Skip to main content

Screenwriting guide

Teen Monologues: 22 Clean Audition Pieces

These 22 original monologues suit teen actors and are clean enough for school auditions: no swearing, no adult content. Most are written for teenage characters, from a freshman fighting a locker to a 16 year old begging to stay for senior year. Female teenage monologues, male and any gender pieces are all here.

23 writers opened this page this week

Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial

Monologues for teens

Tone
Gender
Age range
Length

Showing 22 of 22. All original, written for ScriptLix. Running times are estimates at 140 spoken words a minute. Time yourself out loud.

  • ComedicFemaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    The Volcano Was a Metaphor

    Priya, 14, to the science fair judges, who are about to walk away. She wants a ribbon for a volcano that did not erupt.

    Read the monologue

    Wait. Please. Before you write anything on that clipboard, I need you to look at the volcano one more time. Not as a volcano. As a statement.

    Yes, it was supposed to erupt. Yes, I said the word "erupt" four times in my opening remarks, and I pointed at it, and I counted down from ten, and my little brother made the sound effect. And then nothing. A small fizz. One bubble. It sort of burped.

    But think about what that means. Most volcanoes are dormant. Most of the time, a real volcano just sits there, being a mountain, making everyone nervous. So technically, mine is the most realistic project in this gym. Kevin's solar oven? Cooked a hot dog. Very nice. Very unrealistic. When has the sun ever cooked a hot dog for you?

    Also, I would like you to note the paint job. I mixed three browns. There is a tiny village at the bottom. Those people are relieved right now. I saved them.

    I am not asking for first place. I am asking for the green one. Honorable mention. The ribbon that says, this girl tried, and the baking soda betrayed her.

    195 words, about 1 min 24 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicMaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Parallel

    Owen, 16, to the driving examiner who has just failed him. He wants to retake the test today, right now, before his dad finds out.

    Read the monologue

    Okay, so before you hand me that form, can we talk about the cone? Because I want to be clear that I saw the cone. I respect the cone. The cone and I had an understanding, and then the cone moved.

    No, I know cones do not move on their own. I am saying the wind was a factor.

    Look, my dad is in the waiting room. He took a half day for this. He wore his lucky shirt, which is a shirt with a fish on it that says "Reel Cool Dad," and he wore it in public, for me. If I walk out there with that piece of paper, he is going to say "That's all right, buddy," in the voice. You do not know the voice. The voice is worse than yelling.

    So here is what I am proposing. One more lap. Just the parking part. You do not even have to get back in the car. You can stand outside and watch from a safe distance, like a scientist.

    I will signal. I will check every mirror twice. I will park so straight you will want to frame it.

    Please. For the fish shirt.

    198 words, about 1 min 25 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticFemaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Voicemail Number Eleven

    Lena, 16, leaving one last voicemail on her late grandmother's phone line, which her family is disconnecting tomorrow. She wants to say what she never said out loud.

    Read the monologue

    Hi, Nana. It's me. Again. This is number eleven, I think. Mom says they're turning off the line tomorrow because it costs twelve dollars a month to keep a phone ringing in an empty kitchen, and she's right, I know she's right. But I needed one more.

    I keep calling because your voice is on the greeting. "You've reached Ruth, I'm probably in the garden." You recorded that in, what, 2015? You sound so annoyed with the machine. I play it on the bus. I play it before tests. Is that weird? It's probably weird.

    I never told you about the art school thing. I got in. The summer program, the one in the city. I didn't tell you because you'd have made a big deal and I wasn't sure I was going. Then you got sick and it felt like the wrong time to be happy about something.

    I'm going. I start in June. I'm going to draw your tomato plants first, the ugly ones by the fence.

    Okay. I'm going to hang up now. That's the hard part. That's always been the hard part.

    Bye, Nana.

    188 words, about 1 min 21 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticMaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Cut List

    Marcus, 17, to his best friend Dev, who made the varsity team when Marcus did not. Dev has just said he will quit in solidarity. Marcus wants him to stay on the team.

    Read the monologue

    Don't. Don't do that. Don't stand there in my driveway and tell me you're quitting for me like it's some kind of present.

    You know what I did when I saw the list? I read it four times. Top to bottom. I thought maybe they'd put me in the wrong spot, alphabetically, like maybe I was hiding under the Ts. And the whole time my stomach was doing this thing, and then I saw your name and it stopped. Because at least it was you. At least one of us.

