Monologue library
The Monologue Library
Thirty-four pieces, free to perform and free to film for an audition. Filter to your type, read the first lines, and click through for the full text with notes on how to play it.
Showing 34 of 34 monologues
“The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me…”
Lady Macbeth — “Come, You Spirits”
Lady Macbeth · Macbeth
Drama“Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two. Why, then ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who…”
Lady Macbeth — “Out, Damned Spot”
Lady Macbeth · Macbeth
Drama“Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life: I'll call…”
Juliet — “The Potion Speech”
Juliet · Romeo and Juliet
Comedy“I left no ring with her; what means this lady? Fortune forbid my outside have not charm’d her! She made good view of me, indeed, so much, That…”
Viola — “The Ring Speech”
Viola · Twelfth Night
Comedy“It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue; but it is no more unhandsome than to see the lord the prologue. If it be true that good wine…”
Rosalind — “Epilogue”
Rosalind · As You Like It
Drama“But I do think it is their husbands' faults If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties, And pour our treasures into foreign laps, Or else…”
Emilia — “Their Husbands’ Faults”
Emilia · Othello
Drama“To whom should I complain? Did I tell this, Who would believe me? O perilous mouths, That bear in them one and the self-same tongue Either of…”
Isabella — “To Whom Should I Complain?”
Isabella · Measure for Measure
Drama“O what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to…”
Hamlet — “Rogue and Peasant Slave”
Hamlet · Hamlet
Comedy“O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone On the fore-finger of…”
Mercutio — “Queen Mab”
Mercutio · Romeo and Juliet
Comedy“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many…”
Jaques — “All the World’s a Stage”
Jaques · As You Like It
Comedy“If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. And this weak and…”
Puck — “If We Shadows Have Offended”
Puck · A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Drama“He hath disgrac’d me and hind’red me half a million, laugh’d at my losses, mock’d at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my…”
Shylock — “Hath Not a Jew Eyes?”
Shylock · The Merchant of Venice
Drama“Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric…”
Prospero — “Our Revels Now Are Ended”
Prospero · The Tempest
Drama“She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from…”
Macbeth — “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”
Macbeth · Macbeth
Drama“I am so tired. If I could only rest—rest. I am a sea-gull—no—no, I am an actress. He does not believe in the theatre; he used to laugh at my dreams…”
Nina's Final Speech ('I am a sea-gull')
Nina · The Sea-Gull
Drama“Varya's afraid we may fall in love with each other and won't get away from us for days on end. Her narrow mind won't allow her to understand that we…”
Trofimov: 'All Russia is our orchard'
Peter Trofimov · The Cherry Orchard
Comedy“It's cold... I'm trembling all over, just as if I'd got an examination before me. The great thing is, I must have my mind made up. If I give myself…”
Lomov: 'It's cold... I'm trembling'
Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov · The Proposal
Drama“Sit down. It will take some time; I have a lot to talk over with you. You don't understand me, and I have never understood you either—before tonight…”
Nora's 'Doll-Wife' Speech
Nora Helmer · A Doll's House
Comedy“For me you have always had an irresistible fascination. Even before I met you I was far from indifferent to you. We live, as I hope you know, Mr…”
Gwendolen on the Name Ernest
Gwendolen Fairfax · The Importance of Being Earnest
Comedy“I haven't the smallest intention of doing anything of the kind. To begin with, I dined there on Monday, and once a week is quite enough to dine with…”
Algernon on Dining with Relations
Algernon Moncrieff · The Importance of Being Earnest
Comedy“Sit down. No — don’t make tea. This is not a tea conversation. On Sunday there were four. I counted them, because I count things now — that is a…”
“The Yogurt Summit”
JUNE, 27 · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Hi. Sorry — is this on? Okay. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Paige. I have been Nora’s best friend since the seventh grade, when she found me…”
“To the Happy Couple”
PAIGE, 31 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“You want the good silver. Fine. Take it. Take the silver, take the good chairs, take the painting you suddenly remember loving. I’ll box it all up…”
“The House on Delacroix Street”
MARA, 34 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“The bag’s already in the car. I packed it while you were asleep — so don’t do the thing where you carry it out for me. Not tonight. I’m not angry…”
“Last Call”
ELISE, 38 · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Mr. Petrov, hi, it’s Danny in 4B. Third message. I don’t want to be that tenant, but we are now well past the point where a normal person would still…”
“Unit 4B vs. Gerald”
DANNY, 28 · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Before you say anything — and I can see the thing your face is doing — I just need you to stand at the window with me for one second and look at her…”
“The Ice Cream Truck”
THEO, 30 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“Don’t call your brother. I know that’s the next move — get me the interview, the cousin knows a guy. Don’t. I’ll just walk off that one too, and then…”
“Site Work”
RAY, 34 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“They told me you probably can’t hear me. That’s very you, honestly. Unreachable, right up to the buzzer. I had the whole speech ready in the…”
“Room 214”
WILL, 36 · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Okay — before you say no, can I present my case? A full case. You’re always saying I don’t think things through, so watch me think this all the way…”
“A Hole the Size of a Cheerio”
ZOE, 16 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“Don’t. Don’t do the face — the confused one, like you don’t know why I walked all the way over here. You know exactly why. Everyone in third period…”
“Screenshots”
HARPER, 15 · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Your Honor — Dad. Same energy. I’d like to appeal the sentence. Two weeks, no phone, is, respectfully, cruel and unusual, and I have prepared…”
“The Defense Rests”
JAKE, 15 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“Can you turn the game off? One second. If it’s on, I’ll lose my nerve and just agree to more baseball. I’m not playing in the spring. And before you…”
“Different Glove”
NOAH, 16 · Original — GotAuditions
Drama“I found the good scissors. Forty years you told me there was exactly one pair in this house worth touching, and they were never where you said. They…”
“The Sticky Drawer”
JORDAN, 30s (any gender) · Original — GotAuditions
Comedy“Hi. I’d like to return a mattress. It’s in the truck outside. I’m going to need two of your strongest people and possibly a prayer. The website said…”
“Night Eighty-Nine”
CAM, 20s–30s (any gender) · Original — GotAuditions
What actors ask about monologues
How long should an audition monologue be?
One to two minutes for most auditions, and closer to sixty seconds when no guidance is given. Casting often stops you early anyway — the opening fifteen seconds do almost all the work, which is why every piece here leads with its first lines.
Can I use these for a paid audition or a self-tape?
Yes. Everything here is either public domain or written for this library and released for performance. There are no rights to clear, no fee and no permission to request, and that includes filmed self-tapes.
Classical or contemporary — which should I pick?
Match the room. Theatre and conservatory auditions often ask for classical; screen auditions almost never do. If nobody specified, contemporary is the safer choice because it sits closer to how you actually speak.
Should I pick something nobody has heard before?
Not at the cost of fit. A well-known piece performed by someone right for it beats an obscure one that does not suit. The exception is the handful of speeches a panel hears twenty times a day.
Found one. Now tape it.
The teleprompter runs your sides on screen, the coach works the piece with you, and feedback tells you what casting will see. Free to start.
Open the Monologue Maker