Plays for Actresses: A First-of-Its-Kind Collection of Seventeen Splendid Plays with All-Female Casts, Each of Them Abounding with Career-Making Roles

Book Overview

Gather any group of actresses, from students to stars, and someone will inevitably ask, "Where are all the great roles for women?" The roles are right here, in this unprecedented and magnificently diverse collection of plays with all-female casts. The seven full-length and ten one-act selections range in tone from the unabashed theatricality of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women to the blistering black comedy of Laura Cunningham's Beautiful Bodies.

Their characters include uprooted Japanese war brides, outrageously liberated Shakespearean heroines, an avenging African American housewife, and nuns who double as Catholic schoolgirls.

Whether you're looking for a script to produce or a scene for an acting class, this book will provide you with a wealth of juicy, challenging female roles as it introduces you to some of the finest playwrights at work today.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679772812
• ISBN13: 9780679772811
• Release Date: March 1997
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

This book is a GREAT tool for all actresses!

As an actress, I've spent many hours thumbing through monologue books that featured what seemed to be exactly three plays, repeated over and over again. These were, in general, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Miss Firecracker Contest, and Agnes of God. Now, all of these are good plays, but trust me, EVERYONE DOES THEM at auditions. That's why this book is so great! First of all, instead of merely giving you excerpts of plays, this book gives you each play in entirety. This is important because good acting requires that one reads the entire play, not merely a few paragraphs. Also, the range of characters is liberating, ranging from very old to pre-teen parts. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that using two monologues from this book got me into a B.F.A. Acting program. Obviously, it's not a magic book that will cause casting directors to gasp with delight and fall into your arms, but it is a useful tool, and far superior to many other books out there.

Casting Call! Here are your star parts!

Could there be better plays for actresses? I don't think so. The Beautiful Bodies play is so wild and hysterically funny with six great parts, ditto Last of the Great Waitresses. I like David's Red Death too...and Catholic Schoolgirls. This is an all female festival. Wow! I wish I could see them all and act in most of them. They know how to pick'em. The editors have really chosen well and given actresses all over the world a shot at appearing at their best. Pure theatre! This is the perfect launch for women starting their own production companies or all girl groups finding fresh material. Bravo!

Sparkling anthology for actresses and theatre lovers

anyone who cares about great roles for actresses will want this book. I bought several copies to give to friends in theatre. The plays are terrific...This is great reading, even if you don't act. A chance to catch up with dramatic literature. I felt like I had been to a theatre festival by the time I finished reading the plays. Don't miss Last of the Great Waitresses, Catholic School Girls, Beautiful Bodies or any of the others. There's not a dog in the bunch.

Hilarious, heartbreaking winners

This collection will keep actresses working and happy for decades. All the plays are winners and provide magnificent roles for talented women. The book is also fun to read! The editors are theatrical genuises and should be producing for Broadway and off Broadway --they have brilliant taste, an eye for tragedy, comedy and just plain all out exciting theatre. I want to see, read, devour these plays..and I'm not even an actress.

A must have for all actresses!

This is, by far, the most useful book that I have ever had the pleasure of owning when it comes to my acting career. Every play included in it is absolutely amazing, and there are loads of scenes and monologues that are just screaming to be used in classes. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who works as an actress, wants to be an actress, or just likes to read some good plays every so often.