    You think I want to sit in the stands knowing you threw it away so I wouldn't feel bad? That would be worse, Dev. That would be so much worse. Then I'm not the guy who got cut. I'm the guy who got cut and took his best friend down with him.

    We've been shooting in this driveway since we were seven. That hoop is crooked because you hung off it in fourth grade. I'm still going to be out here. I'm going to get better. And next year I'm coming for your spot.

    So you'd better be there to lose it to me.

    194 words, about 1 min 23 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicAny genderTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    The Group Project

    Sam, 15, to three group members in the hallway five minutes before their history presentation. Sam wants someone, anyone, to admit they did not do their part.

    Read the monologue

    Okay, team. Huddle up. We have five minutes, so let's do a quick check-in. Jordan, you had the slides. Great. Can I see the slides? You're showing me your phone. That is a picture of a slide. One slide. It says "The Roman Empire" and there is a clip art lion. Why is there a lion? Were there lions? I mean, yes, there were lions, but that is not the part we are presenting.

    Kayla. Research. You said, and I quote from the group chat, "I've got it covered, don't stress." And then you sent a thumbs up. And then you left the group chat. Kayla, you cannot leave the group chat. That is not a thing.

    And Marco. Marco is eating a granola bar. Marco, did you do anything? Don't nod with your mouth full. That's not an answer, that's a hostage situation.

    Here is what is going to happen. I did the whole thing. All of it. At two in the morning. But when Ms. Ferraro asks who did what, you are all going to look at me and say the word "Sam." Clearly. In unison.

    Practice it. Ready? Go.

    192 words, about 1 min 22 sec spoken (estimate)

  • SeriocomicFemaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Half the Room

    Josie, 13, to her older sister Bree, who is packing for college. Josie wants Bree to leave one poster on the wall.

    Read the monologue

    You're taking the lamp? You're taking the lamp. Okay. Fine. It was always your lamp, technically, you bought it at the yard sale with your own four dollars, I remember. I was there. I carried it home. I carried it for six blocks and you didn't say thank you, but sure, take it. Take everything.

    No, I'm not mad. This is my normal face.

    It's just that when you take everything off your side, it's going to look like nobody lived there. Like a hotel room. Mom's going to put the exercise bike in it. You know she will. She's been looking at your half of the room like it's a sale.

    So here's my deal. Leave the poster. The one with the band you don't even like anymore. I know you don't like them anymore, you said they sold out. Leave it anyway.

    Because when I can't sleep, I look at it. I've looked at that singer's weird hair every night for three years. It means you're on the other side of the room even when you're not.

    Just the poster. You can have the lamp.

    187 words, about 1 min 20 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticAny genderTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Table Nine

    Riley, 15, to a new student who has been eating lunch alone in the library for two weeks. Riley wants the new kid to come sit at their table.

    Read the monologue

    Hey. Sorry. I know you're not supposed to talk in here, but Mrs. Okafor is on the phone, so we have about four minutes.

    I've seen you. Not in a creepy way. I come in here sometimes to return books and you're always at the table by the globe, eating crackers behind a chemistry book so nobody sees. You're really good at it. It took me three days to notice the crackers.

    I did that too. Last year. My parents split and I switched schools in October, which is the worst month, because everyone has already picked their people. I ate in a bathroom stall for a week. Do not recommend. Bad acoustics.

    Then this girl Tasha just sat down across from me at the bus stop and asked if I liked dogs, and I said yes, and she said, "Cool, table nine, tomorrow." That was it. That was the whole thing.

    So. Do you like dogs? You don't have to. It's not actually a requirement. Tasha just likes asking.

    Table nine. By the windows. We have the good chairs. Tomorrow, if you want.

    184 words, about 1 min 19 sec spoken (estimate)

  • SeriocomicMaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Eulogy for Biscuit

    Theo, 13, at a backyard funeral for his hamster, speaking to his parents and little sister. He wants them to stop smirking and take it seriously.

    Read the monologue

    Thank you all for coming. Dad, please take your hands out of your pockets. This is a funeral.

    Biscuit was two years and four months old, which in hamster years is basically ninety. So he had a full life. He ran an estimated six thousand miles on his wheel. I did the math. He never got anywhere, but he never stopped trying, and I think there's a lesson there for all of us. Especially Ava, who quit piano.

