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Acknowledgments | |
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Introduction to the Second Edition | |
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Introduction | |
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Six Ways to Get the Most Out of This Book | |
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The monologue: writing, rehearsing, performing | |
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A Definition of Terms | |
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What Is a Monologue? | |
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Types of Monologues | |
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What Is Performance Art? | |
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A Brief History of the One-Person Show | |
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Samuel Foote (1721-1777) Creates the One-Person Show | |
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George Alexander Stevens, the Father of the Monologue | |
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Charles Mathews | |
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Ruth Draper Perfects the Monologue | |
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Cornelia Otis Skinner | |
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Historical Monologues | |
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The Solo Show Today | |
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A Preliminary Look | |
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Questions to Ask Yourself before Starting Work on a Solo Show | |
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The Similarities/Differences between Being an Actor and Working as a Writer | |
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As an Actor, Do I Have the Necessary Skills to Create My Own Material? | |
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Pluses and Minuses, Assessing Specifically Where You Are Now | |
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Your Sense of Truth | |
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Ways to Work, Selecting Your Tools | |
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Writing | |
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What Is Creative Writing? | |
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Fear of Writing | |
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Journal Writing | |
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Using a Tape Recorder | |
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Improvising: "Are Your Talkin' to Me?" | |
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Working Orally: In Front of an Audience | |
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Working Orally: Developing Your Stories Throughout the Day | |
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Preparing | |
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For Those Actors Who Know Which Type (Style) of Monologue They Want to Create | |
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For Those Actors Who Don't Know What Type of Solo Material They Want to Create | |
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Perking with an Idea | |
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Exercises to Help You with Your Solo Show | |
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Deciding When to Begin | |
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Guidelines for Creating Short or Audition Monologues | |
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Fundamentals of All Good Monologues | |
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To Whom Is the Character Speaking? | |
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Questions Every Monologue Must Answer | |
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About Autobiographical Monologues | |
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Another Way to Approach Autobiographical Material | |
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Storytelling Monologues | |
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Narrative and Dramatic Style | |
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Your Personal Style: Your Voice | |
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Examples of Different Voices and Styles | |
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From An Evening with Quentin Crisp | |
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Winfred from Monster | |
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Craig from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 3 | |
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From An Evening with Shelly Mars | |
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From Gray's Anatomy | |
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Cudjoe from The Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky | |
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From Safe | |
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Sam from Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop | |
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From Time on Fire | |
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From Comedy You Can Dance To | |
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From Full Gallop | |
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From I'm Breathing the Water Now | |
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From The Finger Hole | |
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From A Kiss to Build a Dream On | |
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Using Your Acting Technique to Create Character Monologues | |
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Working from the Outside in, as an Actor and Writer | |
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Working Internally as an Actor and Writer | |
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Starting to Write | |
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Two Scenarios | |
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Understanding Writer's Block | |
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Techniques for Dealing with Writer's Block | |
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Nothing, a Whole Lot of Nothing | |
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Writing about Painful Events | |
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Free-Writing: An Invaluable Exercise | |
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Clustering (or Webbing): Finding the Initial Core of Your Work | |
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Sal from Street Talk: Character Monologues for Actors | |
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Creating Your Monologue: Structure and Process | |
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How We'll Be Working from Now On | |
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Comparing the Actor's and the Writer's Processes of Starting Out | |
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The Importance of the Narrator | |
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Your Opening Section: The First Paragraphs | |
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From Charlotte (from True Stories) | |
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Bernice from Two Minutes and Under, Volume 2 | |
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From Swimming to Cambodia | |
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From Pretty Fire | |
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Blanka from Some People | |
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Jo from Eternal Pyramid | |
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Master of the Stale from the play The Dark String | |
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Developing Your Monologue | |
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Developing Your Role (as an Actor) | |
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Developing Your Monologue (as a Writer) | |
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The Ongoing Day-to-Day Work | |
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Working on Performance Art Pieces | |
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A Word about Songs, Music, and Dance in Monologue Plays | |
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Mixed Media | |
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That Old Devil, the Self-Censor | |
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Taking Mini-Breaks, Breathers | |
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Looking Over What You've Written So Far | |
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After the Break: Two Scenarios | |
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Working Till the End of the First Draft | |
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Developing Your Monologue II (The Ongoing Work) | |
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The "Who Wrote This Monologue, and What's It About?" Exercise | |
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Questions to Ask Yourself While Reading through Your Script | |
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At What Point Should You Have Someone Else Read What You've Written? | |
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Selecting the Right Person to Read Your Monologue | |
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Performing the First Draft for a Director | |
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Performing the First Draft as a "Work in Progress" for an Audience | |
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Making Repairs: Rewriting | |
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Revising and Reshaping | |
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The Three Golden Rules of Revising | |
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The Subconscious and Rewrites | |
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Completing Work on Your Monologue | |
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Things to Keep in Mind in Your Closing | |
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Knowing When the Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed | |
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A Checklist to Decide Whether Your Monologue Is Ready to Be Performed | |
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Preparing to Perform | |
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Selecting a Director | |
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Working with the Director in Rehearsal | |
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Rehearsing the Audition Monologue | |
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Performing the Piece | |
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Marketing Your Solo Show | |
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Preparing Your Marketing Package | |
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Management/Booking Agencies That Handle Solo Artists | |
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Interviews with monologue writers and performers | |
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Lanie Robertson | |
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Sarah Jones | |
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Spalding Gray | |
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Mary Louise Wilson | |
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Charlayne Woodard | |
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Tim Miller | |
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Danny Hoch | |
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Dael Orlandersmith | |
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Quentin Crisp | |
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Marilyn Sokol | |
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Evan Handler | |
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Shelly Mars | |
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Brian Dykstra | |
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Penny Arcade | |
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Kate Clinton | |
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Ann Randolph | |
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Interviews with directors of one-person shows | |
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Peter Askin | |
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Jo Bonney | |
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Christopher Ashley | |
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Marcia Jean Kurtz | |
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David Bar Katz | |
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Appendixes | |
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Artist Colonies Where You Can Develop Your Solo Show | |
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Theaters That Accept Solo Material | |
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Publishers of Solo Material | |
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Playwriting Competitions That Accept Solo Material | |
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Applying for Grants | |
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Literary Agents | |
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Recommended Books | |
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Internet Resources | |
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Permissions | |
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About the Author | |