What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true? - Shakespearean play "much ado about nothing" - monologue 4

What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band;
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.

END OF MONOLOGUE

I also like this Shakespearean monologue as is a comedic monologue. The short sentences allows time to break and take my time between lines.

O, I know where you are - shakespearean play "as you like it" - monologue 3

Rosalind: O! I know where you are. Nay, 'tis true: there was never anything so sudden but the fight of two rams, Caesar's thrasonical brag of 'I came, saw, and overcame:' for your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy: and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage. They are in the very wrath of love, and they will together: clubs cannot part them.
END OF MONOLOGUE

i like this monologue as it is shakespearean but also comical, the comical side of it helps me to understand what they are saying.

I Ate the Divorce Papers - Comedic female monologue from the play Goodbye Charles - monologue 2

(Monologist stands in front of her soon to be ex-husband)

I ate them. That’s right. I ate the divorce papers, Charles. I ate them with ketchup. And they were good...goooood. You probably want me to get serious about our divorce. The thing is you always called our marriage a joke. So let’s use logic here: If A we never had a serious marriage then B we can’t have a serious divorce. No. We can’t. The whole thing’s a farce, Charles – a farce that tastes good with ketchup.

I mean, wasn’t it last week, your dad asked you the reason you walked down that aisle with me, and you said “for the exercise.” Ha, ha. That’s funny. You’re a funny guy, Charles. I’m laughing, not a crying. Ha, ha. I’m laughing because you’re about to give up on a woman who is infinitely lovable.

For instance: Paul. He has loved me since the eighth grade. Sure, he’s a little creepy, but he reeeeally loves me. He’s made one hundred twenty seven passes at me, proposed forty seven times, and sent me over two hundred original love sonnets. He sees something in me, Charles. And he writes it down, in metered verse!

And that’s not something you just find everyday. Someone who really loves everything about who you are as a person. Paul may be insane, but I value his feelings for me.

I would never ask him to sign his name to a piece of paper promising to just turn off his feelings for me forever. But that’s what you’re asking me to do, for you. To sign away my right to...to that sweet voice Charles, those baby brown eyes, the way your hands feel through my hair before bed...

Those aren’t things I want to lose. In fact, I won’t lose them. I won’t lose you. I’ll woo you. I’ve written you a sonnet. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day. Thou art more lovely and more temperate, rough winds do shake the darling buds of may and...”  I’m not crying. I’m laughing. It’s all a big joke. It’s very funny, Charles. I keep waiting for you to say “April Fools.” Then I’ll rush into your arms and... But you’re not going to, are you? No. Of course not. It’s not April.

I, I didn’t really write that sonnet, you know. Paul did. I think it’s good.

You see, the truth...the truth is, Charles, I ate the divorce papers, I ate them, because I can’t stomach the thought of losing you.

END OF MONOLOGUE

i really like this monologue because it allows me to make this comical.

The Not So Perfect Child By: D.M. Larson from the published play "flowers in the desert" - monologue 1

JAMIE MOIRA

(Quiet anger)

You hate me don't you? I am never good enough for you.

(Anger builds)

No matter what I do it's not as good as my sister.  I always have to hear how she would have done it better.  Or how she already did it better.

(Hurt)

Why does she want to ruin my life?  She just wants to blot me out like I was some sort of mistake... I'm just a copy... A copy of a copy... Not as good as the original... Not as good as you.

(Sarcastic and bitter)

You are so perfect... Everyone around me is so perfect... And there was nothing left over for me... I am the leftover failures... I am the fatty waste you toss to the dogs.

(Fury)

Everyone hates me!  Why does everyone think I am so horrible... (Shakes and tries to hold back the fury) Probably because I am.  A horrible creature doomed to walk this earth and suffer... For you.

(Cries uncontrollably... Struggles to speak)

I'm hurting... Hurting so bad inside.  Cut off from everyone ... Punished for some past life wrongs... What did I do in a past life to deserve this... Or am I paying for the sins of my father... And mother... Am I your sin?  Or do I remind you of some sin you want to forget?

(Anger builds)

Or I am a disappointment that keeps disappointing.  I even disappoint myself.

(Furious)

I will never be my sister.  I don't want to be her.  I hate everything about her! 

