Library Resources: Theater, Drama, Scripts, and Monologues: Find Scripts and Monologues

Browsing Script & Monologue Books & eBooks

Scripts, Monologues and Scene
Click on the links, below, for books and eBooks that provide texts of plays and monolgues and scenes from popular plays in a variety of categories.

The general areas of the library collection to locate books containing scripts and monologues is:

PN 2080 (Dramatic Representation)
PN 4305 (Oratory, Recitations in English)
PN6110.5 - 6120 (Drama)

USE THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT TERMS and GENRE HEADING WHEN SEARCHING IN THE LIBRARY CATALOG.

Click on the terms below to review a list of books in the collection. Use sidebar limiters on the results page to limit to online or physical books. Note: These systems use a fuzzy search. Some results will NOT be scripts. Scroll to find what you need. Due to limitations in the search systems, the PRINT BOOKS links are more streamlined an contain a greater percentage of actual scripts / texts than the online and unlimited search.

Monologues [Print Books / eBooks Only]
Acting--Auditions [Print Books / eBooks Only]
Dialogues AND Acting [Print Books / eBooks Only]
One Act Plays [Print Books / eBooks Only]
American Drama - 20th Century [Print Books / eBooks Only]
English Drama - 20th Century [Print Books / eBooks Only]
Drama Anthology [Print Books / eBooks Only]
Add terms like 'American' or 'Women' or 'avant-garde', etc. to further refine search.
Drama - Translation into English [Print Books / eBooks Only]
Motion Picture Plays [Print Books]
Includes information about screen writing as well as screen plays.

Searching for phrases such as "Acting Edition" or "Modern Plays" will also return results from various theater publication series.

In order to find plays / scripts by particular playwrights, you must search by author.

Looking to browse more scripts, consider quoted searches (phrase searching) for books using the following popular play / script publishers:

At least TWO library databases provide fulltext of scripts and scene. Use the links below to view search results in these databases; use sidebar limiters or added search terms to find scenes of interest.

Featured Books

Featured eBOOKS available ONLINE

100 Monologues (eBook) by Eric Bogosian
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9781559367738
Publication Date: 2014-05-05
This new collection by one of America’s premier performers and most innovative and provocative artists includes 100 monologues from his acclaimed plays and solo shows including: Drinking in America; Men Inside; Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead; Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and more. Also included are additional pieces from Talk Radio and Notes from Underground.
Audition Speeches for Women (eBook) by Jean Marlow (Editor)
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9781408141106
Publication Date: 2014-05-20
This revised edition contains several new speeches, many of which are taken from plays written and produced during the last five years. There are speeches for a variety of accents and ages to suit all audition requirements. An introductory section contains invaluable comments from directors, casting directors, actors and teachers. Among those contributing are Sir Peter Hall, National Theatre Director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company; Robert Palmer, voice teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art; casting director Doreen Jones; Tim Reynolds, Principal of the Academy Drama School; stage and film dialect coach Penny Dyer; and Barry Grantham, director and exponent of Commedia dell'Arte.
Award Monologues for Women (eBook) by Patrick Tucker (Editor); Christine Ozanne (Editor)
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9781136023668
Publication Date: 2012-11-12
Award Monologues for Women is a collection of fifty-four monologues taken from plays written since 1980 that have been nominated for the Pullitzer Prize, the Tony and the Drama Desk Awards in New York, and The Evening Standard and Laurence Olivier Awards in London. The book provides an excellent range of up-to-date audition pieces, usefully arranged in age groups, and is supplemented with audition tips to improve your acting, and to ensure thatnbsp;the best possible performance.
Blackeyed: Plays and Monologues (eBook) by Mary E. Weems
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9789462099173
Publication Date: 2015-02-03
Blackeyed is a collection of plays and monologues. The topics covered in the book include housing and foreclosure, suicide, assault, mental health, the Black male experience, and more. The book intersects with critical race theory because the majority of this work positions race at the center of the experiences of the fictional or fictionalized characters. Embedded in these chapters are the interweaving of personal and ancestral stories, news reports, informal conversations, observations, interviews, and online research expressed in language unapologetically Black, critical, reflexive, and proud.
Duologues for All Accents and Ages (eBook)
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9780878301683
Publication Date: 2002-11-08
First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Theatre Arts Audition Book for Women (eBook)
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9781135871222
Publication Date: 2013-10-08
First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Featured Print Books available for Doorside Pickup (Library Take-out) during the COVID closure

