

The following six two minute monologues are comedic, contemporary and for women. So make sure of course you time yourself, since everyone speaks at a slightly different rate! Once you find the monologue for you, count the words! Generally speaking, 225 words is the top end of two minutes. Reading widely across contemporary and classical plays is of course the best option, however, where shortcuts are needed there are some excellent monologue books that can serve as a good starting point to discover quality material and the benefit with anthologies of monologues is they are often edited down with the two minutes in mind. Many monologues from plays will need to be cut down or combined together from longer scenes to fit in under the two minute mark. The challenge comes in when trying to find monologues of the length you need that also speak to you as a performer.

Some competitions cap the total time at three minutes in which case you may want to consider combining a two minute monologue with a one minute monologue. Additionally, it is advised to choose one piece that is dramatic and another that is comedic to show your range. Most colleges and universities require actors to prepare two contrasting monologues, often specifying that one must be contemporary and one classical, where each monologue must be under two minutes. Most Frightening Wonderful Thing Monologue The Roadrunner Never Looks Down Monologue
