Even more monologues for women by women

Nothing evokes as much dread and anguish from both actors and directors as the obligatory audition monolog. The "What-are-you-going-to-do-for-us?" call has all too often been met with the chronically abused Blanche DuBois or Sam Shepard response. Fortunately, publishers like Smith & Kraus and Heinemann have raised the monolog selection bar considerably in recent years, with contemporary collections that often address neglected constituencies like African Americans and women. As he did in his 1997 collection, Monologues on Black Life, Edwards (theater, Arizona State Univ.) addresses the paucity of relevant selections for modern black actors by offering a twist on the orthodox monolog compilation. The 50 pieces he assembles are original, including a beautifully elegaic six-part monolog play, "The Sorrows of Elva." Divided among half a dozen short story-like sections, Edwards's speeches are alternately raw and poetic, reflecting a wide diversity of ages, settings, and contemporary themes that are more individually complete and whole than the typically out-of-context three-minute speech. In the third installment of her popular "Monologues for Women by Women" series, Haring-Smith (English and theater, Brown Univ.) takes a more traditional approach. She gathers 57 selections that collectively represent the freshest and most vibrant assemblage of monologs for women by women now available in the contemporary, fringe, alternative, and international theater (the inclusion of playwrights outside the United States is new). Like Edwards's collection, the monologs included here are all over the emotional and social map. Haring-Smith also provides an extremely actor-friendly subject index that groups the speeches by broad subject headings like "Body Image and Issues," "Race and Ethnicity," and "Aging," among others. She also includes a useful section that offers tips for auditioning with a monolog and brief notes on each playwright. Both titles are most enthusiastically recommended for theater and acting collections at all levels serving the needs of black and female actors.DBarry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.