In acting classes all over the country, African American students are routinely given monologues either from old Black plays like A Raisin in the Sun or contemporary Anglo plays, prompting them to ask, "Where are the new works aimed at us?" Students need material that is fresh and authentic, material that speaks in their language and to their concerns.
 Gus Edwards returns with a second collection of probing and practical monologues on Black life. Whether you are an African American seeking audition and performance material written in contemporary language or an educator trying to offer students of color something more than tired, hand-me-down monologues, this collection presents fresh material written in a voice that reflects the modern African American experience.

More Monologues on Black Life

Edwards, Gus

Humor & Entertainment

Heinemann Drama

Finding authentic African American material has never been easy for actors. Gus Edwards continues to remedy that situation with this third collection of powerful, original monologues for African American men and women. The pieces offer a refreshing alternative to recycled standards. And they showcase the language and frame of reference that are immediately recognizable, both emotionally and culturally, to the people who will perform or view them. Edwards has arranged the monologues by performance length, a key component in auditioning. Need a 30-second or a 3-minute piece? No problem. Just turn to these pages to find honest, vibrant material.

50 African American Audition Monologues

Cofounder and artistic director of the famed Negro Ensemble Company, Douglas Turner Ward is also the country's foremost authority on African Americans in theatre. Playwright and educator Gus Edwards talked with Ward about the opportunities for African American actors. The result is the first book to address the creative and professional challenges of acting from a specifically African American perspective. For the actor of color, these conversations reveal much about important topics, including: 
<ul>
<li>ethnic specificity</li> <li>colorblind casting</li> <li>cultural honesty of roles.</li> </ul> The talks also provide immediately usable personal advice on establishing and maintaining a professional career on stage, TV, and film, and covering everything from auditions and acting workshops to dealing with and learning fromaudiences and sustaining long runs. Advice to a Young Black Actor is an indispensable book pioneering effort that is long overdue.

Advice to a Young Black Actor: Conversations with Douglas Turner Ward

Ward, Douglas Turner

What is a hero? How is one defined? When Gus Edwards discovered that the majority of the young actors, playwrights, and teachers he encountered didn't know who Nat Turner was - nor many other key men and women in black history - he summoned the power of theatre to correct the situation. Black Heroes in Monologues brings these and other influential African Americans to life once again. As he did with Monologues on Black Life, Edwards offers black actors and actresses a host of new, original audition and performance pieces. Perfect for black history month or any moment that calls for a stirring performance, Black Heroes in Monologues features twenty-seven monologues in the voices of heroes from every walk of African American life. From Civil Rights-era leaders Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X to freedom fighters Harriet Tubman and Joseph Cinque; from Hall of Fame sports figures Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis to influential artists Paul Robeson, Mahalia Jackson, Hattie McDaniel, and Oscar Micheaux. You'll find a wide variety of richly drawn portraits of people whose passion, resolve, and smarts will inspire your acting. Heroes come from all walks of life. Some we recognize easily; others are unknown or forgotten. With Black Heroes in Monologues, we can not only return them to our consciousness, but bring them to life for people of every color to cherish and enjoy.

Black Heroes in Monologues

Heinemann

Heinemann is proud to be publishing, for the first time, the complete text of Gus Edwards' remarkable Lifetimes on the Streets, in a volume with another collection of monologues entitled Reaching for the Dream. Together, these two sets of monologues are a vital resource for actors and actresses looking for honest, vibrant material. The characters in Lifetimes on the Streets range from a woman on her way to her hairdresser who enters into a strange relationship with a painter who invites her to have a cup of tea with him, to the Common Man, an old man carrying a bag who warns that Harlem is entering a new ice age, to a businessman who, on the death of a homosexual friend, wanders into a porn movie and is forced to confront his own discomfort and lack of confidence. The rest of this volume is a collection of monologues for men and women, ranging in age from 15 to 50. We meet Kiana, 15, who wonders why boys are such jerks, Jaims, 16, who wants to know why it's so hard to talk to girls, Harold, 30, who has four wives and is about to cop an insanity plea, Lisata, in her 20s, who encounters a man with strange eyes on the subway, and a host of other people making their way as best they can in this last part of the 20th century.

Monologues on Black Life

This anthology celebrates more than twenty-five years of the Negro Ensemble Company’s significant contribution to American theater. Collected here are ten plays most representative of the eclectic nature of the Negro Ensemble Company repertoire. The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) was formed in New York City in 1967 with support from the Ford Foundation to aid in the establishment of an independent African-American theater institution. Under the artistic directorship of Douglas Turner Ward, the NEC offered a nurturing environment to black playwrights and actors who could work autonomously, guaranteeing authenticity of voice, full freedom of expression, and exploration of thematic views specific to the African-American experience. Since its inception, the NEC has introduced audiences to more than 150 theatrical works. Classic Plays from the Negro Ensemble Company allows scholars to review a diversity of styles which share common philosophical, mythic, and social ideals that can be traced to an African worldview. A foreword by Douglas Turner Ward and an afterword by Paul Carter Harrison and Gus Edwards assess the literary and/or stylistic significance of the plays and place each work in its historical or chronological context.

Classic Plays from the Negro Ensemble Company

Literature & Fiction

Harrison, Paul

Dramas & Plays

University of Pittsburgh Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Edwards, Gus. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.