The Best Audition Monologues Suggestions for Romeo and Juliet – by Character

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

May 31, 2018

“A Plague o’ Both Your Houses!” Audition Monologues for Romeo and Juliet.  If you’re auditioning for the play Romeo and Juliet soon and you need an audition monologue, explore our expert suggestions from Performer Stuff’s team of audition monologue coaches.  Every monologue suggestion is sure to be perfect for each role in the play Romeo and Juliet! Break a leg with your audition for Romeo and Juliet. Be sure to let us know if the audition monologue suggestion worked for you!

Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Romeo

Love’s Labor’s Lost – Berowne
Navarre, Spain. The King’s park. Berowne, who has forsworn his pact to avoid all women in favor of contemplation and academic study, falls madly in love with the bewitching Rosaline. He has just given the clown Costard a letter to deliver to her, declaring his passion. He is totally overwhelmed by his change of feeling, hence the long 12-syllable line at the beginning.

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Comedy of Errors – Antipholus of Syracuse
Unbeknownst to them, two brothers are separated at birth, one sent to Syracuse and one to Ephesus. By chance, they are both named “Antipholus”, as are both their servants named “Dromio”. When Antipholus of Syracuse finds his way to the home of his long-lost brother, he meets Luciana, his brother’s sister-in-law. He showers affection on her, enraptured by her beauty. Luciana rejects him, thinking that Antipholus of Syracuse is her sister’s husband, Antipholus of Ephesus, and she accuses him of cheating on his wife. This monologue is a hysterical profession of love and adoration in the face of stern rejection.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the character Juliet

A monologue from the play Merchant of Venice – Portia
Venice; the Court of Justice; Portia appears at the trial of Shylock vs. Antonio disguised as the learned young lawyer Balthasar. Shylock has been unyielding in recovering his bond: a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Here Portia pleads with Shylock to show mercy. Up until now, Portia has not spoken with this kind of nobility and emotion.

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A monologue from the play The Two Gentlemen of Verona – Julia
Julia, a young gentlewoman, and her friend and servant, Lucetta, are talking about leaving Verona to go to Milan and visit Proteus, Julia’s beloved. Lucetta doesn’t want to go because she says the journey is long and difficult, and she tells Julia to “qualify the fire’s extreme rage” (to temper Julia’s lust and desire for Proteus). Julia responds by saying that every time Lucetta tries to quell her feelings for Proteus, they only become stronger.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the character Mercutio

A monologue from the play King Lear – The Fool
During the storm. Lear is being led offstage by Kent to the shelter of a hovel. The Fool remains behind to speak this comedic and poignant soliloquy.

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A monologue from the play As You Like It – Touchstone
Forest of Arden.  Touchstone comes before the Duke Senior and Jaques, asking to be married to Audrey.  He introduces himself as a fool, yet he has accomplished much. Jaques is very apprehensive of this man, but the Duke takes to him, asking about how Touchstone almost got into a fight, but did not upon reaching the seventh cause.  Touchstone then goes into his own dissertation on logic and rules of arguing.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Paris and Prince Escalus

A monologue from the play Measure for Measure – Angelo
Angelo, deputy of the Duke of Vienna, is standing in while the Duke is away. He has called Isabella to his chamber to offer her a way of saving her brother’s life and prolonging his execution – sleeping with Angelo. Isabella, disgusted and frightened by this prospect is not prepared to give this much of herself to the man who imprisoned her brother. She tells Angelo that she will tell the entire city of his demand, but he responds with this manipulative speech. Angelo is a tyrannical, hypocritical, twisted, and over-zealous man whose passions outweigh his sense of right and wrong.

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A monologue from the play Henry V – King Henry V
France. The English camp on the night before the decisive Battle of Agincourt. The restless King Harry, in disguise, roams about the camp unrecognized. He has just spoken to a group of gruff soldiers who tell him that all responsibility hangs upon the king. Here, an honest and likable king confesses his doubts to the audience. He prays for strength for his soldiers, and forgiveness for his father’s wrongdoings in killing King Richard, and claiming the crown for his own.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Benvolio and the Montagues

A monologue from the play Measure for Measure – Antonio
Antonio is about to pay back his debt to Shylock, by giving him a pound of flesh. Antonio knows his debt must be paid and is ready to give back valiantly with his head up high, knowing his fate has been cast, knowing that he must go through with what was promised.