100 Great Monologs by Rebecca Young
Call Number: GENERAL, PN2080 .Y65 2005
ISBN: 9781566081047
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
This collection of performance scripts runs the entire gamut of teenage joys, insecurities and tragic difficulties. They challenge both the performer and the audience with situations that require thinking to resolve. They are superb for classroom use, contest competitions, discussion-starters or audition scripts. The book is divided into three sections: TRIOLOGUES -- separate monologues for three performers speaking viewpoints on a single theme; DUOLOGUES -- monologues for two performers on a theme; MONOLOGUES -- one-person commentaries on a wide variety of subjects, happy and sad. All of the monologues are non-theatrical in style -- they speak as teenagers live and move.
Best Monologues from the Best American Short Plays
Call Number: GENERAL, PS627 .M63 B47 2014 V.1, GCC
ISBN: 9781480397408
Publication Date: 2015-04-01
(Best American Short Plays). "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Really? Words can break spirits, destroy confidence. They can also build hope and incite great acts of heroism. Playwrights know this, and so do theater audiences. Otherwise, why go? Words matter and carry clout every bit as dangerous as a hammer or crowbar. This, too, playwrights know. The monologues in this volume are full of such blows, striking at our imaginations and our memories, generating responses such as joyful laughter or chilling surprise. Others squeeze us into worlds we've never experienced, or perhaps experienced at the furthest edges of memory and recollection. Still others may help us alter the way we see certain things, people, or beliefs. Best Monologues from The Best American Short Plays, Volume Three is a collection of monologues drawn from the popular Best American Short Plays series, an archive of works from many of the best playwrights active today. Long or short, serious or not, excerpts or entireties, this collection abounds in speech acts that may trigger physical reactions and almost certainly will transform an attitude or two, drawing out lost memories, creating new ones, and definitely entertaining, engaging, amusing us all along the way.
Best Ten-Minute Plays Of 2019 by True Acting Institute (Editor)
Call Number: GENERAL, PN6110.7 .B46 2019, GCC
ISBN: 9781575259338
Publication Date: 2019-03-04
Welcome to our new book of ten-minute plays, chosen for you by the team at True Acting Institute. For the first time, the content of this classic book was chosen as a result of a playwriting competition with three winning categories. The first place winners have their plays presented in the book along with details about the playwrights and producing theatres. Second place winners are plays that were produced and third place winners have yet to be produced.
One on One by Rebecca Dunn Jaroff (Editor); Bob Shuman (Editor); Joyce Henry (Editor)
Call Number: GENERAL, PN2080 .O585 2007
ISBN: 9781557837004
Publication Date: 2007-10-01
(Applause Acting Series). Three editors, each associated with theatre, collaborated on this book of monologues for actresses. What they discovered, besides bravura pieces for auditions, acting classes, and study, was the pulse of the millennial theatrical scene. A follow-up to the popular previous edition from the 1990s, One on One: The Best Women's Monologues for the 21st Century includes the work of over 70 playwrights, spotlighting the best of Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and experimental writings since 2000. A special introduction also explains how to choose, practice, and perform a speech for auditions. Comic or serious or both the monologues are written for young, old, and multicultural players by famous names and up-and-coming talent. Anna Deavere Smith records abuse in "real" relationships ( House Arrest ); August Wilson relates trials of those who survived coming to America and those who did not ( Gem of the Ocean ); and William Gibson recreates the dark, fledgling days of Israel ( Golda's Balcony ). Additional works include Are You Ready? by David Auburn, Bad Dates by Theresa Rebeck, The Committee by Brian Dykstra, and many others.
The Playwrights' Center Monologues for Men by Kristen Gandrow; Polly Carl (Editor)
Call Number: GENERAL, PN2080 .P62 2005, GCC
ISBN: 9780325007427
Publication Date: 2005-04-05
New plays often originate from monologues, and the Playwrights' Center of Minneapolis is the creative home for hundreds of playwrights whose work is produced throughout the country. Kristen Gandrow and Polly Carl work with these exciting dramatists each day, and they have collected a broad range of monologues by Center writers for you to perform and enjoy. The work in The Playwrights' Center Monologues for Men is finely crafted, entertaining, often poignant, and features the best playwriting in present-day American theater. Among the scores of playwrights are notables such as Carlyle Brown, Diane Glancy, Jeffrey Hatcher, Kira Obolensky, Naomi Wallace, and the prestigious Jerome and McKnight fellows of the Center - including its most intriguing new voices. Whether you are an actor looking for fresh material for auditions of every length or a theatre student honing your technique, The Playwrights' Center Monologues for Men showcases the amazing diversity and quality of contemporary American playwriting.
