Monologues are an essential part of every actor's toolkit. Actors are required to perform monologues regularly throughout their career: preparing for drama school entry, showcasing skills for agents or auditioning for a role. Following on from the bestselling first volume (2008), this book showcases selected monologues from some of the finest modern plays by some of today's leading contemporary playwrights. These monologues contain a diverse range of quirky and memorable characters that cross cultural and historical boundaries. The pieces are helpfully organised into age-specific groups: 'Teens', 'Twenties', 'Thirties' and 'Forties plus'.

Following up on the bestselling first volume (2008), this book showcases selected monologues from some of the best contemporary plays.

PART ONE: TEENS KERRIE Blackberry Trout Face (Laurence Wilson) 17 CLAIRE Apples (John Retallack) 20 FRANCES Bud Take the Wheel, I Feel a Song Coming On (Clara Brennan) 24 PHOBE Sense: Eyes (Anja Hilling) from Theatre Cafe: Plays Two 27 NATASCHA Sense: Tongue (Anja Hilling) from Theatre Cafe: Plays Two 30 PEARL Shraddha (Natasha Langridge) 33 LEAH DNA (Dennis Kelly) 36 TINA The Woman Before (Roland Schimmelpfennig / David Tushingham) 40 LEYLA Nightblind (Darja Stocker) from Theatre Cafe: Plays Two 43 MOJITOLA Muhammad Ali and Me (Mojisola Adebayo) from Mojisola Adebayo: Plays One 46 SHEANN Protozoa (Kay Adshead) from The Oikos Project 49 CATRIN Love Steals us from Loneliness (Gary Owen) 57 THE YOUNG SUZANNAH Suzannah (Jon Fosse) Jon Fosse: Plays Five 60 1 2 PART TWO: TWENTIES LISA Open Heart Surgery from Theatre Uncut (Laura Lomas) 66 REGINA Fanta Orange (Sally Woodcock) 70 ANNIE Muswell Hill (Torben Betts) 72 JUNIPER Many Moons (Alice Birch) 74 SUSIE Motherland (Steve Gilroy) 77 JONESY Deep Cut (Philip Ralph) 80 DEB Belongings (Morgan Lloyd Malcolm) 83 SOLDIER Palace of the End (Judith Thompson) 86 LOUISE After the End (Dennis Kelly) 88 CAROLINE Deep Heat (Robin Soans) 91 INGENUE Blue Heart Afternoon (Nigel Gearing) 94 OLIVE Lullabies of Broadmoor: The Murder Club (Steve Hennessy) 98 STELLA Bodies Unfinished (Lewis Hetherington) 101 KELLY We're Gonna Make You Whole (Yasmine Van Wilt) 103 LUCIE Dreyfus Intime from The Dreyfus Affair: A Trilogy (George R. Whyte) 106 PART THREE: THIRTIES COMEDIENNE Joy and Tyranny (Arnold Wesker) 110 LEYLA Mary Massacre (Johnny McKnight) 113 JENNY Mary Massacre (Johnny McKnight) 116 HELEN Orphans (Dennis Kelly) 120 1 3 ANEESA Mixed Up North (Robin Soans) 123 CHRIS My Best Friend (Tamsin Oglesby) 126 EM My Best Friend (Tamsin Oglesby) 129 LAYLA The Prophet (Hassan Abdulrazzak) 132 LAURA Loyalty (Sarah Helm) 135 MARTHA Roadkill (Cora Bissett/Stef Smith) 138 SPOKESWOMAN Enter the Spokeswoman, Sideways from Oh, the Humanity and other good intentions (Will Eno) 140 PART FOUR: FORTIES PLUS GEMMA This Other City (Daragh Carville) 146 JANICE Motherland (Steve Gilroy) 148 SABAH The Meaning of Waiting (Victoria Brittain) 150 ALICE Sabbat (Richard Shannon) 153 DIANE The Heretic (Richard Bean) 156 MOTHER Don Juan Comes Back from the War (Odon von Horvath / Duncan Macmillan) 158 JOAN HONEYMAN A Walk in the Woods (Lee Blessing) 162 NEHRJAS Palace of the End (Judith Thompson) 166 PAULINE Hand-Me-Downs (James Graham) from Sixty-Six Books: 21st-Century Writers Speak to the King James Bible 169 MABEL Pub Quiz is Life (Richard Bean) 172 MATTY Groupie (Arnold Wesker) 174 JOYCE Bodies Unfinished (Lewis Hetherington) 176