(Cries... Sadness)

But I don't want to be me either.  Sometimes I want to fade away... Become a shadow... Fading away... Forgotten... Maybe if you forget about me I won't make you so sad anymore.
END OF MONOLOGUE

I like this monologue as it allows diversity within emotions. It also allows me to challenge myself as i havent done a sad monologue before.

Oxford School of Drama

What to Prepare

Auditions for all courses will also consist of some group work for which you will need to wear loose, comfortable clothing.

One Year Course and Three Year Course

For your first round audition you will need to prepare 2 contrasting monologues, each no longer than 2 minutes, one from Elizabethan or Jacobean drama (Shakespeare or Jonson, for example) and the other from a post-1950 drama.

Six Month Foundation Course in Acting

For your audition you will need to prepare 2 contrasting monologues, each no longer than 2 minutes, one from Elizabethan or Jacobean drama (Shakespeare or Jonson, for example) and the other from a post-1950 drama.

I also like this audition process beause it allows you to do 2 monologues showing your skills. Oxford does not give you tips on how to improve your performance.

ALRA

ALRA has a single audition process for all applicants regardless of course.

The audition will give us the opportunity to see what course is most suitable for your level of development.
We offer you feedback at the end of your day and discuss your options.
We offer you opportunities to talk to staff and students throughout the day.

We need you to:

1. Prepare 2 audition monologues (see below) – each lasting no longer than 2 minutes: 
   1. One from a contemporary play (after 1970)
   2. One Shakespearean/Jacobean (but not non-human characters like ‘Puck’ from A Midsummer Night’s Dream or ‘Ariel’ from The Tempest, or any ‘Chorus’)

      Monologues

      Please make sure you have read the whole play your monologue comes from. Be sure your monologue works as a stand-alone speech and does not require input from another character. Your speech must be taken from an existing play, and not a book of solo speeches. (Speeches found in monologue anthologies are acceptable provided you have read the whole play from which they are taken.)
2. Prepare a 30 second piece to camera, which tells us three interesting (non acting!) things about you. Examples can be found here and here.

We want you to: 

• Choose pieces that match your age & gender.
• Work without props or special costume. 
• Avoid using chairs. 
• Learn your pieces.
• Avoid using the panel for eye line.
• Use your natural accent.  
• Wear suitable clothes which enable you to move freely and to allow tutors to assess posture and movement. Female applicants should avoid skirts. All applicants should avoid low cut/hipster trousers cropped and low cut tops. For both the warm up sessions we advise you to bring movement clothes (leotard and tights). The movement session requires you to be bare footed and to work without any jewellery.

We are looking for these qualities: 

• Truth
• Preparation 
• Ability to create and sustain a character within an imagined world 
• Evidence of thought and feeling behind the actions and words 
• Ability to take direction (to hear an instruction and adapt own performance accordingly) 
• Ability to communicate text 
• Ability to express thought and feeling through movement and voice 
• Self-confidence, focus and concentration 
• Spontaneity and immediacy 
• Openness and responsiveness to others 
• Imagination and creativity 
• Evidence of stamina and co-ordination 
• An interest in the craft of acting and in the professional world of acting 

 I like this audition process because you have to do 2 monologues from 2 time periods, allowing you to show your different skills. It also gives you tips and qualities they are looking for.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea - Research

The Tiger Who Came to Tea is a short children's story, first published in 1968, written and illustrated by Judith Kerr. The book concerns a girl called Sophie, her mother, and an anthropomorphized tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea. The book remains extremely popular forty years after it was first published, and a theatrical adaptation of the story has been produced.

The original artwork for the book is held by Seven Stories, a children's literature centre in the UK.

A little girl named Sophie is having tea with her mother in their kitchen. Soon they are joined for tea by a tiger who drinks all the tea, eats all the food in the house and drinks everything, even draining the water from the taps, so that Sophie cannot have her bath. Then he leaves. Sophie's father comes home and suggests that they all go out and have a lovely meal in a cafe. The following day Sophie and her mother go out to buy some more food, including a big tin of tiger food. But the tiger never returns.

The surreal plot allows the children's imagination  to expand and escape into a different world.