    Biscuit was not a cuddly hamster. He bit me eleven times. But he only bit when he was scared, and honestly, same.

    Some people said he was just a hamster. Grandpa said that. Grandpa can say what he wants. Grandpa did not hear Biscuit run on his wheel every night at three in the morning while I was awake worrying about middle school. That squeak was the only thing in the house that was up when I was.

    So now it's quiet. Which everyone wanted. You all complained about the squeak.

    I don't know. I'm going to miss the squeak.

    Ava, you can put the flower down now. Mom, you can say something if you want. It's okay if it's short.

    199 words, about 1 min 25 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticFemaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Thirty Seconds

    Dana, 17, to her debate coach after she froze during the state final and the team lost. She wants to keep her place as captain.

    Read the monologue

    I know what you're going to say, so can I go first? Please. I've practiced this in the car, and if you go first I'll lose it.

    I froze. In the final round, with the whole team watching, I stood up and I had my notes and I had the argument, and I opened my mouth and nothing came out for thirty seconds. I counted them. Thirty seconds is very long when four hundred people are looking at you.

    I'm not going to make an excuse. I didn't sleep, but nobody slept. My mom couldn't come, but plenty of moms couldn't come. It just happened.

    But here's what I want you to know. I am the person who stayed after practice every Tuesday. I am the one who made the flash cards for the freshmen. I know every argument we've ever run, because I wrote half of them.

    You can take captain away. I'd understand. But if you do, don't do it because you think I can't handle it. Do it because someone else is better.

    And if nobody is better, let me stand up there again. I'll talk the whole time. I promise. You'll be begging me to stop.

    200 words, about 1 min 26 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicAny genderTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Bedtime Negotiations

    A teenage babysitter, to a six year old named Milo who refuses to go to bed. The babysitter wants him asleep before his parents come home in ten minutes.

    Read the monologue

    Milo. Buddy. My guy. Come out from under the table. I can see your feet. You are not invisible, you just have a blanket on your head.

    Let's negotiate. You are a businessman. I respect that. What do you want? A story? Done. Two stories? I can do two stories. Ten stories is not a number of stories, Milo, that is a library.

    Okay, what about this. You go to bed right now, and tomorrow I will tell your mom you were the best kid I have ever babysat. Better than the Hendersons. You know the Hendersons. They have a drum set.

    No, you cannot have the drum set.

    Fine. Final offer. You walk to bed, by yourself, like a big strong person, and I will do the voice. The dragon voice. The one from Tuesday. I will do the dragon voice for one entire chapter.

    You're thinking about it. I can see you thinking about it.

    Your parents are going to be home in nine minutes. If they see you awake, I don't get asked back. And if I don't get asked back, who's going to do the dragon voice? Some stranger? Some amateur?

    That's what I thought. Go. Run. I'll get the book.

    205 words, about 1 min 28 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticMaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    The New Address

    Eli, 16, to his father, who has just announced they are moving again for a new job. Eli wants to stay and finish senior year with his friends.

    Read the monologue

    Can you just not unpack the boxes this time? Like, save us both the trouble. Keep everything in the garage, labeled, ready to go. That's basically what we do anyway.

    That's four schools, Dad. Four. I know you know. I just want to hear you say it out loud.

    You always say it's an adventure. It's not an adventure for me. It's a first day. You get a new office and a parking spot with your name on it. I get a cafeteria and two hundred people who already know where to sit.

    And this time I actually did it. I joined things. I'm in the robotics club. Mr. Tran says I could run the build next year. I have people who would notice if I left. Do you get that? That's never happened before.

    Aunt Carol said I could stay with her. One year. It's eleven miles from school. I already checked the bus.

    I'm not trying to hurt you. I know the job matters. I know you've been waiting for something like this. I'm not saying don't go.

    I'm saying let me stay. Just once, let me be the one who doesn't leave.

    195 words, about 1 min 24 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicFemaleTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Vote for Me, Probably

    Harper, 16, at the assembly microphone for her class president speech, just after her note cards fall off the stage. She wants the votes anyway.

    Read the monologue

    So. Those were my note cards. They had a lot of great ideas on them. You'll have to trust me.

    Okay. I'm going to wing it, which, honestly, is a pretty good preview of how I'd run student government.

    My opponent, Derek, has promised you a vending machine with energy drinks. Derek, I love that for you. But the school board is never going to approve that, and you know it, and he knows it, and he is smiling at me right now because he knows I know it.

