It gets harder.
Had a casting director suggest once that every actor should have an audition monologue from each of the major playwrights. Prior to that, the accepted wisdom was that you should have a classical monologue and a contemporary.
At that point, classical meant Shakespeare or one of the Greeks. If you wanted to increase the odds that the actor in front of you hadn’t just done your piece, you went slightly further afield. Some other Elizabethan playwright–Marlowe and Jonson, for example–or a Restoration writer–Congreve, Wycherly, Sheridan, among them–were possibilities. There were also the French–Moliere and Racine.
Some people thought Ibsen, Strindberg and Shaw counted as classical while others considered them the first of the modern playwrights. For some of us, that meant we just didn’t do them unless they were specifically requested. Why set yourself up with a 50/50 chance the auditor would decide you didn’t know what “classical” meant?
But you see my point, right?
I’ve just listed 11 major playwrights and haven’t even gotten fully into the modern era. And the modern era keeps growing! It’s not enough to have Arthur Miller, William Saroyan, Clifford Odets, Philip Barry. You’ve got to be looking at Lanford Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein, Marsha Norman, Neil Simon, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner, David Rabe, David Mamet and a host of others if you really want a comprehensive set.*
So, this is one of those “rules” that is ‘more honour’d in the breach than the observance.’**
It’s not a bad goal to attempt, however. If you go searching, you will have read a lot of plays. If you find monologues you like, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy between auditions. Plus, one of the easiest ways to shoot yourself in the foot as an actor*** is to blow off auditions, and one of the easiest excuses is to not have any suitable material to perform.
So, do yourself a big favor.
Have a monologue from each of the major playwrights.
* I know I’ve left out hundreds of you. It doesn’t mean you’re not major playwrights. It just means my brain doesn’t always work all that well.
** Hamlet, Act I, Sc 4 (Flapdoodle!)
*** For other ways actors get in their own way, see my book How to Be a Failed Actor: 27 Things Actors Do to Shoot Themselves in the Foot – available soon in the bookstore.
