how can somebody find good contemporary monologues that aren't overdone? Is it a matter of reading a lot of plays and hoping for the best?
The good news is, there aren’t a lot of severely overdone pieces in the monologue world. However, pulling stuff from the internet is usually how you find those pieces. Monologue hunting can be hard. I don’t suggest just finding one on the Internet or in a monologue book, because it’s 99% likely that it’s overdone. Samuel French, the publisher, has a whole section on their website of plays for young actors. Also, go to your local library, and just start pulling plays. Look at the character list and see if any character fits you. Then flip through the play to see if they have any big chunks of dialogue. Then, read, read, READ that play! Good luck, and come back with any more questions!
