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Theatre Videos

Two contrasting monologues from established play, musical or film scripts. One selection should be comedic; one should be serious/dramatic. Both selections should allow the student to reveal basic honesty and clarity of objectives. Please adhere to the following guidelines for the theatre monologue submissions:

  • CONTEMPORARY MATERIAL ONLY. Absolutely no Shakespeare or material from other “classic/ancient” playwrights. Material should also be from the last 50 years and from published play scripts.
  • APPROPRIATE TYPE ONLY. This means material you could reasonably perform in a production at this time given your age range, gender, nationality, etc. No dialect or accent material will be accepted.
  • TWO MINUTE MAXIMUM LENGTH. Each monologue must be under two minutes each for a total of no more than four minutes combined for both monologues.
  • CONVERSATIONAL, NOT “STORYTELLING” PIECES. Monologues recounting a past experience, or telling someone a story, are not acceptable.Monologues that incorporate a conversation with another person are best. Try looking for actual dialogue scenes and simply cutting out your partner’s lines.
  • CLEARLY IDENTIFIABLE PARTNER. We will be looking to see if it seems as if you are actually communicating with another human, although the partner is not seen. This is essential.
  • REAL AND NATURAL. Look for colloquial, everyday speech that is not overly bombastic or poetic in nature. Words you might actually use in your own daily conversation are best. Avoid reciting poetry.
  • GOOD QUALITY. The quality of your video tape does not need to professional but acceptable. Make sure we can hear you, and the plainer the background, the better. There is no need to include graphics or to hire professionals to make your audition video. We will be evaluating YOU, not the camera work.
  • SEE YOU IN THE WORK. Use material that allows us to see your honest emotions appropriate for the imaginary circumstances of the play.
  • USE APPROPRIATE SLATE PROTOCOL. There is no need to “set the stage” before your monologues, tell the story of the play, or introduce the characters to us. Simply give us your name and what plays your monologues are from. Also, there is no need to say “scene” at the end of your selections. Simply say “thank you” when you are done.

Please watch the two demo videos provided below of MDT students performing appropriate monologues. These specific monologues should NOT be used by applicants. They represent the type of monologues that best suits this audition process.