Members Only, a short play about password dilemmas, will feature in the Acting Out Troupe’s debut performance, Senior Moments, in Mt Barker, South Australia, and will also be performed by students at Butler University in Indianapolis, andBismarckHighSchoolinArkansas, USA.
What do Mt Barker in South Australia, Waiheke Island in New Zealand and Indianapolis, Florida and Arkansas in the USA and have in common?
ALL will be staging my FREE short plays in the coming months.
Hannah Luciani, a theatre major at Butler University, Indianapolis, USA, Emily Golden, a sponsor for the Drama Club at Bismarck High School in Arkansas, USA and Anne Marie Serrano at the Acting Out Troupe in Mt Barker, South Australia, will all be producing Members Only, my short play about the problem of passwords.
William Glenn, theatre instructor at the Pasco-Hernando State College in Wesley Chapel, Florida, will be producing and directing Oliver with a Twist, an absurdist play about modern food culture, with his Theatre Appreciation Class for their final end-of-term project.
And Linda Savage will be producing and directing Advice to Young Lovers on Valentine’s Day, about a much-married florist, for the Artworks Community Theatre in Waiheke Island, New Zealand, as part of the company’s Short ‘Solo’ Play Show.
Meanwhile, Lorri Alexander, from Cape Code, Massachusetts, will be producing the monologue Flowers, about a rebel social worker, at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans.
‘The Last Minute’ a winner at World Monologue Games
I’m also thrilled to report that Clare Martin-Reed in Northhamptonshire in the Midlands, UK, came third in the Regional Finals of the World Monologue Games with my monologue The Last Minute, about a woman who is fed up with Christmas.
Here’s a video (below) of Clare’s wonderful performance (she’s the fourth actor). Congratulations, Clare!
Thank you so much to all those who have chosen to use my work and who have reached out to let me know.
It’s great to feel connected to the international theatre community from way “down under” in my little rural town of Castlemaine in Victoria, Australia.
My FREE monologues and short plays are available on the condition that I am fully credited and you let me know when and how they will be used, and send photos and feedback. I love hearing from you!
Here’s what those who are using my work are saying about it:
“I looked online , happily came upon your monologues and this one really stood out . It’s lovely,”
Lorri , Cape Cod, MA, writing about Flowers.
I had some terrific feedback from those who watched it – they loved the piece.
Clare Martin-Reed (Northhamptonshire, UK), afe about The Last Minute
Finding interesting and challenging monologues for women to assist with auditions can be a difficult task, especially for amateur theatre. It was such a pleasure for me to find a number of your monologues that I would like to use to assist the actors who bravely come out to audition for our local theatre group.
Douglas J. Avram, Elgin Theatre Guild, St Thomas, Ontario Canada.
I absolutely loved it.
Linda Savage, Waiheke Island, NZ, writing about Advice to Young Lovers on Valentine’s Day.
….the kids LOVE this play! I think it is by far their favorite.
Emily Golden, Sponsor for Short Play Festival producing Members Only at Bismarck High school, USA.
Looking for MORE MONOLOGUES FOR WOMEN?
See links below to the individual TURNING POINTS monologues about key moments in the lives of women, or go to the full collection)
Liliana Bernal performs the monologue Flowers at an acting workshop directed by Carole Fenstermacher in Naples, Florida.
Are you looking for FREE audition monologues relevant to women of all ages, including women over 40?
Look no further.
Turning Points is a suite of 42 contemporary audition monologues covering the key stages and decisions in women’s lives – available to actors, directors and drama students and teachers for FREE.
Choose ONE or SEVERAL – OR create your own Turning Points show
The lives of women are marked by difficult decisions.
Many of these decisions are unique to women – such as whether to have a child or an abortion. Many are made more difficult because of politics, religion and social mores.
There is no right decision. Each decision is determined by individual values and circumstances, which is why I have tried to present various perspectives on each topic, without judgement.
My aim is to give voice to these decisions by offering female actors a suite of monologues relevant to their own experiences.
Some of the monologues are based on my experiences as a woman. Others are inspired by the many women I met in my 30-plus years as a journalist, or on the stories of other women in my life.
Most are stand-alone monologues, so back story is up to you.Character names and ages are only for guidance.
Some have been previously published but are included here because they fitted the theme.
Theindividual monologues are made available for FREE as individual audition or performance pieces on the condition that I am fully credited, and that you let me know when, where and how they are performed, and provide feedback and photos where possible.
Alternatively, all or a selection may be presented together in a 60-90-minute show called Turning Points – Key Moments in the Lives of Women by JANE CAFARELLA, for a negotiated fee, depending on whether your group is amateur or professional. (Contact me at jane.cafarella@gmail.com)
Feedback is welcome. Tell me what resonates and what doesn’t, what works on the floor and in front of the camera and what doesn’t. Theatre is a collaborative art and I love to collaborate.
