out of this life, and out of your word processor... I may be making the biggest mistake of my life but at least it’ll be mine.

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hey!! i was wondering if you could recommend comedic and dramatic 1 minute monologues (from published plays with no specific dialect) for college auditions (female age range 16-25ish). also just pointing in the right direction of plays to look at, thanks!

Hi there! Try looking at some plays by Lauren Gunderson, Itamar Moses, Amy Herzog, Paula Vogel, and Lynn Nottage. DM me and we can talk about your casting type and I can give you some more specific ideas.

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Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England - Madeleine George

ANDROMEDA

I know you think that because we’re very different and I’m younger than you are I don’t expect you to take me seriously, but I actually do expect you to take me seriously. No, you don’t. You think I’m naive. You think my ideas aren’t grounded in the real world. I know. That’s why you never really listen to me, like deeply. But you know, my Venus may be in Aquarius and my moon may be in Pisces but I have Capricorn sun and Capricorn rising. Right, you probably don’t know what that means, because you weren’t actually listening to me when I was telling you about my chart. You were like pawing me every second back then but you weren’t listening to me. You forget all the important things I tell you about myself.

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I Used to Write on Walls - Bekah Brunstetter

GEORGIA

Two months ago. The day I made up my new name. When I signed up for the poetry thing, where we met. I go to write my name down, but I didn’t write my name, GEORGIA, I mean, fuck all names that are also secretly states or flowers or feelings. You know what I wrote? AJ HAWTHORNE. Because then I could be a man or a woman and from anywhere, just about. It wouldn’t automatically be, here’s this girl just moved here from Georgia to flee her unbelievably original parents who are more than happy to work for Food Lion. You know what that’s like? When the Family sized frozen lasagnas go on sale it’s a goddamn EVENT. So AJ Hawthorne, that’s what I wrote, and I go onstage, and I’m maybe going to shit myself, and then I speak.

Point being, it was about love. What I was saying, the poem. It was about, yeah. Because what else is there to truthfully write about when you’re 22 and pretty stupid and come from a stable family environment? So I was talking about love, about how it’s like apples or vacuum cleaners or something stretched. And I’m doing the thing, and I’m scared, and no one’s listening, and I feel like a ghost. I’m trying not to care that people are more interested in getting shit-faced than hearing something true. A tear kind of came and was like hanging there threatening to fall and blow my cover. I didn’t wanna cry, I didn’t wanna be that girl crying all bad and wet. And I looked out, and I saw you, sitting there in the back. You know what you were doing? You were nodding, and smiling, You were shooting me this affirmation across the place. 

What I’m TRYING to say is - no matter what I do, I - I can’t seem to find - and I thought that you - maybe still, maybe you - are you it? I mean, are you him? If not you than who?

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Henry VI part i - Shakespeare

JOAN LA PUCELLE

Look on thy country, look on fertile France, And see the cities and the towns defaced By wasting ruin of the cruel foe. As looks the mother on her lowly babe When death doth close his tender dying eyes, See, see the pining malady of France; Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds, Which thou thyself hast given her woful breast. O, turn thy edged sword another way; Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help. One drop of blood drawn from thy country's bosom Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore: Return thee therefore with a flood of tears, And wash away thy country's stained spots. Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee, Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny. Who joint'st thou with but with a lordly nation That will not trust thee but for profit's sake? When Talbot hath set footing once in France And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill, Who then but English Henry will be lord And thou be thrust out like a fugitive? Call we to mind, and mark but this for proof, Was not the Duke of Orleans thy foe? And was he not in England prisoner? But when they heard he was thine enemy, They set him free without his ransom paid, In spite of Burgundy and all his friends. See, then, thou fight'st against thy countrymen And joint'st with them will be thy slaughtermen. Come, come, return; return, thou wandering lord: Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms

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Hi! I don't know if this is your forte, but would you by any chance know any good contemporary dramatic scenes for 2 women that could be cut down to 3-4 minutes or a good resource for finding them? Thanks so much

Hi there! sorry this is such a late response, check out Proof by David Auburn, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, Picnic by Inge, Pretty Theft by Adam Szymkowicz, Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson

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Becky Shaw - Gina Gionfriddo

SUZANNA

I saw a rock concert at Jones Beach last year... It was late at night and freezing even though it was summer. And they didn’t sell booze, so... I drank hot chocolate. That’s the whole story. It’s a snapshot. An exhilarating moment. 

I asked the concessions guy why they didn’t sell booze and he said that a girl had been struck by lightning the year before. So they stopped serving booze. 

The guy next to me bought a Coke and the concessions guy poured it out of the bottle into a cup. And, again, I asked why. And he said that somebody had thrown a bottle on stage the night before and hit the singer in the head. So no more bottles. (A beat. A look. Suzanna thinks...) OK, I got it. The point.

I had this moment... this wave of exhilaration came over me and the exhilaration was feeling... It was worth it. People getting struck by lightning and whacked in the head with bottles... A certain amount of... brutality was worth it to see a rock concert next to the ocean. The night your mom died felt like that, you know? My mother was sick, yours was dead... But I felt so happy to be with you. Maybe that’s how life works, you know? All these hideous things, but you get little pockets of joy to get you through. Rock concerts on the ocean. Puzzles and TV.

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Completeness - Itamar Moses

LAUREN

I mean, look, Elliot, I don’t know what you mean exactly, I mean, I don’t have some, like, abstract kind of relationship that I wish to be in, if, you . know, if something about the way... I want to, this is, so if, like, if the parameters... If something is making you uncomfortable then we can, you know, I can try to... or, I mean, I’m sorry, I, it’s not a big deal, we don’t have to even... I have this stupid cold that’s been... don’t think you have to like set me free to find, like, some guy I haven’t even met yet who’ll, like, I don’t even know what. (beat) What are you saying?

So wait so are you saying that you’re not the kind of guy who will want something to be permanent, like, ever with anyone, like, that’s just not something you’re going to want to do, or are you saying it’s not something you can see yourself doing with me because of something that you think isn’t right for you about me.

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Twelfth Night - Shakespeare

OLIVIA

'What is your parentage?'

'Above my fortunes, yet my state is well:

I am a gentleman.' I'll be sworn thou art;

Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit,

Do give thee five-fold blazon: not too fast:

soft, soft!

Unless the master were the man. How now!

Even so quickly may one catch the plague?

Methinks I feel this youth's perfections

With an invisible and subtle stealth

To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.

What ho, Malvolio!

Run after that same peevish messenger,

The county's man: he left this ring behind him,

Would I or not: tell him I'll none of it.

Desire him not to flatter with his lord,

Nor hold him up with hopes; I am not for him:

If that the youth will come this way to-morrow,

I'll give him reasons for't: hie thee, Malvolio.

I do I know not what, and fear to find

Mine eye too great a flatterer for my mind.

Fate, show thy force: ourselves we do not owe;

What is decreed must be, and be this so.

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Troilus and Cressida - Shakespeare

CRESSIDA

Hard to seem won: but I was won, my lord,

With the first glance that ever—pardon me—

If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.

I love you now; but not, till now, so much

But I might master it: in faith, I lie;

My thoughts were like unbridled children, grown

Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!

Why have I blabb'd? who shall be true to us,

When we are so unsecret to ourselves?

But, though I loved you well, I woo'd you not;

And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man,

Or that we women had men's privilege

Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,

For in this rapture I shall surely speak

The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,

Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws

My very soul of counsel! stop my mouth.