The Actor's Book of Monologues for Women
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Book Overview
A diverse collection of monologues featuring the voices of women through the ages Drawn from poetry, fiction, diaries, journals, and documents of public record, these selections, although not originally intended for theatrical or cinematic performances, offer unique dramatic opportunities for actors, speakers, students, or anyone interested in women's studies. Stefan Rudnicki has brought together selections from well-known as well as obscure authors, providing a tremendous range of women's perspectives from a variety of sources- poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, and Sappho, among others; passages from Mary Shelley's journal, the diaries of Anais Nin, and the memoirs of Isadora Duncan; polemics from Mary Wollstonecraft and Joan of Arc, as well as Susan B. Anthony's "On Woman's Right to Suffrage"; and selections from the novels of Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0140157875
ISBN13:9780140157871
Release Date:September 1991
Publisher:Penguin Adult Hc/Tr
Length:352 Pages
Weight:0.55 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.1" x 7.8"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Not perfect, but certainly useful!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
I am writing mostly to refute the previous reviewer. Unlike her, I found this book to be quite useful and interesting. Yes, it is heavily skewed toward older works, many of which would be unsuitable for auditions for contemporary plays, but there are many other uses for monologues besides auditions. As for the monologues being too short for auditions, in my experience these days, most auditions require a 2 minute monologue or less, with many requesting only one minute, and some directors prefer only 30 seconds! So I am happy to find shorter monologues. In addition, I found one of the best audition pieces ever in this book -- "Telling Mom" by Karen Dale Wolman. I wish this book contained more witty contemporary essays such as this one, but perhaps Mr. Rudnicki will grace us with another book that is more oriented toward modern pieces. That said, it is certainly useful to have a book full of monologues which you can be virtually sure that no-one else has seen, and I'm glad somebody thought of compiling a collection from "non-dramatic sources."
two thumbs up
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I thought this was a great book!
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