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A monologue from the play Hamlet – Laertes
Laertes meets with his sister, Ophelia, and advises her on how to deal with the Lord Hamlet. Ophelia is set to marry Hamlet, but she and her family have her doubts about his sanity. Laertes advises that she use her discretion when judging if Hamlet actually loves her or not, as the decisions Hamlet makes are determined by his status as the Prince of Denmark. (Hamlet may say he wants to marry her for the good of politics, not because he actually loves her.)

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Tybalt and the Capulets

A monologue from the play Cymbeline – Cymbeline

Cymbeline is about to execute his prisoners when he finds something quite familiar in “Fidele” (the disguised Imogen). Imogen then notices Posthumus’ ring on Iachimo’s finger (the ring that Posthumus and Imogen exchanged to declare their love). Iachimo then describes how he tricked Posthumus into giving over his ring, pretending that he had seduced Imogen to fall in love with him.  In this monologue, Posthumus threatens Iachimo for having deceived him, lusting for blood.

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A monologue from the play King Lear – Edmund, the Bastard
Britain; the Earl of Glouscester’s castle. Edmond, the bastard son of Gloucester, enters with a letter. This is his first appearance in the play. He is a true villain. The monologue is filled with bawdy and sexual innuendos.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the character Juliet’s Nurse

A monologue from the play Othello – Emilia
Cyprus; Desdemona’s bedroom. Desdemona is preparing for bed with the help of her maid, EMILIA, who is also Iago’s wife. In this private moment between the two women, Emilia comments on the way women are mistreated by men.

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A monologue from the play Comedy of Errors – Abbess
Ephesus; a street before a priory. An abbess who recently took in Antipholus of Ephesus meets Adriana, who is looking for her lost husband. Antipholus, seeking refuge from debtors and his wife, ran into the abbey to hide. Here, the abbess blames Antipholus’s struggles mostly on Adriana’s nagging.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Friar Laurence and Friar John

A monologue from the play Cymbeline – Caius Lucius
Cymbeline, the King of Britain, and Caius Lucius, a Roman general, are deciding what to do with their prisoners after the battle. In this monologue, Caius explains that Britain won but by chance, and Rome was wrong to want to execute their prisoners. He begs Cymbeline to let Fidele (Imogen) go unscathed.

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A monologue from the play Hamlet – Polonius
Elsinore castle. Polonius’s quarters. Polonius bids a final rushed farewell to Laertes before his son’s departure for France. He imparts some paternal wisdom in the few moments remaining. This speech is a small series of homilies: small lectures on moral conduct and behavior. Just when Laertes thinks one has ended, another begins. Polonius speaks as if he was the ancient soul of experience.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Capulet and Montague

A monologue from the play Macbeth – Macbeth
Scotland. Inverness; Macbeth’s castle during the siege by forces of Malcolm and Macduff. Macbeth is full of fright until he hears “a cry of women within.” Seyton reports that Lady Macbeth has died. The news stuns Macbeth and stops him in his tracks. Here, he is hardened. However, the actor must decide how much grief to give the character; after all, Lady Macbeth has been controlling his character for most of the play. Now that she is dead, he is released.

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A monologue from the play Cymbeline – Cymbeline
King Cymbeline of Britain has just pardoned his daughter, seeing now that she was a boy in disguise. He looks around, disgraced at the way he nearly killed people through the manipulations of his wife. He resigns to go forth with joy and forgiveness.

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Audition monologue suggestions for the characters Lady Capulet and Lady Montague

A monologue from the play King Lear – Goneril
Goneril is fed up with her father, King Lear. Lear, a vain and foolish man, has just divided his kingdom between two of his daughters (Goneril and Regan) and left his youngest (Cordelia) out of his will. In the scene previous to this, Goneril’s servant reprimanded Lear’s fool, and Lear hit him for interfering. Goneril is embarrassed and has had enough of her father acting so rashly and selfishly. In a sudden move to infuriate her father and send him over the edge, Regan tells her steward, Oswald, to make as much trouble as he can in the castle. She hopes that Lear will be so annoyed that he’ll go and live with Regan instead.

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A monologue from the play King John – Lady Constance
France; the French King Philip’s pavilion; Lady Constance, widow of Geoffrey, King John’s brother, and mother of Arthur, John’s rival to the throne, becomes distraught when Salisbury tells her of the planned dynastic marriage between the French Dauphin Louis and Blanche of Spain. The move blocks her son’s advance to the crown. She delivers her speech as a string of declarations; she is just as surprised as her son will be.

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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.
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