Outstanding Stage Monologs and Scenes from the '90s

Here is an exciting new collection of 40 monologs and scenes from some of the most important contemporary plays and playwrights of the 1990s. These selections reflect actors' and student actors' desires for new and fresh work-pieces that are up-to-date and exciting to perform. Chosen from only professionally produced plays, the book reflects current trends where small theatre groups proliferate, women and minorities have a growing influence and drama has become a truly international art form. The text includes monologs for both male and female actors, duet scenes for two male or two female actors and scenes for combinations of male and female actors. It also includes four complete ten-minute plays. Because actors need to be able to use proven examples of good dramatic material to practice their craft, the 35 playwrights represented here include Edward Albee, Harold Pinter, Thornton Wilder, Tom Stoppard, Mario Fratti, A.J. Gurney, Brian Friel, Marsha Norman and Israel Horovitz.

Steven H. Gale received his B.A. from Duke University (where he participated in Duke Players productions), his M.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He has taken post-graduate courses at several universities, including MIT and Oxford University (Christ Church). He has taught at UCLA, USC, the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Liberia (as a Fulbright Professor of American and British Literature and Director of University Players), the University of Florida, Missouri Southern State, and Kentucky State University (he is the University Endowed Chair in the Humanities). Besides 20 scholarly books and 150 articles on drama, film, folktales, and British, American, and African literature, he has published short stories, poetry, and one-act plays. Gale has also acted in local productions and directed both university players and small theatre groups, and he has taught a course in acting. He is currently working on a study of Pinter's screenplays, a novel, and a screenplay.