LibGuides: Theatre: Plays &amp; Monologues

Plays Online

LitFinder This link opens in a new window
Full-text poems and poetry citations, as well as short stories, speeches, plays, biographies, work summaries, photographs, and a glossary.
Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
Full text of plays, along with related biographical, production, and theatrical information.
New Play Exchange This link opens in a new window
The full text of contemporary plays searchable by character and narrative attributes, as well as playwright demographics. Includes the ability to contact authors for performance rights, which are not automatically granted.
Twentieth Century North American Drama, 2nd Edition This link opens in a new window
Full-text plays written in the 1900s with a focus on plays of economic, historical, social, and political significance. Topics include the Depression, role of women, Cold War, and more. Also includes playbills, posters, and other ephemera.
Latin American Drama This link opens in a new window
Includes plays written by Latin American playwrights from the 1800s-2000s, with most from the period spanning from the Chicano Renaissance to present day.
North American Indian Drama This link opens in a new window
Full-text plays representing the stories and creative energies of American Indian and First Nation (Canadian) playwrights of the 1900s.
Black Drama This link opens in a new window
Plays written by Black playwrights from the mid-1800s to the present in North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. More than 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays.

100 Greatest American Plays by Thomas S. Hischak
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781442256064
Publication Date: 2017-03-01
Theatre in America has had a rich history--from the first performance of the Lewis Hallam Troupe in September 1752 to the lively shows of modern Broadway. Over the past few centuries, significant works by American playwrights have been produced, including Abie's Irish Rose, Long Day's Journey into Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, and Angels in America.

Plays in Books & eBooks

Encuentro by Trevor Boffone (Editor); Teresa Marrero (Editor); Chantal Rodriguez (Editor)
Call Number: Course Reserves - Level 1 Service Desk ; PS628.H57 E53 2019
ISBN: 9780810140141
Publication Date: 2019-05-15
This anthology has its origins in the Encuentro theater festival, which was produced by the Latino Theater Company in association with the Latinx Theatre Commons in Los Angeles in 2014. Encuentro means "an encounter," and meetings form a core theme in these six groundbreaking plays, each prefaced by a critical introduction from a leading Latinx theater scholar.

The library offers a limited number of plays in print, and you can request print copies of plays from other CSUs using CSU+.

Plays are typically shelved by their author. You can search for plays more generally by using subject headings, below are a few subject headings for plays:

American drama

American drama--African American authors

American drama--Asian American authors

American drama--Hispanic American authors

American drama--Women Authors

American drama--20th Century

English drama

Monologues Online

Use the Library Onesearch to find Monologues in books and eBooks on the shelves at Cal State LA, and from other CSUs.

Use the Advanced Search, and change the first filter to Subjects, and search for Monologues.

100 (monologues) by Eric Bogosian
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781559364645
Publication Date: 2014-05-27
100 Monologues collects all of Eric Bogosian's monologues, originally performed as part of his six off-Broadway solo shows, including Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll; Pounding Nails in the Floor with my Forehead; Wake Up and Smell the Coffee; Drinking in America; Funhouse; Men Inside and selections from his play Talk Radio. For these solo shows, first performed between 1980 and 2000, Bogosian was awarded three Obie awards and a Drama Desk award.
The Kilroys' List by The Kilroys
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781559368568
Publication Date: 2017-03-20
Not your typical book of monologues, this new collection embodies the mission of The Kilroys, an advocacy group founded in 2013 to raise awareness for the underutilized work of female and female-identifying playwrights. The collection is comprised of monologues from "The List-- the result of an industry survey to locate the most highly-regarded, underproduced plays by women and trans playwrights.

Monologues in Print

The Milkcrate Monologues Vol. 1 by Ron Johnson
Call Number: Level 1 North Service Desk ; PN4305.M6 J65 2022
ISBN: 9781667805061
Publication Date: 2022
This book contains a set of Hiphop monologues for theatre written by recording artist, performer, and producer, Ron Johnson Jr., known in the music scene as PHILASIFER. The powerful monologues are meant for auditions, arts education, and performance, giving actors an understanding of the themes, emotion, circumstance, and vibes that create Hiphop.
Monologues for 'Others' by Samuel French
Call Number: Level 1 North Service Desk ; PN4305.M6 J67 2022
ISBN: 9780573133657
Publication Date: 2022
"This book is for the 'other's. For anyone who's ever felt othered. For us lot. Who deserve celebration and opportunity. Some are speeches adapted from plays I've previously had produced. Some are written just for this book.
The Methuen Drama Book of Queer Monologues
Call Number: Level 1 North Service Desk ; PN2080 .O225 2022
ISBN: 9781350298927
Publication Date: 2022
The first collection of its kind, The Oberon Book of Queer Monologues chronicles over one hundred years of queer and trans performance. Features work from artists including Neil Bartlett, Mae West, Emma Donoghue, Split Britches, Chris Goode and Travis Alabanza.
Hear Me Now by Titilola Dawudu (Editor); Noma Dumezweni (Foreword by)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781786824615
Publication Date: 2018-10-31
A brand-new collection of original audition pieces written by and for actors of color. Hear Me Now is a unique collection of over eighty original audition monologues.
Monologues for Latino/a Actors by Micha Espinosa
Call Number: Level 3 North ; PN2080 .M5365 2014
ISBN: 9781575258850
Publication Date: 2014-06-01
This book is organized a little differently than most published collections of monologues. Each chapter is arranged in several sections: About the Playwright, List of Plays, Playwright Information, Performing the Monologues, The Monologues.
Monologues for Women by Erin Detrick (Editor)
Call Number: Level 3 North ; PN2080 .A2873 2008
ISBN: 9780970904645
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Discover a monologue book like no other.Actor's Choice: Monologues for Women gives you an extraordinary array of cutting-edge new monologues, from comedic to dramatic and everything in between.
Best Contemporary Monologues for Men 18-35 by Lawrence Harbison
Call Number: Level 3 North ; PN2080 .B415 2014
ISBN: 9781480369610
Publication Date: 2014-11-01
100 terrific monologues for men from contemporary plays, both comedy and drama, all by characters between the ages of 18 and 35, perfect for auditions or class.

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Theatre

Plays Online

Plays in Books & eBooks

Monologues Online

Monologues in Print