    I am not going to promise you a vending machine. I am going to promise you three things I can actually do. One. Fix the second floor water fountain, which has been spraying sideways since the Obama administration. Two. Get the spring dance moved out of the cafeteria, because nobody has ever felt romantic next to a tater tot fryer. Three.

    Three was on the card.

    Three was really good.

    Okay, three is this. I will always tell you the truth, even when the truth is that I dropped my cards and forgot my third point. That's three. That's the whole platform.

    Harper Wallace. Vote for me. Probably.

    197 words, about 1 min 24 sec spoken (estimate)

  • SeriocomicAny genderTeen1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    The Uniform

    Jesse, 16, to the shift manager on the first day of their first job at a burger place. Jesse wants to keep the job even though everything has gone wrong in the first hour.

    Read the monologue

    Before you say anything, I want to point out that the fire was very small. It was more of a flame. A confident flame. And I put it out, with the thing, the red thing on the wall, which I found on my own without training. So I think that shows initiative.

    I also know about the milkshake machine. I know. It is everywhere. I have been told it is on the ceiling. I didn't look up because I didn't want to know.

    Here's the thing. I need this job. Not in a dramatic way. My mom works doubles and I want to pay for my own phone and stop asking her for stuff. That's it. That's the whole reason. It's not a big tragic story. I just want to hand her my own money one time and see her face.

    I'm going to be bad at this for maybe one week. Then I'm going to be good at it. I learn fast. I learned the register in ten minutes. I've only made one mistake on it, and that customer didn't even notice he got a free pie.

    Please don't fire me. I already love this hat.

    197 words, about 1 min 24 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicMale20s to 30s1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    The Free Trial

    Ben, 30s, at the front desk of a gym, to a cheerful sales rep. He wants to cancel the membership he signed up for in January.

    Read the monologue

    Hi. Great. Hi, Kyle. I'm here to cancel my membership. No, I don't want to talk about my goals. My goal is to cancel my membership.

    Yes, I know about the smoothie bar. I have had the smoothie. It's very green. It tasted like a lawn that was trying its best.

    I signed up in January. January me was a different person. January me thought he was going to wake up at five and do something called a "burpee." January me did not understand that a burpee is basically falling down on purpose and then getting up angry.

    I have been here three times. Twice was to use the bathroom on my way to the bakery next door.

    No, I don't want to freeze it. I don't want to pause it. I don't want to transfer it to a loved one. I would never do that to a loved one.

    Kyle. Look at me. I have been charged forty dollars a month for ten months. That's four hundred dollars. I could have bought a treadmill. I could have bought a treadmill, and not used it, at home, in comfort.

    Where do I sign? Don't smile at me. Just give me the pen.

    202 words, about 1 min 27 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicAny gender20s to 30s1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Mostly Haunted

    Alex, any age, a tour guide leading a nighttime ghost walk, to a skeptical tour group that has seen nothing so far. Alex wants them not to ask for refunds.

    Read the monologue

    Okay, folks, gather in. Stand close. Closer. Ghosts like a tight group.

    This is stop number six, the Old Dunmore Hotel. Built in 1882. And this is the window where, every night, people report seeing a woman in a white dress, holding a candle, looking for her lost love.

    You will notice there is currently no woman in the window. That's because she's shy. She doesn't like big groups. And frankly, sir, you have been very loud.

    Yes, I know stop five was supposed to be cold. I know you didn't feel cold. It was a warm night. Ghosts can't control the weather, that's a different department.

    And stop four. Yes, the lady in the gift shop. She was not a ghost. I said she might be a ghost. She was just very pale and very quiet and I got excited.

    Here's the thing. I have been doing this tour for six years, and I have never once seen anything. Not a flicker. But every night, somebody in the group goes very still at one of these stops, and they don't say why.

    So keep looking.

    The refund form is online. But keep looking.

    194 words, about 1 min 23 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicAny gender20s to 30s1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Gate Change

    Morgan, any age, at an airport gate, to a weary gate agent, after the flight has been delayed for the fourth time. Morgan wants a seat on the next flight out.

    Read the monologue

    Hi. Hello. I'm not going to yell. I want to start by saying that, because I know you've been yelled at, I watched the man in the vest do it, and that was not okay, and I'm sorry on behalf of travelers everywhere.

    I just have a quick question about the word "delayed." Because the board has said "delayed" since nine this morning. It's now four. At some point does "delayed" become a lifestyle?

    I've been at this gate so long I know everyone. That's Carol. She's going to her grandson's graduation. That man has eaten six pretzels from the same bag. He's rationing. He's preparing for winter.

    Here's my situation. My sister is getting married tomorrow at noon, and I am the person holding the rings. Not metaphorically. They're in my sock. If I don't make it, she's going to have to get married with two twist ties from a bread bag.

    So I'm asking. Is there any flight, any seat, any closet with a window, going in roughly that direction? I'll sit in the back. I'll sit by the bathroom. I'll hold the coffee pot.

    Please. Carol's rooting for me.

    192 words, about 1 min 22 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticAny gender40s plus1 to 2 minutesGood for teens

    Room 114

    Mr. or Ms. Avery, 60s, a high school teacher, on their last day before retirement, to a student who has stayed behind after class. Avery wants the student to apply to college.

    Read the monologue

    You're still here. Everyone else ran out like the building was on fire. You're stacking chairs. You don't have to stack chairs. That's not your job.

    Sit down a second.

    Thirty four years. Thirty four years in this room. That stain on the ceiling is from 1998. A chemistry project. I wasn't the chemistry teacher. Long story.

    I've had maybe three thousand students. I don't remember all of them. That's the truth nobody says. But I remember the ones who stayed late to stack the chairs. Every single one.

    You haven't turned in the application. The scholarship one. Ms. Patel told me. Deadline is Friday.

    I'm going to guess why. You think it's not for people like you. You think somebody with your grades and your job after school and your little brothers to pick up at four o'clock doesn't get to want that.

    I read your essay on the lighthouse. I've been teaching for thirty four years and I have never read anything like it. I took it home. I read it to my wife.

    So here's my last assignment. My very last one. Turn it in by Friday.

    I'll stack the chairs. Go home. Write.

    197 words, about 1 min 24 sec spoken (estimate)

  • SeriocomicAny gender20s to 30sAbout 1 minuteGood for teens

    Have You Seen This Dog?

    Dana, any age, at a bus stop, to a stranger who has just politely refused a lost dog flyer. Dana wants them to take the flyer and actually look at it.

    Read the monologue

    No, please, just take one. You don't have to do anything with it. Just look at his face for three seconds. That's all I ask.

    His name is Moose. He's small. I know the name doesn't match. He was supposed to grow, and he didn't, and we'd already told everyone.

    He got out on Tuesday when the mail carrier left the gate open. Not her fault. He's fast. He's built low to the ground, like a little sports car.

    I've put up two hundred and twelve of these. I've talked to the guy at the hardware store, the lady at the laundromat, three kids on scooters. One kid said he saw Moose eating a pizza crust behind the library. That's my best lead.

    So if you see him, don't chase him. He thinks it's a game. Just sit down on the sidewalk and say "cheese." He'll come right to you.

    Cheese. That's the password. Please remember it.

    157 words, about 1 min 7 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicFemaleTeenAbout 1 minuteGood for teens

    The Locker Combination

    Maya, 14, on the first day of high school, to an older student at the next locker. Maya cannot open her locker and wants help without looking like she needs help.

    Read the monologue

    Hi. No, I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I'm just, you know, taking a moment with my locker. Getting to know it. We're still in the early stages.

    The combination is 32, 14, 7. I know that. I've known that since August. My mom wrote it on my hand. You can still see it. Look. It's faded, but it's there.

    The problem is the spinning. You go right, then left past it once, or twice? Then right? Who designed this? Was it a spy? It feels like a spy designed it.

    I've been here eleven minutes. The bell rings in four. I have biology, which I'm told has a teacher who locks the door at the bell, like it's a vault.

    So, hypothetically, if a person were very cool and did not need help, but needed the locker open, what would you do?

    Just show me once. I'll pretend I knew. You can pretend too.

    154 words, about 1 min 6 sec spoken (estimate)

  • DramaticFemaleTeenAbout 1 minuteGood for teens

    Understudy

    Ava, 15, in an empty school auditorium, to her drama teacher, after the cast list went up and she was named understudy for the lead. She wants to know what she did wrong.

    Read the monologue

    Can I ask you something? You don't have to look at the list. I've read it. I've read it enough for both of us.

