Contemporary Duologues: One Man & One Woman

THE GOOD AUDITION GUIDES:
Helping you select and perform the audition piece that is best suited to your performing skills

As an actor at any level – whether you are doing theatre studies at school, taking part in youth theatre, preparing for drama-school showcases, or attending professional acting workshops – you will often be required to prepare a duologue with a fellow performer. Your success is often based on locating and selecting a fresh, dynamic scene suited to your specific performing skills, as well as your interplay as a duo. Which is where this book comes in.

This collection features twenty-five fantastic duologues for one man and one woman, all written since the year 2000 by some of our most exciting dramatic voices, offering a wide variety of character types and styles of writing.

Playwrights featured include Howard Brenton, Jez Butterworth, Caryl Churchill, Sam Holcroft, Anna Jordan, Lucy Kirkwood, Rona Munro, Evan Placey, Jessica Swale and Jack Thorne, and the plays themselves were premiered at the very best theatres across the UK including the National Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange, the Traverse in Edinburgh, Shakespeare's Globe, and the Almeida, Bush, Hampstead and Royal Court Theatres.

Drawing on her experience as an actor, director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Trilby James equips each duologue with a thorough introduction including the vital information you need to place the piece in context (the who, what, when, where and why) and suggestions about how to perform the scene to its maximum effect (including the characters' objectives).

The collection also features an introduction on the whole process of selecting and preparing a duologue, and how to present it to the greatest effect. The result is the most comprehensive and useful contemporary duologue book of its kind now available.

'Sound practical advice... a source of inspiration for teachers and students alike' Teaching Drama Magazine on The Good Audition Guides

Trilby James trained as an actress at RADA and has worked extensively as an actor in theatre, film and television. She has also worked as a freelance director and teacher at several leading drama schools, including ALRA, Arts Educational Schools, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, East 15, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University and RADA, where she is now an Associate Teacher. She is a script reader and dramaturg for Kali Theatre Company, and has directed several play-readings for their 'Talkback' seasons. She edited the Contemporary Monologues and Contemporary Duologues books in the Good Auditions Guides series from Nick Hern Books.