- Find good monologue for kids.
- Help with practice.
- How many monologues for kids should you have?
- Stay on brand.
- Choose One Minute Monologues.
No matter if your kid is preparing to audition for a school play, or a big network TV show - a good monologue is a must for a successful audition. That’s why we’ve prepared a few tactics that will hopefully help your kid find a monologue that will make them shine during auditions, big or small!
First thing first, where does one find a monologue? Monologue books is usually a great way to start reading monologues for beginners. But really, it can be anything from scripts found online, plays, shows and films and TV shows (you can simply write down lines straight from your TV). Think of TV shows, movies and plays your child has seen and if he can relate to it (just remember that it should be age appropriate). If nothing comes to mind, look through scripts online- there’s a surprisingly large selection available!
Help your kid out
The person that should be choosing his or her monologue is your child, however, you can steer them in the right direction, especially if your kid is younger. Ultimately, the monologue should “speak” to you child, and should be a story they would want to tell.
Read Here: 8 Simple Tips for Memorizing Lines for Kids
How many monologues for kids should you have?
If your child is serious about acting, and wants to get cast for a variety of roles, then they should have a variety of monologues up their sleeve as well. A pro tip is to have the double of monologues ready (if a drama school program requires to have 2 monologues ready, prepare four, etc). But also don’t forget about different genres, like comedy and drama!
Stay on brand
First, think what kind of character your kid is usually drawn to. What’s their personality? Is he the clown of his class, or a more sensitive, quite character? All these qualities are important to keep in mind when choosing a perfect monologue. Remember, the monologue should fit your kid!
Choose One Minute Monologues
During auditions, casting director sometimes sees hundreds of kids a day, so make sure your kid’s monologue isn’t too long. In fact, an industry rule is that a good monologue should not exceed 1 minute (that is if the audition description doesn’t state otherwise). If there’s a monologue that your kid is fond of, but appears to be longer than needed, you can easily edit it to make it shorter. If your kid is a beginner in the acting industry, it’s a safer bet to choose a more dynamic monologue. In this context, dynamic means the part of the script/play which is more heightened, where a character is addressing other characters or actively pursues the story. This, of course, doesn’t mean that if your kid wants to perform the part of the story where the character is talking to himself or looks back at the past. However, keep in mind that these types of monologues are harder to pull off. Just depends on your kid’s level of experience.
To recap
Most importantly, have fun! Preparing for auditions should be fun for your kid, as well as for you. Make the experience a relaxed one - putting too much pressure before something that’s already stressful (like an audition) will not do your kid any good.
