Contemporary monologues for showreels: choosing a male-casting piece
Contemporary monologues for showreels: choosing a male-casting piece
Look for contemporary writing where a man is deciding or losing something in real time, that arrives inside fifteen seconds and works at conversational volume. Avoid the handful of speeches every casting director has seen hundreds of times — the comparison is never in your favour.
We are not going to hand you a list of twelve speeches. Here is why, and then here is something more useful.
Why lists are a trap
The moment a monologue appears on a "best monologues for showreels" list, it starts appearing on showreels.
A casting director who has seen the same speech two hundred times is not judging your version on its own. They are comparing it, immediately and unfairly, with the best version they have seen.
So the first rule is: if you found it on page one of a search, be careful.
What to look for instead
Something happening now. A man deciding, discovering, losing or admitting something in real time. Not recounting an event that already happened, however dramatic the event was.
An early arrival. Read it aloud and time the point where it becomes interesting. If that is thirty seconds in, it is the wrong piece for a reel — see how long a showreel should be.
It works quietly. If the speech only lives at volume, it belongs on a stage. The camera is a metre away — more on that transition in theatre actor moving to screen.
No plot required. If someone needs the play explained to follow it, it will not land cold.
Where to actually look
- Plays from the last fifteen years, especially from producing theatres' new writing programmes
- Screenplays you can access legitimately — screen writing often cuts better because it was built for a lens
- Published monologue collections, but read past the first few pages everyone stops at
- Work you have performed. Already rehearsed, already in your body, and the single lowest-risk option
- New writing from friends, if it is genuinely good
Check the rights on anything contemporary and published, particularly if the reel will be public.
Match it to your casting
The hardest discipline. Choose for the parts you would realistically be submitted for next month, not the part you most admire.
Play within about five years of where you are cast. Stretching the age range is the fastest way to look wrong for both ends of it.
There is a fuller set of selection criteria in choosing a monologue, and the accent question is covered in should you use your own accent.
Two pieces, contrasting properly
| Piece one | Piece two |
|---|---|
| Contained, naturalistic, low volume | More heat, higher stakes |
| Shows you can hold stillness | Shows you have somewhere to go |
| Both inside your casting bracket | Both inside your casting bracket |
That is the pairing that serves the most actors. How many to film is covered in how many monologues in one session.
Test before you book
Film it on your phone. Watch it with the sound off, then with the picture off. If nothing is happening in either, change the piece — it is a far cheaper decision now than after a session.
If you have nothing
We keep a monologue library across genres and casting types and will shortlist with you. Send two or three candidates a week before and we will tell you honestly which will cut best.
What a session involves is on monologue showreels, prices on sessions and pricing, students 15% off via drama students. Watch the standard on the gallery, check travel on where we film, or call 0161 706 3220.
The short version
- Deciding beats recounting. Something must happen now.
- If it only works loud, it will not read on camera.
- Avoid the famous few — you are competing with everyone who filmed them.
- New writing and unpublished plays are underused and safer.
- Choose for your casting bracket, not the part you admire.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I find contemporary monologues?
Recent plays from the last fifteen years, new writing from producing theatres, published monologue collections, and short film scripts you can access legitimately. Check the rights if the text is contemporary and published, particularly if the reel goes public.
Which monologues should I avoid?
The handful everybody films. Casting has seen them hundreds of times and will compare your version with the best one they have seen rather than judging it fresh. Anything you found on the first page of a search is probably in that category.
Should it be funny or serious?
Whichever you actually get cast in. If you want both, film two — that is what a one-hour session is for. What does not work is a piece that is trying to be both at once.
Can I use a screenplay rather than a play?
Yes, and screen writing often cuts better because it was built for a camera. Just make sure it stands alone without the scene around it, and that you can access the script legitimately.
Does it matter if the character is a different age to me?
Play within about five years of where you are cast, not where you are. A reel is a proposal for parts available now, and stretching the age range is the fastest way to look wrong for both.