First published in 1995. This selection of speeches of all types - serious and comic, realist and absurdist - is drawn from contemporary plays by English, American and European playwrights. The editors have set each piece in its context, presenting a useful resource for acting classes, contests, auditions and rehearsals.

1. Notes to the Actor; 2. After Easter Anne Devlin; 3. Angels in America Tony Kushner; 4. Assassins Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman; 5. Belfry Billy Roche; 6. Bronteburgers Victoria Wood; 7. Burn This Lanford Wilson; 8. Can't Stand Up for Falling Down Richard Cameron; 9. Cigarettes and Chocolate Anthony Minghella; 10. The Conquest of the South Pole Manfred Karge; 11. Death and the Maiden Ariel Dorfman; 12. Decadence Steven Berkoff; 13. Digging for Fire Declan Hughes; 14. Etta Jenks Marlane Meyer; 15. The Fastest Clock in the Universe Philip Ridley; 16. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune Ierrence McNally; 17. Giving Notes Victoria Wood; 18. Her Aching Heart Bryony Lavery; 19. Here Michael Frayn; 20. Hush April de Angelis; 21. The Last Yankee Arthur Miller; 22. Laughing Wild Christopher Durang; 23. Lettice and Lovage Peter Shaffer; 24. The Love Space Demands Ntozake Shange; 25. Low Level Panic Clare McIntyre; 26. The Madness of Esme and Shaz Sarah Daniels; 27. Man to Man Manfred Karge; 28. Molly Sweeney Brian Friel; 29. Moonlight Harold Pinter; 30. My Mother Said I Never Should Charlotte Keatley; 31. Oleanna David Mamet; 32. The Pitchfork Disney Philip Ridley; 33. The Ride Down Mount Morgan Arthur Miller; 34. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice Jim Cartwright; 35. Serious Money Caryl Churchill; 36. Shades Sharman Macdonald; 37. The Sisters of Rosensweig Wendy Wasserstein; 38. Six Degrees of Separation John Guare; 39. Some Americans Abroad Richard Nelson; 40. Talking Heads Alan Bennett; 41. Talking in Tongues Winsome Pinnock; 42. Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes Sue Townsend; 43. Three Birds Alighting on a Field Timberlake Wertenbaker; 44. Three Hotels Jon Robin Baitz; 45. To Jim Cartwright; 46. The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir; 47. The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband Debbie Isitt; 48. Women Laughing Michael Wall; 49. Your Home in the West Rod Wooden.