I wish you every success with your acting or directing journey, whether you are a beginner or a professional. As they say in the theatre: “Break a leg!”
Trigger warning: some of the themes may be confronting. Where possible, I’ve also tried to write some monologues that amuse, as a sense of humour is essential in this complex world – especially for women.
Below: Rachel Heslin, after performing The Tidy Grave at Big Bear Theatre in California.
I also have two full-length plays, e-baby (a two-hander about surrogacy) and d-baby, a four-hander about donor conception, available for license, and a selection of short plays available for FREE.
Two of my short Dickens-inspired plays, Oliver with a Twist and Greater Expectations were were produced by student directors at the Alliance Academic in Oregon City for a high school play festival.
Here’s what actors and directors are saying about my work:
I deeply appreciate the authenticity of “The Tidy Grave” as a monologue. I lost my own husband last year, and in a mere two-minute scene, you managed to capture the complex mixture of confusion, heartbreak, and love that carries on. It was perfect. – Rachel Heslin, Monologue Workshop, Big Bear Theatre Project, Big Bear, California.https://www.bigbeartheatreproject.org/
Absolutely amazed and delighted to wake up this morning to the news that I am a Clean Sweep Badge Winner in The World Monologue Games this year. Next stop Regional Finals. Huge thanks to Jane Cafarella for giving me permission to perform The Last Minute. – Clare Martin-Reed, Northhamptonshire, UK.
It was an honour to interpret “Flowers”, under the guidance of Carole. I really loved it and had fun doing it! I am a total amateur and it was my first opportunity to act speaking English. My native language is Spanish. – Liliana Bernal, participant in the Acting Workshop directed by Carole Fenstermacher, Naples, Florida, USA.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The monologue is delicious. … I really cannot say enough about how much I enjoy your writing and sense of play. – Allison (Allie) Parlin, New Jersey, USA, re the bespoke monologue “Snapped”.
Thank you so much for these plays! I love Oliver With A Twist, because it is funny, and a clever story. – Greyson Neumayer, student director, Alliance Charter Academy, Oregon City, Oregon, USA.
And thank you, to the actors and directs who reach out to me. It’s so valuable to me as a writer and gratifying to be able to help actors and directors all over the world
I’m also happy to work with you to produce a personally tailored monologue or to tweak an existing one to suit. My aim is to engage with the acting community globally and to particularly encourage older women actors, amateur or professional, as well as students of all ages. Get in touch!
Carolyn Bock performs Catherine’s monologue at the premier of e-baby at Chapel Off Chapel in Melbourne in 2015.
Showcase your acting talents with contemporary, challenging monologues written especially for women over 40
Explore the 14 monologues below – including a new short play/scene titled Taking the Plunge, for a group of four older female actors.
You’ll find more than 60 monologues on this site, with many of them written so make you explore the other posts under Monologues, especially Turning Points, which offers more than 40 monologues about key points in women’s lives.
Writing for older women is such a joy, as their range of life experiences is rich and inspiring. In this ageing Australian population, their stories are particularly relevant.
Yet, as more than 100 UK actors recently attested, women over 45 are poorly represented in the film and theatre, which means female actors have a “limited shelf-life”.
The Acting Your Age Campaign (AYAC) is seeking a parity pledge, with equal representation between male and female actors over 45.
Part of the problem, of course, is the lack of roles for women over 40.
As actor Juliet Stevenson said in The Guardian recently, “The perception of womenof my age is so reductive, that they are considered invisible and less interesting. The reverse is true. The breach between your life experience and available parts gets wider. I’m on the up escalator – life is getting more and more interesting – but my parts are on the down escalator, getting less interesting. That’s frustrating.”
I hope to ease such frustration with roles that put women on the up escalator.
Three of these monologues below are from published plays – e-baby, d-baby and Uked! – The first play-along ukulele musical, while the remainder were written as stand-alone monologues or scenes.
The monologues are available for FREE on the following conditions:
*That you let me know where you are located. I keep an online map to keep track of where my work goes.
*That you let me know how you are using them and in what context. e.g. audition, reel, class, workshop etc.
*That you send any photos or feedback. This helps me to know what works and what doesn’t and to improve my work.
Please respect these conditions as I can’t continue to offer this free service unless I can keep track of my work.
Thank you for visiting my site. Since I first made my monologues and short plays free three years ago, they’ve been performed in more than 60 places around the world.
I love hearing from actors, directors and students, so don’t be shy about letting me know how my work and your performance was received! All feedback is helpful to me as a writer and I’m very grateful to you all for choosing and showcasing my work.
Comment here, or email me at jane.cafarella@gmail.com. If you like my writing and want to know more about me, check out my memoir CLEAVED.
Do you have an idea for a monologue you’d like written? Let me know!
Click on the links in the descriptions below to read each monologue:
