Audition Monologues

Choose an audition monologue that fits the instructions

A useful shortlist starts with requirements you can check. Write down the time limit, the number of speeches, the required period or genre, and any restrictions on source material. Then choose a situation you understand and a change you can play. A famous title cannot compensate for missing the brief.

• Original material allowed: start with the adult, teen or children’s originals below. Each is a complete standalone work with a clear listener and objective.
• A classical play required: compare the six Shakespeare extracts. The individual pages identify the play, act, scene and source edition. Check whether the brief specifies verse, prose, a particular period or other exclusions.
• A contemporary published play required: these CueRoom originals do not meet that requirement. Find a qualifying play and read it before settling on a speech.
• A strict one-minute maximum: begin with the shortest word counts and time full takes. Our one-minute monologue collection offers more short choices and a timing routine.
• Two contrasting pieces: look for different relationships, objectives and ways of pursuing them. Use the pair suggestions below only when both pieces fit the brief.

Word counts follow the full-text pages and describe the spoken material, not the acting notes. They help you compare length; they do not guarantee a running time. The suggested ages describe starting points for selection. Casting instructions and the performer’s understanding of the situation matter more than copying the voice used in the recording.

Six original audition monologues for adults

These contemporary originals range from a friendly sales pitch to a difficult family boundary. Four have named women as speakers and suggested playing ages; two leave the speaker’s gender open. All require a brief that allows original standalone material. Choose the pressure you can make specific, then read the complete text before committing.

For more roles and age ranges, explore monologues for women. For auditions seeking a male character in a classical play, compare Benedick and Edmund below: one argues himself into love, while the other argues toward power. Open-casting originals may also suit men when the audition permits them. Neither the assigned demo voice nor this browsing category overrides a casting requirement.

Four audition monologues for teens

School, friendship and future plans give these speakers immediate stakes. Try one comic and one dramatic piece aloud before choosing. Notice which lets you speak to a particular person rather than present an attitude to the room. These are CueRoom originals, not speeches from longer plays.

The wider teen monologue collection includes family arguments, departures and performance nerves. If a school or youth production supplies its own material, prepare that text according to its instructions instead of substituting a speech from this list.

Four audition monologues for kids

Read the choices together and let the child explain what is happening in their own words. A useful choice has a request they understand and language they can speak comfortably. Start with a short session; learning the next thought is more useful than repeatedly demanding a polished performance.

These suggestions span roughly ages 7–12 and permit any gender. The full children’s monologue collection includes more ages, situations and parent or teacher rehearsal ideas. Check whether the audition accepts an original and whether it asks for a particular length. None of these pieces requires the child to reproduce a difficult personal experience.

Six Shakespeare audition monologues

These are speeches from plays, with source links, scene context, vocabulary and complete-text demos on their individual pages. Four speakers are female characters and two are male characters in the plays. Explore the role in practice, then follow the audition’s casting requirements. A play extract still needs to meet the requested length, period and form.

Read the surrounding scene and the play before using an extract for an audition. Know what has just happened, who can hear the character, and what happens next. The source edition may differ from an edition named in your brief. For additional speeches and a comparison of rehearsal demands, visit Shakespeare Monologues.

How to choose two contrasting audition monologues

Contrast can come from how you act on another person: persuading a friend, challenging an authority, admitting a need or privately making a decision. A louder second speech is not automatically a stronger contrast. First follow any specified combination, such as classical and contemporary or comic and dramatic.

