Expert: John T. Aney - 11/18/2008

Question
Hello, My name is Jenny and I'm having difficulty finding a comedic Shakespearean monologue for a younger girl.  I'm 19 but I look like I could play someone who is 14-20.  Do you have any suggestions?  Any classic monologue suggestions would work well too.  I am 5'4 and weigh 118 pounds.  I could try to find something from Romeo and Juliet, but Juliet doesn't have anything comedic that I could find, and to use anything from the show wouldn't really be at all appropriate.  Thank you for your time,

Jenny

Answer
Jenny,

Don't worry about finding a monologue that fits your age - find a good monologue that you like and go with it, regardless of how old you think the character is.  Rosalind or Phoebe from As You Like It are both good to start with.  Also, look at Puck from Midsummer - consider some of the comedic monologues that are written for male characters. If you make strong choices, it doesn't matter if you are not the same gender as the character.

Good luck.

jta