“Let X Equal the Quantity of All Quantities of X”: Audition Monologues for Proof : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff

“Let X Equal the Quantity of All Quantities of X”: Audition Monologues for Proof

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

June 9, 2018

David Auburn’s Proof won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001. It’s an intense drama that theatres around the world have continually produced because it addresses issues of family, identity, and purpose with frightening honesty. If you’re auditioning for Proof soon, take a look at these amazing monologues specifically chosen for each character.

Auditioning for Catherine

Lost Angel by Ricardo Soltero-Brown
Ed is visited by the memory of his daughter Kristen who airs her grievances while he tries to drown her out by playing his trumpet.

Get the Monologue Here

Sex & Death in London by Crystal Skillman
London. A pub in Clapham Junction, London. Outside, the London riots are raging. Two teenage girls, Tink and Cyn, have broken into the pub and are waiting on their friend, Terra. Henry is the father of Terra, who has gone missing amid the riots. He has snooped on Terra’s open laptop at home and discovered Terra’s plans to escape to the pub with Tink and Cyn. This monologue lies just before the end of the play. Henry is about to leave to find his daughter when Tink stops him. It is the most real and honest thing she has said for the entire length of the play. It’s a side of her we haven’t seen before – the real her. She explains what she saw down at the bridge on the lake. Terra, pregnant, and Alex, Terra’s boyfriend, were talking when Terra jumped into the lake and drowned.

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Between Mars and Me by Rose Helsinger
Jaime has just brought her brother, Roland, some food. Roland believes there will be an alien invasion and, after asking Jaime if he can check her for a Martian infection, she declines strongly. They move on to discuss a pre-calc test Jaime is worrying over, and Roland offers to help her study for it. As she reaches in her backpack to retrieve her math textbook, Roland leans over and begins to inspect her for Martian infections. Jaime becomes angry at Roland for tricking her, and unloads her anger on him. He’s become difficult to deal with, and she’s had it.

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Hal

Porch by Alex Kump
In this scene Jeff describes to Vincent about when he knew he was in love with him. He talks about the physical sensation of being in love with someone, and then talks about how one is definitely sure when they’ve fallen in love.

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Cowbirds by DT Arcieri
A single cardinal is singing in the distance and Tommy stands bird watching with binoculars. After a moment, he lets the binoculars hang around his neck and listens closely. In this monologue, he explains the method of identifying birds from their color, beak and sound. He illustrates the usefulness of the senses and compares this kind of receptive thinking to getting to know people as well as birds.

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Raggedy And by David Valdes Greenwood
Ondi has rescinded the offer to speak at the inauguration of the new president. Ondi, not wanting to be known as the first transgender poet to speak, but just a poet (she would even settle for lesbian), declines to speak, knowing how she will be labeled from here on out, having worked her whole life to build her identity as a woman. Jayden is on the inaugural committee and finalizing the speakers for the inauguration. In this monologue, he is desperately trying to get Ondi to realize that in fact, yes—it is not about poetry. It is about standing up for what you are for the greater communities at large.

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Claire

Bâtard by Robert Carhuayo
Beatrice is the right-hand woman of Eve, the leader of the Women in the Society of Choice. In this scene, Beatrice speaks to both P001 and the audience of the Picking Ceremony in one final chance to sway P001’s choice of gender. She does her best to highlight all the aspects of female culture, both past and present, emphasizing the power that women hold in the Society of the Choice. Let it be known that this monologue is purposefully stereotypical, in order to highlight the absurdity of embracing stereotypes as aspects of your personality and culture. Considering this, Beatrice is best played as a hyper-stereotype, where she becomes so much of a clear-cut stereotype that is comedically ridiculous.

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Burying Miss America by Brian Golden
A funeral home in Nebraska. Jean blames her brother for inheriting everything of their mother’s personality, both the good and bad. She recounts all the traits that Boxer got but she didn’t — stoicism, charm, good looks — and, in doing so, asserts what she’s long believed: that she was never their mother’s favorite child. Jean makes clear that she believes Boxer’s never earned anything in his life, because he inherited everything he needed from their Mom.

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From Here, I Can See Heaven by David-Matthew Barnes
Kimberly confesses to her brother-in- law why she thinks her father left the family’s farm to her in his will.

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Auditioning for Robert

In the Hood by Pat Lydersen
Mr. Fineburg is a kind, elderly gentleman who owns all the buildings on the block. He’s lived there for years and loves everything about it. The kids in the community are making a documentary about their neighborhood, so they interview Mr. Fineburg and ask him what it was like when he first moved in.

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The Memory Tax by Chad Eschman
Hat Man, a mysterious figure, visits Jason in a dream. Jason, who has never known his father, has just begun working at a government facility that extracts memories from people’s minds. Hat Man wants to teach Jason how to survive, and maybe scare the hell out of him along the way.

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Murmurs and Incantations by Dahn Hiuni
Ben has returned to Poland to perform a piece at the gallery of an old family friend Eva. During his initial visit to the gallery, the ghost of his grandfather Dovid. appears to him. Dovid was a rabbi in a nearby town who perished at the hands of the Nazis. His legacy of resistance haunts and inspires Ben to be the artist that he is today. Dovid has taken Ben to see the monument that was erected in his honor. While at the site, Ben details how he became a performance artist.

Get the Monologue Here

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Ashleigh Gardner received her AA in Theatre/Drama/Dramatic Arts from Valencia College and her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright and an actor.