Two-Minute Monologs by Glenn Alterman; Theodore O. Zapel (Editor)
Call Number: GENERAL, PN2080 .A447 1998, GCC
ISBN: 9781566080385
Publication Date: 1998-06-01
With several best-selling original monolog books under his belt, screen writer, actor, and highly respected monologue/audition acting coach Glenn Altermann considers this his best book yet. These 48 monologsevenly split between mens and womenseach tell a compelling story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end while presenting the actor with an identifiable emotional journey. The wide variety of characterizations offers many choices for actors seeking challenging new roles in a professional audition length. The tones of these pieces range from gritty, real life drama to comedy, and have all been tested and fine-tuned to receive the most enthusiastic responses from both actors and directors.
Voices of Color by Woodie King
Call Number: GENERAL, PN2080 .V65 1994
ISBN: 9781557831743
Publication Date: 2000-02-01
Voices of Color is a trailblazing collection of scenes and monologues by African American playwrights. This major omnibus of contemporary American writing will serve as a primary resource for African American artists in search of their own voice for the stage. Actors and directors will now have access to a much larger spectrum of work in which to shine. Readers will be introduced to a rich, vibrant medley of work of the human spirit. And schools, colleges and libraries will, at last, have the book we all need to fully explore America's potential for drama.
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama (eBook)
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9780231128308
Publication Date: 2014-04-29
This anthology is the first to survey the full range of modern Japanese drama and make available Japan's best and most representative twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century works in one volume. It opens with a comprehensive introduction to Meiji-period drama and follows with six chronological sections: "The Age of Taisho Drama"; The Tsukiji Little Theater and Its Aftermath"; "Wartime and Postwar Drama"; "The 1960s and Underground Theater"; "The 1980s and Beyond"; and "Popular Theater," providing a complete history of modern Japanese theater for students, scholars, instructors, and dramatists. The collection features a mix of original and previously published translations of works, among them plays by such writers as Masamune Hakucho (The Couple Next Door), Enchi Fumiko (Restless Night in Late Spring), Morimoto Kaoru (A Woman's Life), Abe Kobo (The Man Who Turned into a Stick), Kara Juro (Two Women), Terayama Shuji (Poison Boy), Noda Hideki (Poems for Sale), and Mishima Yukio (The Sardine Seller's Net of Love). Leading translators include Donald Keene, J. Thomas Rimer, M. Cody Poulton, John K. Gillespie, Mari Boyd, and Brian Powell. Each section features an introduction to the developments and character of the period, notes on the plays' productions, and photographs of their stage performances. The volume complements any study of modern Japanese literature and modern drama in China, Korea, or other Asian or contemporary Western nations.
Modern Korean Drama
Call Number: ONLINE
ISBN: 9780231149471
Publication Date: 2011-09-13
Carefully selected and represented, the plays in this collection showcase both the fantastic and the realistic innovations of Korean dramatists during a time of rapid social and historical change. Stretching from 1962 to 2004, these seven works tackle major subjects, such as the close of the Choson dynasty and the aftermath of the Korean War, while delving into trenchant cultural issues, such as the marginalization of students who rebel against mainstream education and the role of traditional values in a materialistic society. Longtime scholar of Korea and its vibrant, politically acute theater, Richard Nichols opens with a general overview of modern Korean drama since 1910 and concludes with an appendix describing theater production and audience attendance in Seoul. He chooses works that aren't just for Korean audiences. These texts confront universal themes and situations, tackling the problem of ambition, the trouble with fidelity, and the complexity of sexual and interpersonal relationships. Nichols situates each work critically, historically, and culturally, including brief biographies of playwrights and extensive notes. A bibliography also provides alternative readings and the titles of additional plays currently available in English. Primed for production, these skillful translations provide Western directors with exciting new material for the stage. At the same time, they offer students and scholars a sophisticated survey of the modern Korean dramatic tradition.

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