“It’s Because of You I’ve Made Nothing of My Life”: Audition Monologues for A Doll’s House

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

September 18, 2018

Auditioning for Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece A Doll’s House soon? Check out these amazing monologues chosen specifically for every character.

Auditioning for Nora Helmer


Cutaway  by Tabia Lau
A man and a WOMAN discuss divvying up their possessions as part of their divorce. As the conversation progresses from practical desires of tangible objects, it progresses into wanting impossible items, body parts, and experiences. The woman is so full of anger at her husband that she violently tailspins into wanting half of experiences, half of whole things, and half of moments they lived together.

Get the Monologue Here

Gable/Lombard/Plane Love by Rosary O’Neill
Inspired by the love story of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Plane Love is a contemporary fictional play about two love-struck icons engaged in a spiraling series of emails which become increasingly more personal and sensual. We are offered a revealing glimpse into the lives of two stars and the jeopardy caused by their deadly attraction to each other. Jane reveals her broken heart and husband’s betrayal.

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Torvald Helmer


The Awakening of Kate Chopin by Rosary O’Neill
Kate Chopin, author of The Awakening, must pick between her dying husband and her lover, the wealthy planter next door. She picks her lover, and he leaves her. In agony she goes forth to become the great writer she was meant to be. Frustrating her attempts are her wealthy next door neighbor, wanting to prove his masculinity, her jealous husband, stricken with malaria, the little sex-pot seamstress next door, the town gossip, and the bankrupt cotton business, which consumes her time. Oscar (38) reminisces about when he knew his marriage had ended.

Get the Monologue Here

Amelia, Once More by David Muschell
The dressing room of Shelly Preston in an Off-Broadway theater. Tom, her co-star in the play, has entered Shelly’s dressing room to talk to the leading lady. Shelly is suffering from an overwhelming feeling of having her character, Amelia, take over her mind, body, and life. In the middle of a line run, Tom has confronted Shelly (who has transitioned into her character Amelia) about her behavior during their line-through. He doesn’t know who Shelly is anymore, and faults her allowing her character to take control of her life.

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Dr. Rank or Nils Krogstad


Montgomery Clift and the All-Girl Fan Club by Rosary O’Neill
Six months after a devastating car crash, Montgomery Clift finds his face unrecognizable after surgery. Unwilling to give up his career in films, he is more determined than ever to act a lead again. No good offers have come his way; he struggles to get himself back on the boards. He is frantic. He defies all and refuses sympathy calls from his friends. But they appear as hallucinations to help him find out how he confronted calamity before. Montgomery begs his mother to let him fail.

Get the Monologue Here

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. He tells Ben what life was like prior to his death.

Get the Monologue Here

Romance by Barbara Lhota
Miriam, a Medieval Literature professor meets Mick, a mail guy in a closed chapel in Boston on Christmas Eve in the middle of the night. Miriam has left her sex-less marriage because she believes her husband is no longer attracted to her and Mick has just been dumped by his fiance. These two wounded opposites bump heads and philosophize about God and the writers of Bazooka bubble gum fortunes and finally manage to comfort each other. As the night progresses, they help each other uncover their best and most alluring qualities in this old fashion romance. Mick, sitting in the chapel, explains to Miriam about how he was jilted at the altar today

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Kristine Linde


Cowbirds by DT Arcieri
Tommy’s family is very secretive. His father died the day he was born, his mother is blind and his sister, Candy, is a 40-year-old alcoholic who lives in the next town over. His mother has revealed to him that her blindness is familial, but she only seems concerned about getting Candy a blood test even though both siblings have an equal chance of inheriting the disorder. Tommy unloads the truth about the genetic blindness to his sister gently one day, and she doesn’t seem surprised. In this monologue, Candy reacts to this news unexpectedly and mentions a secret that Tommy can’t seem to figure out despite his intelligence.

Get the Monologue Here

Ronnie’s Cabinet by Olivia Briggs
Sarah has told Ronnie that she has terminal cancer, and despite his protestations, she does not want to fight it. In addition, after years of denial and Ronnie playing the victim, Sarah has just gotten Ronnie to acknowledge the turmoil that she had to deal with growing up with their overbearing, perfectionist father

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for the Children


The Grippe of October by John P. McEneny
Clifford, pre-teens to early teens, has an intellectual disability. His mother is dying of the flu during the Spanish Flu pandemic after World War I.

Get the Monologue Here

Beautiful by Douglas M. Parker
This is a monologue about beauty, both inside and out. Those who are beautiful get what they need, and those who have it on the inside help others achieve it–this kid’s mother happens to have both types of beautiful. A great monologue for a young actor looking to explore kindness and subtle emotion.

Get the Monologue Here

War Letters by J. Robert Watkins
Mary addresses the audience, revealing her worry for her father being overseas fighting in the war. Mary had found her mother crying—they had a long talk about him being overseas. Mary had always felt comforted knowing her Dad was in the house when he was at home. Now, she isn’t necessarily frightened that he’s away, she is just uncomfortable without him at home.

Get the Monologue Here

Anne of Green Gables by Jody Johnson Davidson
Marilla and her brother, Matthew, have sent Mrs. Spencer to pick up a young orphan boy from the asylum in Nova Scotia to help them around the house. Here, Anne (the orphan) has just arrived at Green Gables.  She is not what Matthew expected. In this monologue, Matthew is quite taken aback when he finds a girl waiting for them. Anne is quite boisterous and talkative in Matthew’s stunned silence.

Get the Monologue Here

Auditioning for Anne Marie or Helen

Epiphany by Bruce Solheim
Jenny is in her grandmother’s old house in Norway. She is recently divorced, and in an effort to find herself, she is saying good-bye to this house. She finds a journal written by her grandmother and begins to read the contents while drinking wine, unaware of the rabbit hole she is about discover. In this monologue, Jenny ponders on whether she would be a hero in this tale—people talk a big game but actions are louder than words. In the journal, the resistance is building. The end is in sight and the death toll still counting.

Get the Monologue Here

An Uncommon Language by Evan Guilford-Blake
Héloise is a talented sculpture from France who has been institutionalized by her husband John. Héloise’s doctor has finally given her permission to sketch in the garden after weeks of doing nothing. She is sitting with a fellow patient named Nora. While Héloise is happy she can create some sort of art, she wishes she could be sculpting. Nora asks Héloise what it is like to sculpt.

Get the Monologue Here


Auditioning for The Porter


Grover by Joel Fishbane
Wife has kicked out Husband, who’s crushed and now living with his older sister, Jess. Husband and Jess are currently gathering all of Husband’s things from the apartment he used to share with Wife. Husband is shocked that Wife has just gotten a new dog, considering the two of them initially bonded over their mutual hatred of dogs. Husband thinks the only explanation for her having a dog is that Wife is now living with a secret lover.

Get the Monologue Here

One Good Thing by Don Zolidis
Travis, a senior in high school, is pretty miserable. The girl he’s in love with doesn’t know he exists, his father is leaving his mother, and his older brother has been deployed to Iraq. All he really wants to do is make it through high school, but that’s easier said than done. Erynne, a rebellious punk girl, would probably think Travis has it easy. She’s been kicked out of her house and is living in a mini-van and her boyfriend is thinking about dumping her.  Even though they have class together at school, Travis and Erynne don’t know each other. And whether or not they find each other will determine if they live through the night. A play about dealing with tragedy and the strength necessary to survive, all in the search for just one good thing. Travis, 17, sweet, awkward, and a little bit bored, talks to the audience.

Get the Monologue Here



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

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.

 

Thumbnail: Photo by Evelyn Paris on Unsplash