Skill-Specific Monologues to Hone Your Storytelling

Written by Amanda Grace

January 12th, 2020

Shape up your monologues with these skill-spanning pieces!

for pushing the pace

A monologue from Operation Oddball by Lisa Bruna

(Female, Comedic, Kids & Juniors 5-13, High School 14-18, College 18-22, Young Adults 20s, Adults 30-40s)

If you’re looking to practice ramping up your energy, look no further than Lola. Buzzing from “a week’s worth of gummy worms,” Lola takes her brother Oliver through this afternoon’s impending grape jelly surprise, from farmer’s market to kitchen table.

Get the Monologue Here

for keeping track of characters

A monologue from The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

(Male, Dramatic, Adults 30-40s)

One of the greatest monologue challenges is to manage multiple offstage characters in a way the audience can follow. Give it a go with David Wilson, a clever lawyer who is taken for an eccentric fool by the inhabitants of his new town, whom he introduces us to here.

Get the Monologue Here

for making confession

A monologue from Anise’s Story by Natalie Osborne

(Female, Dramatic, Adults 30-40s, Mature 50s)

If your vulnerability is failing of late, take a look at Anise, who has trapped twelve-year-old Barb in her lair. Spider Queen and forced storyteller may have been enemies, but on Barb’s last night, Anise performs a lifetime first by sharing a story of her own.

Get the Monologue Here

for acting absurd

COACH BECKY: A LITTLE LEAGUE T-BALL MONOLOGUE by Asher Wyndham

(Female, Comedic, College 18-22, Young Adults 20s, Adults 30-40s)

Sometimes, lightening up is harder than we’d like. If letting go is your goal, meet Coach Becky, a children’s t-ball coach who cares just a little too much—you’re just in time for a lecture on parenting technique.

Get the Monologue Here

for re-imagining classics

A monologue from Wilde, Times (Two) by Evan Guilford-Blake

(Male, Dramatic, Young Adults 20s, Adults 30-40s)

When fairytales are what you fear, any bit of child-friendly fantasy can feel alien. Wade in slowly with this prose spin on Oscar Wilde’s adaptation of “The Happy Prince”—who may, as it goes, not be so happy after all.

Get the Monologue Here

for painting a picture

A monologue from Norman! by DT Arcieri

(Male, Dramatic, Young Adults 20s, Adults 30-40s, Mature 50s)

Many monologues rely on the actor’s ability to present and maintain imagery—to put us in the character’s shoes at a given moment. If this isn’t your strong suit, spend some time with Norman as he describes an ordinarily heartbreaking morning.

Get the Monologue Here

for allowing naïveté

A monologue from Pericles Wet by Ellen Margolis

(Female, Serio-Comic, College 18-22, Young Adults 20s)

If your characters always have to have the upper hand, consider switching it up with this princess who can’t quite hide her cards. Thasia has never seen a man other than her father—that is, until this shipwrecked sailor washes up on her shore.

Get the Monologue Here

for hamming it up

A monologue from Murmurs & Incantations by Dahn Hiuni

(Male, Comedic, College 18-22, Young Adults 20s)

For those of us who need a little practice taking it to ten, Hiuni offers up Roach, a head-banging college student giving his beyond-level best in Performance Art class.

Get the Monologue Here

for holding focus

A monologue from For My Silent Sisters by Tara Meddaugh

(Female, Dramatic, High School 14-18)

Taking up space is harder than it looks. If your goal is to grow in presence, start with this speech delivered by Marta, a trafficking victim who knew of her best friend’s doomed escape plan and chose not to go along.

Get the Monologue Here

for containing anger

A monologue from What Glorious Times They Had by Diane Grant

(Female, Dramatic, College 18-22, Young Adults 20s, Adults 30-40s, Mature 50s)

If your anger tends to boil over, work on keeping it at a simmer with this piece by Diane Grant. Nellie McClung is a Canadian historian who has some opinions about “chivalry,” but works to present them in an un-contradictable way.

Get the Monologue Here



Looking for more material? Check out our other stories below!

Amanda Grace is an actor, writer, composer, improvisor and director whose work has graced stages from  Central Florida to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is based in London, where she is studying to obtain her M.F.A. in Actor & Performer Training at Rose Bruford College. Amanda holds an honours B.A. in Theatre Studies and a B.A. in Psychology, as well as a certificate in Shakespearean Performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her original albums can be streamed at amandagrace.bandcamp.com.
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