Monologue for a 10 year old

December 26, 2012 10:25 AM

Monologue for a 10 year old's audition?

My daughter and I have to choose a two minute monologue from a published play (not from "101 Monologues for Young People") for an audition to an arts middle school. My daughter has to read the whole play and be able to discuss the meaning of the monologue and why she chose it during the audition.

She's very literate so no problem reading, but the themes should have some relevance to a 10 year old. She's very resistant to playing across gender but could possibly be convinced. She'd much rather do something funny than something "messagy".

Apparently, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is really played out in these auditions already.

posted by latkes to media & arts (11 answers total)

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds? Maybe too depressing and messagy for a 10 year old.

The Member of the Wedding, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women have all been adapted into plays that have monologues/soliloquies.
posted by elsietheeel at 10:52 AM on December 26, 2012

The thing that occured to me was the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Which is usually adults playing kids, but could be fun.

Another thing might be something that would work is a reading of "Sal Tlay Ka Siti" – from The Book of Mormon, the character is Nabulungi.

The play is hysterical, and very endearing, but there are some themes and language that may not be appropriate for your 10 year old.

And then there's Avenue Q, I'm sure there's something there from Kate Monster and the Monstersori, thing, but again, questionable for a 10 year old.

Those are my immediate thoughts.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:56 AM on December 26, 2012

I'm a Good Little Girl
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:19 AM on December 26, 2012

Another thing might be something that would work is a reading of "Sal Tlay Ka Siti" – from The Book of Mormon = are you insane? No 10-year old should do anything from The Book of Mormon, full stop. Let alone a dramatic reading of a song.

Does she need to do something from a character who is a child, or could she do anythign? If it's that latter, how about something from Anne Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker"?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:19 AM on December 26, 2012 [4 favorites]

Here's a great source for kid's plays. You can search by age-appropriateness and they have synopses of the plays.
posted by cooker girl at 11:54 AM on December 26, 2012

The Diary of Anne Frank? The bit about "Still, after all, I believe that people are really good at heart" is always a show-stopper.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:18 PM on December 26, 2012

You might want to try something from The Orphan Train.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:19 PM on December 26, 2012

are you insane? No 10-year old should do anything from The Book of Mormon, full stop. Let alone a dramatic reading of a song.

No, not insane. But I used to teach Debate and Speech in High School. And there are certain things one get truly, truly tired of hearing. Man in the Moon Marigolds for a start. Diary of Anne Frank for another.

The kid wanted something funny, I thought of some stuff that's funny. NOW. At ten, I read some pretty adult stuff. My parents explained it to me, and it was good.

It may or may not work for the 10 year old in the question.

So no, not insane, just thinking outside the box a little.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:22 PM on December 26, 2012 [2 favorites]

If the rules can be bent a little then I'd go looking for material in novels. "Anne of Green Gables" for instance has many passages that could be easily adapted as monologues. Or maybe one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. If I'm remembering correctly, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is narrated by Scout who is s girl of about ten. So basically you could pick any random paragraph and strike gold. Broadening your search to include novels opens up a lot of possibilities and the depth of character development in a novel would give her a lot of backstory and layers of meaning to discuss as well.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:18 PM on December 26, 2012

Thanks folks. I'll try the suggestions above.

Unfortunately no rule bending. It must be a published play.
posted by latkes at 6:12 PM on December 27, 2012

I looked at a bunch of these but ultimately chose Our Town because she resonated with it. Thanks for thinking about it everyone!
posted by latkes at 5:46 PM on February 13