Updated January 2009
In 2006, ten industry professionals who see thousands of monologue auditions were asked to rate the “overdone-ness” of over 100 frequently-performed monologues. Since then, monologues have been added to the list at the recommendation of at least two industry pros, usually after they’ve seen several days of auditions for their theaters, apprentice programs, graduate or conservatory programs. Since the original survey was over 3 years ago, I have taken away the individual ratings, because at this point, all of the monologues on this list can be considered to be overdone.
Note: it is not always a bad thing to audition with an overdone monologue! To find out when you should worry about this issue, and when you should not, read How to Choose a Monologue for Any Audition.
Most of the monologues below are overdone because they’re great writing—and you should definitely read the plays they are from for that reason. Rather than be discouraged that the monologue you love is overdone, go to www.Doollee.com, and look up that playwright’s lesser-known plays and shorter works. You can also read hundreds of new plays online for free at www.Playscripts.com.
Playwright/Year first produced/Character/Identifying line or topic
ALBEE/Zoo Story/1959/JERRY/Jerry and the dog
ANDERSON/I Never Sang for my Father/1967/GENE/That night I left my father’s house
ANDERSON/I Never Sang for my Father/ALL OTHERS
ANDERSON/Tea and Sympathy/1953/Tom
BAITZ/Substance of Fire/1992/MARTIN/I spent most of my 16th year getting chemotherapy
BAITZ/Substance of Fire/1992/MARTIN/Publish Hustler or publish Proust
BOGOSIAN/Suburbia/1994/JEFF/about moving to New York City
CRISTOFER/Shadow Box/1977/MARK/We're dying here lady…
CRISTOFER/Shadow Box/1977/MARK/When I met Brian…
CRISTOFER/Lady and the Clarinet/1989/JACK/Saw himself swimming in the toilet bowl in the commercial
DAVIS/Mass Appeal/1981/MARK/Dead goldfish speech
DURANG/The Actor's Nightmare/1981/GEORGE SPELVIN/Any of it
DURANG/Baby with the Bathwater/1983/DAISY/…realized I looked more like a boy than a girl, mother gasses herself
DURANG/Laughing Wild/1987/MAN/Tunafish monologue
DURANG/The Marriage of Bette & Boo/1973/ALL
FEIFFER/Feiffer’s People/1968/ALL
FEIFFER/Hold Me!/1977/ALL
GESNER/LIPPA/You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown/ALL
GREENBERG/The American Plan/1990/NICK/I’m a rambling wreck
GREENBERG/Take Me Out/2002/MASON/Baseball convert speech
GREENBERG/Three Days of Rain/1998/Walker/ALL
GUARE/House of Blue Leaves/1986/Ronnie/ALL
GUARE/Six Degrees of Separation/1990/RICK/ Rainbow Room night
GUIRGIS/Jesus Hopped the A Train/2001/ALL
HOROVITZ/It's Called the Sugar Plum/1968/ZUCKERMAN/Strudel-dee
HOROWITZ/It’s Called the Sugarplum/1968/ZUCKERMAN/Cellar door
IIZUKA/Aloha Say the Pretty Girls/1999/ALL
JOHNSON/Brilliant Traces/1988/HENRY HARRY/ALL
KORDER/Boys’ Life/1988/ALL
KORDER/Search and Destroy/1992/RON/ Baseball bat night at Shea stadium
KRAMER/Wall of Water/1998/ALL
LABUTE/Fat Pig/2004/ALL
LABUTE/Shape of Things/2002/Monologue at end about “This isn’t art”
LONERGAN/This is Our Youth/1996/ALL
LONERGAN/Lobby Hero/2001/ALL
MAMET/American Buffalo/1992/TEACH/ALL
MAMET/Glengarry Glen Ross/1983/ROMA/ALL
MAMET/Lakeboat/1970/ALL
MAMET/Sexual Perversity in Chicago/1974/BERNIE/Girl in the flak suit speech
MARGULIES/Dinner with Friends/1998/ALL
MARTIN/Jack and Jill/1996/JACK/Nice, right?
McCLURE/Lone Star/1980/ALL
MEE/Big Love/1999/Giuliano and Nikos monologues
PAPE/Say Goodnight Gracie/JERRY/Chunky turkey soup speech
RABE/Hurlyburly/1984/ALL
RAPP/Red Light Winter/2005/ALL
RIDLEY/The Pitchfork Disney/1991/PRESLEY/Frying the little green snake
RUDNICK/I Hate Hamlet/1991/ANDREW/Acting ‘To be or not to be’
SHAFFER/Equus/1973/ALAN/ALL
SHANLEY/Danny and the Deep Blue Sea/1983/DANNY/ALL
SHANLEY/Italian-American Reconciliation/1989/ALL
SHANLEY/Beggars in the House of Plenty/1991/JOHN/ALL
SHEPARD/A Lie of the mind/1985/JAKE/She was going to these goddamn rehearsals every day
SHERMAN/Sophistry/1993/ALL
SHERMAN/Women and Wallace/1996/WALLACE/ALL
SILVER/Free Will and Wanton Lust/1994/PHILIP/I don’t find my sex organs attractive
SILVER/Raised in Captivity/1995/SEBASTIAN/Mr. Giggles the Clown
SIMON/Biloxi Blues/1984/EUGENE/I was in the latrine…
SIMON/Any/Virtually any young man’s monologue from Neil Simon’s major plays
SONDHEIM/Assassins/1990/SAM BYCK/Speech to Leonard Bernstein about hijacking airplane
STOPPARD/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead/1966/ROSENCRANTZ/Did you ever imagine yourself lying in a box…
TAYLOR & BOLOGNA/Lovers and Other Strangers/1968/ALL
TESICH/Division Street/1980/ALL MEN'S/(orgasm, boat people, etc.)
WELLER/Loose Ends/1979/PAUL/Happy Birthday. Do you like it? (abortion speech)
WILLIAMS/The Glass Menagerie/1944/TOM/ALL
WILSON/Burn This/1987/PALE/1st Monologue
WILSON/Fifth of July/1980/ALL
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For more info on overdone monologues go to:
Overdone Monologues – how the survey was done and what it reveals
More survey results – more opinions and preferences on material choice
Copyright 2009 by Karen Kohlhaas
Survey from www.monologueaudition.com
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