This year Smith and Kraus has decided to combine its annual best monologues and best scenes anthologies. The scenes included in this book are either for two men or for one man and one woman. The latter are scenes in which the male role is predominant.Here you will find a rich and varied selection of monologues and scenes from plays that were produced and/or published in the 2008-2009 theatrical season. Most are for younger performers (teens through thirties), but there are also some excellent pieces for men in their forties and fifties, and even a few for older performers. Some are comic (laughs), some are dramatic (generally, no laughs). Some are rather short, some are rather long. All represent the best in contemporary playwriting.Several of the monologues are by playwrights whose work may be familiar to you, such as Don Nigro, A. R. Gurney, Sam Bobrick, Terrence McNally, Adam Rapp, Steven Dietz, Itamar Moses, Stephen Belber, Keith Reddin, Naomi Iizuka, Michael Weller, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Richard Vetere, Bruce Graham, Jacquelyn Reingold, Sam Shepard, and Nicky Silver; others are by exciting up-and-comers like Octavio Solis, Lydia Stryk, Michael Vukadinovich, Liz Flahive, John Kolvenbach, Sylvia Reed, Barton Bishop, Padraic Lillis, Michael Golamco, and Lucy Thurber.The scenes are by master playwrights, such as Itamar Moses, Noah Haidle, Aguirre-Sacasa, and Silver, and by exciting new writers, such as Saviana Stanescu, E. M. Lewis, Jonathan Rand, Kolvenbach, Golamco, Larry Kunofsky, and Susan Bernfield. About the AuthorFor over thirty years Lawrence Harbison was in charge of new play acquisition for Samuel French, Inc., during which time his work on behalf of playwrights resulted in the first publication of such subsequent luminaries as Jane Martin, Don Nigro, Tina Howe, Theresa Rebeck, Jose Rivera, William Mastrosimone, Charles Fuller, and Ken Ludwig, among many others; and the acquisition of musicals such as Smoke of the Mountain, A...My Name Is Alice, Little Shop of Horrors and Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down. He is a now a free-lance editor, primarily for Smith and Kraus, Inc., for whom he edits annual anthologies of best plays by new playwrights and women playwrights, best ten-minute plays and best monologues and scenes for men and for women. For many years he wrote a weekly column on his adventures in the theater for two Manhattan Newspapers, the Chelsea Clinton News and The Westsider. His new column, On the Aisle with Larry, is a weekly feature at the Smith and Kraus website. He works with individual playwrights to help them develop their plays (visit Lawrence's website for details). He has also served as literary manager or literary consultant for several theatres, such as Urban Stages and American Jewish Theatre. He is a member of the NYC press corps and is an Outer Critics Circle member. He has served many times over the years as a judge and commentator for various national play contests and lectures regularly at colleges and universities. He holds a B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.A. from the University of Michigan. He is currently working on a book, Masters of the Contemporary American Drama.

It's 1909 and the shirtwaist industry in New York is making profits of $50 million. But the young girls who work in the factories earn barely enough to live on, and their working conditions are brutal. When their pleas for help are rejected by the male-dominated union, the young girls who work at Johannsen's Shirtwaist Factory band together to fight for a better life. They endure beatings, starvation, and even prison but ultimately prevail ... This play is based on real people and actual events.

A SECRET WEAPON ~ Finding good monologues and scenes can be a challenge for actors. Yet monologues are an essential tool of the trade. Having an arsenal of monologues is like having a secret weapon, giving actors a way to work on their craft every day. Monologues for women are especially hard to find. Hence, the creation of RANDOM WOMEN, a book of monologues and scenes written by an actor for actors.

Something more than just scenes! Now a collection of wonderfully 'gender specific' scenes about the joys and heartaches of growing up female. Sixty characterisations in monologues, duets, trios and quartets. Titles include: Winners, Losers; Dear Dad; Just a Date; Hurricane Force; Talk to the Trees; Easy Come, Easy Go; Cyber Romance; The Last Kiss of Summer; Scream... and fifty more. Lengths vary from two to six minutes each.

Over 80 scenes and monologues from the finest plays of all time.

Audition monologues selected from plays first published in American theatre magazine since 1985.

"Faces of Freedom is a vivid theatrical experience, using both an ensemble and monologues, to tell the true stories of the young immigrants of today, and yesterday. Moving fluidly from past to present and back again, the play interweaves Maria's journey to America in 1907, with Tron's escape from death and imprisonment as a Vietnamese boat person in 1978. Against this backdrop, we meet the newest imigrants: Halima, whose family fled the Taliban, Vida, who is trying to find the courage to cross the first city street she has ever seen. We get to know Juana, whose fast-food counter is her passport to a better world, and Carlos, whose skill with a soccer ball is his entry into a new school. Elena and Luis, a sister and brother from Mexico, are each inventing their own ways to cope with a suddenly unfamiliar life, while Semir, a young Bosnian boy, can only find peace of mind at Dunkin' Donuts. In seeing their stories, we see reflected our family's story of coming to America, and we learn--perhaps for the first time--the story of our newest neighbors, all of different cultures, facing risks and challenges, yet all of us united in our search for freedom. All of us Americans."--

In this anthology, theater expert Roger Ellis culls together dramatic scenes and monologues that all deal with spiritual experience. From various religious and non-religious perspectives, the book explores various aspects of spirituality – religious faith, martyrdom, death and afterlife, fate and destiny, mercy, and romantic love. The material comes from contemporary plays by some of the most gifted playwrights – Arthur Miller, Tony Kushner, John Patrick Shanley, John Pielmeier, Tammy Ryan, Elie, Wiesel, Karen Sunde, and others. Perfect for high-school through college-age students, as well as for actors and general readers, this volume contains nearly 100 scenes, ranging from comic to serious, grouped in five categories: “Scenes for a Man and a Woman ” “Scenes for Two Women ” “Scenes for Two Men ” “Monologues for Women ” and “Monologues for Men.” In addition to the monologues, Ellis includes notes on staging to help actors and directors bring these scenes to life. Some of the plays sourced for this anthology include The Crucible, Doubt, In the Shape of a Woman, Agnes of God, Epic Proportions, Our Lady of 121st Street, Angels in America, and Affection in Time.

original paperback