Competition Scenes: Duets

“The time is near So near it’s stirring the blood in their veins!” What time is it? (Showtime!) It’s competition time. Monologues, scenes, one acts. The season is nearing, perhaps it’s looming, or maybe you’re hiding under your pillow in complete denial. You need material for your students and if you have to see the same set of monologues one more time this year…. Who knows but it won’t be pretty. Do not fear. Don’t fear the reaper and don’t fear the search for competition material. We’re here to help. Competition Monologues and ScenesThe pieces in our monologue and scene collections all come from published plays (and they all can be found at Theatrefolk.com so it’s a one stop shop if you need to produce the play). Each selection comes with a time, description and staging suggestions. Middle School Teacher? Check out the Stand Alone collections. Most are middle school appropriate and those that we think are on the edge are clearly identified. Competition Monologues A collection of monologues for both guys and girls perfect for auditions, competitions, and class work. All monologues come from published Theatrefolk plays. Competition Monologues: Book Two Specifically geared for students, this collection contains a wide variety of characters, genres and lengths. The monologues come from plays published by Theatrefolk and include approximate timing, character/story background, and performance suggestions. Stand Alone Monologue for Girls Stand Alone: Monologues for Girls has 21 monologues for competition, classwork, and auditions. Each monologue comes with a synopsis, staging suggestions, and a description of the moment before. Stand Alone Monologues for Guys Stand Alone: Monologues for Guys has 19 monologues for competition, classwork, and auditions. Each monologue comes with a synopsis, staging suggestions, and a description of the moment before. Competition Scenes: Duets Are you looking for challenging scenes for two actors? This collection is tailored for student actors, and contains a wide variety of characters, genres and lengths. Ideal for competitions and in-class work. The Middle School Scene Book A collection of comedic, character-driven, and challenging scenes for the middle school students. Perfect for classwork or for IE Competitions. Plays for Competitions:Still haven’t found the right play yet? Our plays have done amazing in one-act festivals and competitions. Here’s a top ten list – every one is a winner. Top Ten Plays for Competition Pieces You want winning plays. You want plays that fit competition rules. You want something that’s going to be easy to stage if you’re performing away from home. You want to give your students an interesting piece to take to competition, regardless of whether they win or not. All of these plays fit the bill. Easy to stage in an unfamiliar space. Many have won multiple competitions. And if they haven’t they’ll give your students an awesome experience. Take them to your next competition with pride. Helpful Hints for Competitions:Do your students need help taking their pieces to the next level? Check out these helpful blogs and podcasts! Competition: Performing in Pairs Performing a successful duet is trickier than performing a successful monologue. It’s not just you and the words. Now there’s interaction, blocking, and depending on another actor. That’s a lot of balls in the air! We want to help you focus on the competition process and the duet category, in particular. Student Voices: Competition Students who competed with scenes at the Florida State Thespian Festival shared their personal experience, expertise and best competition tips. How does competition performing differ than being on stage in a regular show? How do you choose a scene? How do you deal with nerves? How to Find Monologues for Auditions and Competitions Looking for the perfect monologue can feel like a hunting expedition. Let us help save you the trek with some advice on how to find what you’re looking for. Publisher Approvals Are you performing monologues or scene cuttings from our plays for competition? The organizers will likely ask you to provide proof that you have the publisher’s permission to perform. Some competitions keep a standard list of publisher approvals and it’s possible that we’re already on that list. Preparing for Competitions:And lastly, some helpful hints for preparing for competition. You can do it ! Choosing a Play Preparing a play is not a cookie cutter operation. You may have a procedure in place that works just fine for you and your students. But if you want some suggestions on preparing for competition, read on! Solving Performance Problems in Rehearsal Check out our list of some of the most common performance issues you may come across, along with a rehearsal strategy on how to solve them. Day of Pre-Performance To-Do’s We’ve compiled a list of some Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to important pre-performance considerations on the day of competition. Taking Students Successfully to Competition How do you handle competition with your students? How do you circumvent the win, win, win mentality, especially if you don’t win?

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For….Scene Work. You want interesting scenes for your students. You want a variety of scenes for your students. You don’t want to do the same scenes over and over and over and over with your students. Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the best with your search! Sixteen in Ten Minutes or Less This collection of 10 plays can be performed as an evening of theatre. Or it offers the perfect scene work collection for a class. Each short stands perfectly well on it’s own without any prior knowledge of the characters. Ten/Two Ten plays for two actors. All the plays are easy for students to self direct and self block. Have a group larger than twenty, double up on the scenes and seen how different groups interpret the same material. Chemo Girl and Other Plays A collection of plays that examine the impact of cancer as seen through the eyes of teenagers. Each scene can stand alone which means you can have a full class all working on their scenes at the same time. An excellent project if you want to present a cross-curricular aspect to a scene unit. How can cancer be theatricalized? Close Encounters of the Undead Kind This collection has three short plays filled with unique characters. Most of which are vampires, zombies, and others of the undead variety. Have a class of beginners? Divide the plays up so that groups are dealing with smaller chunks within the larger piece. Ten Minute Play Series: All Girls Need scenes with all girls? We’ve got you covered. One of our most popular scenes comes from this collection. It shows Juliet and Ophelia in the afterlife. And they are NOT happy. C’mon and Dance What about students that struggle with lines or perhaps are learning English as a second language. Give them a non-verbal scene to work on. This piece fits the bill perfectly. Will and Whimsy: Sixteen Dramatically Illustrated Sonnets of Shakespeare Want to combine scene work with Shakespeare, but you’re not ready to tackle the bard in the original language? This is a wonderful collection of scenes that illustrates the themes in 16 of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Scene-Speare: Shakespearean Scenes for Student Actors But what if you are ready to tackle Shakespeare? This scenes are already cut down for class use and offer vocabulary help, character questions, and story specifics. A perfect place to start with students. Competition Scenes: Duets Want a collection of duet scenes that come from published plays? Use them for individual event competitions, use them in your classroom. The Middle School Scene Book And just to take care of our middle school folks. Here’s a collection of scenes that come from published plays just for middle school students. We got you covered. Image credit: Rockdale County High School (Conyers, Georgia) production of Will and Whimsy by Alan Haehnel. Directed by Dave DiPietro.