These are starting points for comparison, not approved pairs for every school or production:

• Adult comedy and drama: The Suppliers' Table with The Thursday Key. Nina tries to be seen as a friend amid wedding jobs; Leah tries to make room for independence while preserving family affection. Both are women’s roles with overlapping suggested ages and both require permission to use originals.
• A mature character pair: The Bench Has a Waiting List with The Signature on the Drawing. Marion uses comic civic complications to ask for a bench; Ruth uses evidence and a precise demand to correct an omission. Compare their different relationships to the authority listening.
• A teen pair: The Group Project Funeral with I Know You Heard Me. One speaker recruits a group through a mock ceremony; the other asks one friend to stop taking over. Let that change of audience affect your scale and focus.
• A children’s pair: The Worm Hotel with One Seat on the Bus. A failed worm hotel and a school-trip seat create different problems without asking a young performer to imitate adult circumstances. The suggested ages overlap at 8–10.
• Two classical male roles: Benedick: This can be no trick with Edmund: Thou, nature, art my goddess. Benedick’s comic self-justification in prose contrasts with Edmund’s verse argument and ambition. This pair is only useful if two classical pieces and those forms are accepted; Benedick also needs a longer slot.
• Classical and contemporary original: Beatrice: What fire is in mine ears? with The Thursday Key. Beatrice makes a private promise after overhearing others; Leah negotiates directly with her mother. This is not a substitute for a brief requiring a contemporary published play.

Check the length before you memorize

Read both shortlisted pieces at a pace that allows the thoughts to change. Then perform and time each one with breaths, pauses and an ending. Follow the audition’s rules about whether a slate or introduction counts toward the limit. Leave a little margin where the time cap is strict.

Do not rush a 227-word scene into a short slot just because you like the ending. Choose shorter material, or make a coherent cut only where the brief allows it. The public demo keeps the complete text shown on its page; it does not create a recording of your custom cut.

The prepared voice is useful for hearing words and checking recall, but your performance will have its own timing. CueRoom’s waiting time in practice mode is not an audition stopwatch. Use a separate timer or a recording of your full take.

Rehearse your audition monologue free in CueRoom

1. Read the full piece and its context. Name the listener, the request or decision, and the point where the speaker’s approach changes.
2. Open its free rehearsal demo. The same text loads in the actual CueRoom interface, divided into thought beats.
3. Recall before checking. Use Practice my lines to hide the words, Prompt to hear the current beat, and Again or Next to work on a transition. Listen to the recording when you want to hear the prepared reading.
4. Return to the whole scene. Join the beats, direct the speech to a specific listener and time your own complete delivery.

For a short deadline, follow the 24-hour monologue preparation plan. If the audition gives you a scene with another speaking role, use the self-tape sides preparation guide. That is a different task from selecting a standalone monologue.

Questions about choosing audition material

Can I use these monologues in an audition?

The CueRoom originals are offered for personal rehearsal, classes and auditions that permit original material. The Shakespeare pages identify their source plays and public-domain edition. Check the specific audition’s rules: availability here does not mean a panel accepts the piece, its length or its source.

Which monologue is best for a beginner?

Start with a situation you can explain simply and a listener you can imagine. For a child, that might be asking permission to keep a dragon; for a teen, asking a friend to listen; for an adult, asking a friend to become an emergency contact. Choose for understanding and fit before choosing for difficulty.

Do I need to cry in a dramatic monologue?

Focus on what the character wants and what they do to get it. A clear request, a changed tactic or an unexpected decision can carry the scene. Tears are not a requirement of these original texts, and forcing them can distract you from the listener.

Should I look at the camera or an imagined listener?

Follow the self-tape or in-room instructions first. If they leave the eyeline open, choose a consistent listener position that serves the scene and keeps your face readable. Practice the setup before the final take; do not change it merely to imitate a recorded example.

Can the demo read another character’s lines?

A monologue has one speaking role. For a two-person demonstration, try The Last Train: choose Maya or Jules and CueRoom reads the other role from its saved recordings.

Looking for male characters? Monologues for Men compares named adult roles, open-casting originals and Shakespeare, with suggested ages and contrasting pairs. Check the source requirement in your brief before choosing.

Back to all monologues · More comedic monologues · More short choices

Need a wider range of compact texts to compare? Browse short monologues organized by word count, then use the source and audition-brief checks here before settling on a piece.

Asked for a dramatic selection? Compare 20 dramatic monologues by role and situation, then apply the source and timing checks here before choosing.

If your brief asks for contemporary material, use the contemporary audition source checks to distinguish the required period from the required format. The collection clearly identifies its standalone originals.