Audition monologue for a 16-year-old

[SimplySandy]

I’m not sure this is the best place to ask but here goes! My daughter is planning to apply for musical theatre post-16 courses. She has her dance and songs picked but is really struggling to find the right monologue. Anyone got any ideas, please? Preferably monologues that panels like and kids succeed with! Thanks.

Dd went to MT college, dh has taught at several and ds is currently at a conservatoire and has lots of friends on an MT course.

Expectations will vary depending on whether it is a professional pre vocational course such as the likes of Emil Dale, a professional training diploma such as the L6 Trinity diploma you can do from age 16 at some places or a local FE college. MT colleges are usually a lot more lenient than straight acting courses as to what they expect.

Panels like them to choose something that is within their casting type so it must be age and gender appropriate. They may also ask them questions about their character and the situation so she needs to have read the whole play. A good rule of thumb is to either choose something from a play they have studies for GCSE or there are anthologies of monologues such as the Jean Marlow book or the Methuen book for Young Actors. if you want something less overdone then find a monologue she likes from an anthology and find a different play by the same author.

Be prepared to be redirected. It does not mean that your interpretation was wrong, but they want to see that you can follow redirection.

Something like this might be useful:

https://www.dramanotebook.com/monologues-teenagers/

These would not usually be allowed as most places specify they have to be from a published play.

I went to drama school, and have used them with some young people in a Saturday class.

They would be absolutely fine for Saturday classes. I've used similar myself. It would also probably be fine for a local FE college Btec type course. But would not fulfill the common vocational drama school audition criteria of being from a published play.

One of Leah’s monologues from DNA perhaps?

This may inspire your daughter @SimplySandy there are many resources online too.

Wishing her every success, it's a tough gig.

Preferably monologues that panels like and kids succeed with!
Can I suggest that you look for something a bit less well-used because you don't want your daughter to be compared to a bunch of other candidates who did the same monologue and for the admissions panel to be eyerolling/yawning? RADA specifically used to have a list of "please don't use these" monologues because they were just so very fed up of hearing the same ones over and over again. Try going to your local library and looking in the plays section for something fitting maybe, if she doesn't have a favourite musical with one in? Alternatively, don't feel like you have to use one from a musical, you could also look in plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov, for example. Juliet has some good monologues.

I would second the Leah monologue from DNA or one from Lady Windermere's Fan? DD is working on one from Things I Know to be True at the moment which has a lot of emotional depth in it.

She's only 16 though? Drama school admits from 18? I went to Central but maybe the likes of Italia Conti is 16?

OP said Musical Theatre. It's common to train from age 16 in MT. My daughter did a L6 MT diploma from the age of 16, places like Hammond, Laine etc offer those & dh taught on those courses. Then you have pre-vocational colleges such as LIPA, Emil Dale, Arts Ed and quite a few others who all take from age 16.

Hence why I said it depends on whether it is one of these colleges or just a local FE college Btec.

Thanks, everyone. It’s post-16 BTEC or UAL but specialist performing arts, not FE college.

I thought it sounded like it was.

The good news is that for MT even these specialist places are a lot more lenient than post 18 degree places. They won't mind at that age is something from an anthology is chosen. They recognise that some youngsters will not have had much exposure to plays, especially those who are from a more dance background.

Hopefully your dd has a few options to look at. Make sure you read all the requirements carefully. I would say the most important thing is to choose an age appropriate monologue. And a massive NO NO is something that is not race/culturally appropriate. Some places don't like put on/character voices as well. An example of this for songs would be Adelaide's Lament.

I remember an interview with the guy who played Barry in Eastenders. He was given the advice of going for the opposite of what you are naturally. If you remember 'Barry' he was a larger man, for his drama school audition he did a monologue from ' Bent' which is about gay men in a concentration camp.

My favourite book of monologues for that age is the National Youth Theatre one - you can get it on Amazon. It gives loads of background/context for each monologue and some of the full texts are available on the NYT website (you get an access code with the book).

Excellent suggestion.

This is exactly what DD used to audition for her sixth form MT course.

If she if is studying any plays at school that would be a good start eg Lady Macbeth or Sheila from Inspector Calls. It’s best if she knows the play inside out. PM if she wants a few online lessons as this is my field.