Contemporary Duologues

Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills.

A new title in the Good Audition Guides series from Nick Hern.

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This volume is the first to offer a comprehensive critical examination of the intersections between contemporary ethical thought and post-1989 British playwriting. Its coverage of a large number of plays and playwrights, international range of contributors and original argumentation make it a key point of reference for students and researchers.

Fifty fantastic speeches for men, from top plays by some of Britain's most exciting dramatists.

Intended for students and children taking part in speech and drama competitions and exams, this book contains a range of audition speeches. It includes female, male and unisex speeches selected from both plays and children's books. Where relevant the author has indicated how a speech could be shortened for younger children. There is also an introductory section with contributions from Alan Ayckbourn, Carol Schroder (teacher and examiner for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), Richard Carpenter (TV writer) and Ed Wilson (Director of the National Youth Theatre) and senior casting directors for the RSC, TV and film. This edition has been freshly revised to include 10 new speeches from well known recent productions as well as children's books including Harry Potter. 'A superb compilation' Amateur Stage

Actors need to learn not only how to use their voice, but to use voice and language together. This book is about the expressive potential of language, and how actors can develop the verbal skills to release that potential. Written by tutors at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and authors of the successful companion title, The Vocal Arts Workbook and DVD, this book includes each aspect of verbal expression: Sound: How to develop a sensitivity to the qualities of speech sounds and use them more expressively. Image: How to bring life and specificity to images when you speak. Sense: How to focus your energy on those words and phrases that convey what is most significant in a speech or scene. Rhythm: How rhythm is created and used in both verse and prose. Argument: How to understand the structure or logic of language and speak with authentic energy. This book puts it all together using one classical and one modern scene as examples. Each of the chapters consists of several sections addressing the learner throughout—framework, exploration, exercises, follow-up, suggested texts, and further reading—and also provides teaching tips that give specific notes for teachers.

Some important questions are discussed in this book: Are there any civilisations other than the Western one living in our so-called Global-Age? 'Eastern civilisation'? Is the concept of East anything more than non-West? Or does there exist, in reality, a distinct Chinese, Indian, Arabo-Muslim, and Western civilisation? Is the construction of large civilisation-states such as China and India an unparalleled historical achievement? Do economic ties always eclipse other forms of affiliation such as those formed through kinship or between speech communities? What is the role of the 'Latin' and the Jewish Peoples in our Anglo-American-led Western world? Is English today the global language or merely an international one? Is the Chinese thought pattern closely related to its writing system? Is today's world one of (symmetrical) interdependence? Or rather one of hegemony? If the so-called North-South or East-West dialogue fails in constructing a universally accepted world civilisation, then what is the appropriate arrangement for reaching such a consensus within humankind?