Classical Monologues for US Actors

This is a hand-picked collection of classical monologues for actors in the US. American auditions — from BFA and MFA programmes to regional theatre and on-camera reads — usually ask for one to two contrasting pieces kept tight, often under 90 seconds each. Casting through Actors Access and Backstage rewards a clean, specific self-tape over a big "audition voice".

Classical text (Shakespeare and his contemporaries through to the Restoration) is a standard requirement at most serious drama-school auditions. Choose a speech you understand line by line, let the verse do its work, and ground the language in a real, present need. A monologue is your chance to show a panel exactly who you are with no one else to lean on, so clarity of intention from the first beat is everything.

For Juilliard, Yale, NYU Tisch, Carnegie Mellon or the college Unified auditions, choose active pieces with a clear objective and someone specific to talk to, and avoid the few overdone speeches every reader has heard a hundred times.