Welcome to AuditionScenes — a curated collection of 0 acting monologues for actors at every stage of their career. Every piece on this page has been hand-selected for performance quality, properly attributed, time-tagged, and prepared with character notes so you can stop hunting for material and start rehearsing.
What makes a great audition monologue
A strong audition monologue does three things in two minutes or less: it shows clear stakes, gives you a believable emotional arc, and lets the casting panel see you — your instrument, your range, your specificity. Pieces that are over-performed in the audition circuit (the same Shakespeare, the same Tracy Letts speech, the same Phoebe Waller-Bridge cut) work against you. The monologues here are curated with exactly that in mind — clear stakes, a playable arc, and enough room to show range.
Drama school auditions (RADA, LAMDA, Guildhall, Central)
Most UK drama-school auditions ask for two contrasting pieces — typically one classical and one contemporary, each under two minutes. We have curated RADA, LAMDA, Guildhall and Royal Central audition pathways with monologue recommendations matched to each school's stated requirements. If you're applying to multiple schools, work two contrasting speeches into your repertoire and rotate them.
Self-tapes and casting calls
Self-tape briefs are usually genre-specific and time-capped. Use the duration filters below to find pieces that fit the brief — under-1-minute drama monologues, 1–2 minute comedy, 2-minute drama. Every monologue page includes pacing guidance plus a downloadable PDF you can take into the room.
Classical vs contemporary
Browse classical monologues (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Webster, Sheridan, Greek tragedy) when you need a piece for drama-school auditions or classical-theatre castings, and contemporary monologues from modern film, TV and theatre when you're prepping a screen audition or self-tape. Our Shakespeare collection spans the great tragedies, comedies and histories, and every classical piece is sourced from a verified public-domain edition in our Classical Text Library.
By demographic
Filter by gender or age to find monologues for women, monologues for men, teen monologues, or monologues for actors over 40. Each demographic page is curated separately so the recommendations actually match the casting reality you'll walk into.
Not sure where to start? Try Monologue Match — answer a few questions about your casting type, age range, and the audition you're preparing for, and we'll suggest the perfect piece in 30 seconds.