Theatre Arts Resources: When the Scene or Monologue You Choose MUST Come From a Published Play
There are two strategies to find a scene from a published play:
1. Find an entire play, then pick a scene from it.
2. Find a scene, then check to see if it comes from a published play.
1. IF YOU FIND AN ENTIRE PLAY
If you find an entire play that you like and choose one of its scenes for your assignment, so long as it has been published in a book, a magazine, or a journal (online or in print), you are golden.
WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK A LIBRARIAN
If you are having difficulty deciding if the scene or monologue you chose is from a published play, ask a librarian!
2. IF YOU CHOOSE A SCENE OR MONOLOGUE FROM A COLLECTION
If you choose the scene for your assignment from a book that is a collection of scenes or monologues from different plays, here's how you can tell if it is from a published play or not.
1. The information for the book's table of contents in OneSearch may reveal which plays the scenes or monologues are from. In the example below, click on the blue title and on the next screen, scroll down to see the detailed table of contents information.
The Book of Monologues for Aspiring Actors by ISBN: 0844257710Publication Date: 1995-01-01Monologues for Aspiring Actors is collection of cuttings from plays featuring young charactersadolescents to young adults. Playwrights range from Sophocles and Moliere to David Henry Hwang and Laura Harrington. Divided into monologues for females and monologues for males, the collection offers introductory notes on each dramatic scene and practical advice on preparing, analyzing, and staging the monologues for interpretation and performance. This collection of monologues, selected by actor, director, teacher, and writer Marsh Cassady, invites aspiring actors to experience the challenges and joys of individual theatrical performance. It is also an ideal supplement for any of Glencoe's theater arts titles.
2. The other way, is to look at the book itself. Check the table of contents first. Here is an example that gives the name of the playwright and the title of the play for each monologue in the book.
If this information is not in the table of contents, it may appear on the page where the scene or monologue starts as shown in this example.
In this third example, right on the cover of the book we can see that all the scenes are famous and there is a list of big name playwrights.
