This year Smith and Kraus Publishers has again combined its annual best monologues and best scenes anthologies. Here, you will find a rich and varied selection of monologues and scenes from plays that were produced and/or published in the 2009-2010 theatrical season. Most are for younger performers (teens through thirties), but there are also some excellent pieces for men in their forties and fifties, and even a few for older performers. Some are comic (laughs), some are dramatic (generally, no laughs).

Some are rather short, some are rather long. All represent the best in contemporary playwriting.

Several of the monologues are by playwrights whose work may be familiar to you, such as:

Don Nigro

Theresa Rebeck

Craig Lucas

David Ives

Craig Wright

Others are by exciting up-and-comers like:

Christine Evans

Martin Blank

Shawn Nacol

Rachel Axler

Justin Warner

Lisa Dillman

The scenes are by master playwrights, such as:

Theresa Rebeck

Terrence McNally

And by exciting new writers, such as:

Qui Nguyen

Maura Campbell

Henry Meyerson

Geoffrey Nauffts

Daniel Talbot