Updated August 24, 2007
Now over 55 monologues

10 industry professionals and theater educators were asked to score 116 frequently done pieces as

1 – I have not seen this monologue
2 – I have seen it but am fine seeing it again
3 – I have seen it so often, it doesn't matter how well an actor does it, I'm completely sick of it!

(A rating of “N.R.” means the monologue was added after the original survey, by the recommendation of at least two people who see many monologues, but was not rated in the original survey).

All of the rated monologues got at least one “3,” and many got several. If a score is higher than “3” it means that one or more industry pros spontaneously gave it a 4 because they had seen it SO much. Actor should read most of these plays however, because many of them are great, and it is important to know the work of these playwrights. The monologues were so good they became overdone.

Note: A main reason the monologues below are overdone is that the plays did well and became known. Rather than be discouraged that the monologue you love is overdone, go to www.Doollee.com and look up one of that writers lesser-known plays! You will often be surprised how much other writing is available.

Average score/Playwright/Year first produced/Char/Identifying line or topic

3.0 ALBEE/Zoo Story/1959/JERRY/Jerry and the dog

NR ANDERSON/I Never Sang for my Father/1967/GENE/That night I left my father's house

NR ANDERSON/I Never Sang for my Father/ALL OTHERS

2.4 BAITZ/Substance of Fire/1992/MARTIN/I spent most of my 16th year getting chemotherapy

2.4 BAITZ/Substance of Fire/1992/MARTIN/Publish Hustler or publish Proust

2.8 BOGOSIAN/Suburbia/1994/JEFF/about moving to New York City

2.8 CRISTOFER/Shadow Box/1977/MARK/We're dying here lady…

2.9 CRISTOFER/Shadow Box/1977/MARK/When I met Brian…

2.9 CRISTOFER/Lady and the Clarinet/1989/JACK/Saw himself swimming in the toilet bowl in the
        commercial

NR DAVIS/Mass Appeal/1981/MARK/Dead goldfish speech

2.9 DURANG/The Actor's Nightmare/1981/GEORGE SPELVIN/Any of it

2.8 DURANG/1983/Baby with the Bathwater/DAISY/…realized I looked more like a boy than a girl,
       mother gasses herself

3.3 DURANG/Laughing Wild/1987/MAN/Tunafish monologue THE WINNER!

2.3 GREENBERG/The American Plan/1990/NICK/I'm a rambling wreck from Georgia tech and a heck
       of an engineer

NR GREENBERG/Take Me Out/2002/MASON/Baseball convert speech

2.9 GUARE/House of Blue Leaves/1986/Ronnie/My Father tell you about me? Pope Ronnie?

2.6 GUARE/Six Degrees of Separation/1990/RICK/ Rainbow Room night

2.3 HOROVITZ/It's Called the Sugar Plum/1968/ZUCKERMAN/Strudel-dee Strudel-dough

2.6 HOROWITZ/It's Called the Sugarplum/1968/ZUCKERMAN/You know what the most beautiful word
       (cellar door)

2.4 JOHNSON/Brilliant Traces/1988/HENRY HARRY/You came in here…wearing paper shoes

3.2 KORDER/Boys' Life/1988/PHIL/I would have destroyed myself for this woman

3.0 KORDER/Search and Destroy/1992/RON/ Baseball bat night at Shea stadium

2.6 LONERGAN/This is Our Youth/1996/DENNIS/Yeah and I always smoke pot with you guys

2.6 LONERGAN/This is Our Youth/1996/ALL OTHERS

2.6 LONERGAN/Lobby Hero/2001/ALL

2.3 MAMET/Lakeboat/1970/ALL

2.6 MAMET/Sexual Perversity in Chicago/1974/BERNIE/Girl in the flak suit speech

2.6 MAMET/American Buffalo/1992/TEACH/ALL

2.6 MAMET/Glengarry Glen Ross/1983/ROMA/ALL

NR MARGULIES/Dinner with Friends/1998/ALL

2.7 MARTIN/Jack and Jill/1996/JACK/Nice, right?

2.2 McCLURE/Lone Star/1980/ROY/Grand Canyon speech

2.5 PAPE/Say Goodnight Gracie/JERRY/Chunky turkey soup speech

2.6 RABE/Hurlyburly/1984/ALL

NR RAPP/Red Light Winter/2005/ALL

2.1 RIDLEY/The Pitchfork Disney/1991/PRESLEY/Speech about frying the little green snake alive

3.0 RUDNICK/I Hate Hamlet/1991/ANDREW/Acting the ‘To be or not to be' speech, kid in the front row

2.7 SHAFFER/Equus/1973/ALAN/ALL

2.9 SHANLEY/Danny and the Deep Blue Sea/1983/DANNY/Speech about beating up all the guys

2.6 SHANLEY/Italian-American Reconciliation/1989/ALL

2.4 SHANLEY/Beggars in the House of Plenty/1991/JOHN/Though it personally shames me to say it,
       I still have love for you

2.4 SHEPARD/A Lie of the mind/1985/JAKE/She was going to these goddamn rehearsals every day

NR SHERMAN/Sophistry/1993/ALL

2.5 SHERMAN/Women and Wallace/1996/WALLACE/My Mother's Turtlenecks

2.5 SHERMAN/Women and Wallace/1996/WALLACE/ALL OTHERS

2.8 SILVER/Free Will and Wanton Lust/1994/PHILIP/I don't find my sex organs attractive

2.6 SILVER/Raised in Captivity/1995/SEBASTIAN/Mr. Giggles the Clown

2.7 SIMON/Biloxi Blues/1984/EUGENE/I was in the latrine…

NR SIMON/Any Virtually any young man's monologue from Neil Simon's major plays

2.6 SONDHEIM/Assassins/1990/SAM BYCK/Speech to Leonard Bernstein about hijacking airplane

2.8 STOPPARD/Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead/1966/ROSENCRANTZ/Did you ever imagine
        yourself lying in a box…

NR TAYLOR&BOLOGNA/Lovers and Other Strangers/1968/ALL

NR TESICH/Division Street/1980/ALL MEN'S/(orgasm, boat people, etc.)

2.6 WELLER/Loose Ends/1979/PAUL/Happy Birthday. Do you like it? (abortion speech)

NR WILLIAMS/The Glass Menagerie/1944/TOM/ALL

2.5 WILSON/Fifth of July/1980/ALL

 

MORE OVERDONE MONOLOGUES
There have already been more suggestions for the overdone lists, and additions will be put up periodically. To be notified of these updates, join the newsletter list. If you see a lot of monologue auditions, and want to suggest overdone monologues, please send them in.

Go to
Overdone Monologues! – how the survey was done and what it reveals
More survey results – more opinions and preferences on material choice
Overdone Shakespeare
Women's overdone monologues

Copyright 2007 by Karen Kohlhaas
Survey from www.monologueaudition.com
Individuals have permission to duplicate or distribute this article if done so in its entirety.

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