A Call For Advice

I'm still not convinced that anyone besides Ry, Redd, Robbyn (woah...weird...) and, potentially, my dad read this blog. But, regardless, maybe you guys can help me out.

In a few weeks, I've got an audition in Virginia that I will not name until it's over and I can take a breath. I might have talked to you about it in the past. If not and you're super curious, feel free to grab me on Facebook or Twitter and I'd be happy to tell you. For the time being, just be satisfied that it's Shakespeare and it's under my "Places I Want to Work" bookmark heading.

Anyhow, for this audition, I need "short monologue(s), preferably from the plays we're casting (5-10 lines is plenty)". So, I figured the best way to go about that was to memorize four new monologues for the four plays that they've announced.

Here's the problem. I'm a little bit over on some. Literally, a line or two, but I'd be loath to say, "Ah, screw it. It's just a couple lines." I'd be much happier if I could cut it down to the bare minimum. The only problem with THAT is that I'm so close to it, I can't quite figure out what to cut anymore. So, if you guys could do me a favor and take a look at my monologues, I'd sure appreciate any input you could give. Plus, you know, not only cutting advice. Anything you might be interested in saying.

We'll talk in the comments!


Hotspur from Henry IV Part 1. (11 lines - Not counting "Away" as it's own line, and counting "have with me? Come, wilt thou see me ride?" as one, as it comes out to nine syllables.)

Away,
Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,
I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,
And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!
What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou
have with me? -
Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am on horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate;
To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you.
Will this content you, Kate?

Marcus from Titus Andronicus (7 lines. I like it. It says a lot in a short time span and it completely different from Hotspur. I like that about all of my monologues. They're very different guys.)

Which of your hands hath not defended Rome,
And rear'd aloft the bloody battle-axe,
Writing destruction on the enemy's castle?
O, none of both but are of high desert:
My hand hath been but idle; let it serve
To ransom my two nephews from their death;
Then have I kept it to a worthy end.

Ford from Merry Wives of Windsor (15 lines. What I've DONE and started to work with is a cut that starts right after "damnation together." That pares it down to ten lines. If there's anything before it to cut, I'd be open to listen. I'd also be open to listen to anything that would allow to me keep the last five lines. I REALLY like this monologue. I think it might work it's way into my regulars.)

Has Page any brains? hath he any eyes? hath he any
thinking? Sure, they sleep; he hath no use of them.
Why, this boy will carry a letter twenty mile, as
easy as a cannon will shoot point-blank twelve
score. He pieces out his wife's inclination; he
gives her folly motion and advantage: and now she's
going to my wife, and Falstaff's boy with her. A
man may hear this shower sing in the wind. And
Falstaff's boy with her! Good plots, they are laid;
and our revolted wives share damnation together.
Well; I will take him, then torture my wife, pluck
the borrowed veil of modesty from the so seeming
Mistress Page, divulge Page himself for a secure and
wilful Actaeon; and to these violent proceedings all
my neighbours shall cry aim.

Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing (11 lines. I've done Claudio, I've done Leonato, I've done Don Pedro, and ANY of those would have been easier, but this monologue has just called out to me. Any cuts would be appreciated... This one in particular feels like if I remove any from the middle, the whole thing falls apart.)

She told me, not thinking I had been
myself, that I was the prince's jester, that I was
duller than a great thaw; huddling jest upon jest
with such impossible conveyance upon me that I stood
like a man at a mark, with a whole army shooting at
me. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs:
if her breath were as terrible as her terminations,
there were no living near her; she would infect to
the north star. I would not marry her, though she
were endowed with all that Adam bad left him before
he transgressed: Come, talk not of her:


So...waddya think?