    Understudy. I know what it means. It means I learn every line and every song and every step, and then I stand in the wings and watch someone else do it, and hope she gets a cold. Which I would never actually hope for. Mostly.

    I'm not here to complain. I'm here because I want to get better, and I don't know what better means.

    Was it the song? I went flat on the high part. I heard it. I wanted to stop and start again but you're not supposed to stop.

    Or was it something else? Because if it's something I can fix, I'll fix it. If it's something about me, I need to know that too.

    Just tell me the truth. Please. I can take it. I think I can take it.

    158 words, about 1 min 8 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicMaleTeenAbout 1 minuteGood for teens

    The Permission Slip

    Noah, 14, at the kitchen table, to his mother, who has just been handed a permission slip for an overnight class trip to a science museum. He wants her to sign it without asking a single question.

    Read the monologue

    Okay, so before you read it, I want to say that it's educational. That's the main thing. Very educational. The word "science" is in the title.

    It's one night. At the science museum. We sleep under the dinosaur. Under it, Mom. Not on it. They're very clear about that.

    Yes, there's a fee. It's forty dollars. But that includes dinner, breakfast and a flashlight tour, which is basically a class. It's like forty dollars for a class.

    I know what you're going to say. You're going to say "remember the last trip." The aquarium was not my fault. That penguin was already out when I got there.

    I've done all my homework. I took out the trash without being asked. Twice. I folded towels. I folded them wrong, but I folded them.

    Please just sign it. Right there. Where it says "parent." You're a parent. You're the best parent.

    Thank you. I love you. Don't call Mr. Hughes.

    158 words, about 1 min 8 sec spoken (estimate)

  • ComedicAny gender20s to 30sAbout 1 minuteGood for teens

    Name on the Cup

    Jamie, 20s, a barista, to a customer who is holding up a coffee cup with their name spelled wrong. Jamie wants the customer to accept the cup and move on before the line riots.

    Read the monologue

    I see it. I know. It's wrong. You said "Siobhan," and I wrote "Shivon." In my defense, that's how it sounds. Your name is a trick. Your name is a trap for baristas.

    Here's what I want you to understand. There are twenty two people in that line. I have made forty drinks in the last hour. One of them was for a man who wanted "a latte, but make it a little sad." I don't know what that means. I gave him oat milk.

    I could remake the cup. I could take out a new cup and write your name correctly, with all of its secret letters. But your drink would get cold, and the twenty two people would turn into an angry mob.

    Or you could take this cup, which is perfect inside, and know that I tried. With love. And bad spelling.

    Thank you. Have a great day, Shivon.

    Sorry. Siobhan.

    154 words, about 1 min 6 sec spoken (estimate)

How to use it

  1. 1

    Filter by gender and tone, then read the pieces with a teenage speaker first.

  2. 2

    Pick a situation you understand from your own life, even if the details are different.

  3. 3

    Practise it out loud for a parent, teacher or friend and ask them what the character wanted.

What makes a good monologue for a teenager?

A teenage character with a real problem in a world you recognise: school, family, friends, a first job. Teen actors are most convincing playing people their own age, so the best pieces here are spoken by teens to the people in their lives, like a coach, a sister, a parent or a new kid at the library.

Are these monologues appropriate for school auditions?

Yes. Every piece on this site is written without swearing, sexual content or graphic violence. Some deal with serious subjects like grief or moving away, handled in a way that suits a school setting. A few adult pieces with gentle, all ages humour are also marked good for teens.

Where can I find female teenage monologues?

Set the gender filter to female. You will find a science fair speech, a voicemail to a grandmother, a debate captain apologising to her coach, a campaign speech gone wrong, a first day locker battle and an understudy asking what she did wrong.

How long should a teen audition monologue be?

Usually about a minute, or whatever your school or theatre asks for. Set the length filter to about 1 minute for the shortest pieces, then time yourself out loud. Nerves make most people speak faster in the room, so a piece that runs a little long at home is often fine.

Questions writers ask

Are these teen monologues free?

Yes. They are original and free to perform for school auditions, drama class and competitions.

Can middle schoolers use these monologues?

Yes. Several speakers are 13 or 14, and every piece is clean. Pick a character close to your age.

Can I perform a monologue written for an adult?

You can, but casting usually wants to see you play your own age. Start with the pieces that have a teen speaker.

Do these monologues work for drama competitions?

They can, but check the rules. Some competitions require a monologue from a published play.

More free tools