Great Monologues for Young Actors, Vol. II - Softcover

Jack Sharrar; Craig Slaight

Softcover

ISBN 10: 157525106X ISBN 13: 9781575251066

Publisher: Smith & Kraus, 1999

Synopsis

As professional directors and teachers who work with young and adult actors at the Tony Award-Winning American Conservatory Theater, Slaight and Sharrar have years of experience helping actors uncover the dynamics of the monologue, as acting exercise and as audition material. Now in their impressive third volume of age-appropriate monologues, culled from plays by substantial playwrights from an international field, the editors have assembled an impressive collection to take the actor/director/teacher to new levels of sophistication and breadth. The volume's introduction is a concise guide to today's audition obstacles and how to overcome them. As in their other award-winning collections, Slaight and Sharrar have selected character speeches from the finest dramatic literature. In addition, they have included a special section on the use of the song lyric as an exciting and useful exercise in solo work.

Some of the writers included are:
Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Constance Congdon, Kia Corthron, Bob Dylan, Horton Foote, Timothy Mason, Sharman Macdonald, Lynn Nottage, Adam Rapp, George Bernard, Shaw Shakespeare, Sam Shepard, John M. Synge

About this title

About the Author:

CRAIG SLAIGHT is an Associate Artist and the Director of the Young Conservatory at American Conservatory Theater. During his time at A.C.T.
Craig has taught in all of the Conservatory programs and served as a resident director on the Geary Theater main stage. He is a member of the artistic team of the company. Slaight began the Young Conservatory's New Plays Program in 1989 and in August of 1994, he received the President's Award from The Educational Theater Association for Outstanding Contributions to Youth Theater.

JACK SHARRAR is Director of Academic Affairs for the American Conservatory Theater, where he teaches in the M.F.A. program. He has served as a theater panelist for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, has taught both university and secondary theater arts for over thirty years, and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. A director of over fifty plays and musicals, actor, and author of numerous award-winning volumes of scenes and monologues, Sharrar is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Ph.D. in theater history and dramatic literature from the University of Utah.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8 Up-This title includes speeches from a variety of works by well-known playwrights such as Shakespeare, Lanford Wilson, Christopher Durang, Tennessee Williams, and Maria Irene Fornes. There are also odd choices in that the play or playwright is not well known, or the chosen selection is not of high interest or dramatic quality. For example, a weaker speech of Portia's from The Merchant of Venice is given rather than the one that is usually singled out. There is little comedy included. The choices made in beginning/ending cuts are sometimes awkward; actors often would do well to read the plays and recut the selections themselves. There is a concise introduction to the uses of monologues, but the authors neglect to advise young actors of the importance of reading the entire play when working on a monologue. The book is divided into two sections: "Monologues for Young Women" and "Monologues for Young Men." Brief introductions (some of which contain grammatical and factual errors) give the setting and context for the speeches.
Cris Riedel, Ellis B. Hyde Elementary School, Dansville, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Smith & Kraus
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 157525106X
• ISBN 13: 9781575251066
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 162
• Editor: Jack Sharrar, Craig Slaight