Auditors ask for monologues for a reason: they want to see how balanced a performance you give with material you know well and have rehearsed. So what makes a balanced monologue? Three things: language, thought and body

•  Language

Naturally we start with language because as actors that is our starting point. We are given a script which is the language the playwright tells us our character uses. The word choice in a script is never arbitrary. Therefore, the language we are given is our first great tool to break into who our character is. Primarily it begins to tell us how our character thinks.

• Thought

Our character's thought process drives our moment to moment actions. It tells us what is happening in between and underneath the words. It tells us what we are doing in every moment and it makes it clear to the audience who we are and why we are in the world of the play. This sense of personal logic also informs how we feel. How we feel and what we do informs our connection to our body.

• Body

How our character uses our body must be informed by how they think which is going to be different from us as the actor. How and when we move is informed by how we feel. How we move and hold ourselves informs how we use our voices. All of this informs how we use our language to express our thoughts, and accomplish our actions.

In order to have a balanced performance an actor must explore all three legs that hold up the performance stool. If you have neglected one of the legs, the stool will fall over. Likewise, an un-balanced audition performance will not carry you to a call-back.