One Minute Monologues for Women
19 one-minute monologues for women, from Barbie and Fleabag to The Crucible and Chekhov, sorted by playing age and tone, with comedic picks and pieces for teens and women over 40.
On this page 11 sections
- Quick picks
- What makes a strong one-minute monologue for an actress?
- All 19 one-minute monologues for women at a glance
- Recent film and TV scenes
- More film and TV monologues
- Monologues from modern American plays
- Classical and public domain monologues
- How to choose your one-minute monologue
- Trimming a longer speech to 60 seconds
- Questions about one-minute monologues for women
- Keep building your audition book
The best one-minute monologues for women give an actress one clear want, one turn and a last line that lands, all in about 60 seconds. This list has 19 of them, from teens to women over 60: four recent film and TV scenes, five more screen monologues, five speeches from modern American plays and five public domain classics, each with playing age, tone and running time.
Quick picks
- Comedic: Emma (Curse of the Starving Class), Rosemary (Easy A) and Lady Bracknell (The Importance of Being Earnest).
- Teens and college: Abigail Williams (The Crucible) and Joan (Saint Joan).
- Women over 40: Kate Keller (All My Sons), Mrs. Hale (Trifles) and Rebecca (Ted Lasso).
- Self-tapes: Fleabag and Tiffany (Silver Linings Playbook).
- Shakespeare and classics: Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Nina (The Seagull).
What makes a strong one-minute monologue for an actress?
A one-minute monologue for women is a speech by a single female character that takes 50 to 70 seconds to perform, about 130 to 160 words. Casting directors use it at open calls, agency meetings and self-tapes to see how quickly you can make a choice and commit to it.
The pieces that work best feature a woman who is driving the moment, not only reacting to someone else. Look for a character who wants something specific from the person she is talking to and changes tactics at least once.
You can search all 355 monologues in our database by gender, playing age, tone and length.
All 19 one-minute monologues for women at a glance
| # | Character | From | Age | Tone | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gloria | Barbie | 30s–40s | Comedic, dramatic | 1:00 (cut) | Self-tapes |
| 2 | Rebecca | Ted Lasso | 40s | Dramatic | 1:00 | Women over 40 |
| 3 | Jo March | Little Women | 20s | Dramatic | 0:50 | Period film calls |
| 4 | Joy | Everything Everywhere All at Once | 20s | Dramatic, absurd | 1:00 | Offbeat roles |
| 5 | Fleabag | Fleabag | 20s–30s | Comedic, dramatic | 1:15 | Direct-to-camera |
| 6 | Daphne | Bridgerton | 20s–30s | Dramatic | 1:15 | Period TV |
| 7 | Amy March | Little Women | 20s–30s | Dramatic | 0:45 | Tight 45-second slots |
| 8 | Tiffany | Silver Linings Playbook | 20s–30s | Comedic, dramatic | 1:00 | Showing range |
| 9 | Rosemary | Easy A | 20s–40s | Comedic | 0:45 | Comic mom roles |
| 10 | Catherine | Proof | 20s | Dramatic | 1:15 | Contemporary drama |
| 11 | Abigail Williams | The Crucible | Teens–20s | Dramatic | 1:15 | Teens and college |
| 12 | May | Fool for Love | 20s–30s | Dramatic | 1:00 | Gritty American drama |
| 13 | Emma | Curse of the Starving Class | 20s–30s | Comedic | 1:00 | Comedic theatre calls |
| 14 | Kate Keller | All My Sons | 40s–60s | Dramatic | 1:15 | Women over 40 |
| 15 | Mrs. Hale | Trifles | 40s–60s | Dramatic | 1:00 | Classic American realism |
| 16 | Nina | The Seagull | 20s | Dramatic | 1:10 | Chekhov and Russian drama |
| 17 | Joan | Saint Joan | Teens–20s | Dramatic | 1:10 | Heightened language |
| 18 | Helena | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Teens–30s | Classical, comic | 1:00 | Shakespeare auditions |
| 19 | Lady Bracknell | The Importance of Being Earnest | 50s+ | Comedic | 1:15 | High comedy |
Recent film and TV scenes
These four come from screen work released since 2019. The scripts are still under copyright, so each card describes the moment and points you to the official screenplay or streaming service.
01
Gloria
Barbie · Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach (2023)
“It’s literally impossible to be a woman”
Women 30s–40s Comedic · Dramatic Film About 1:00 cut
Gloria, a Mattel employee and a mom, tells a defeated Barbie why being a woman feels impossible: every expectation contradicts another. The full speech runs about two minutes. For a one-minute cut, keep the opening, the run of contradictions and the turn at the end, where the speech becomes about Barbie.
Where to find it: Warner Bros. published the screenplay (read about it here), and the film streams on Max.
02
Rebecca
Ted Lasso · Season 1, Episode 9, “All Apologies” (2020)
The confession
Women 40s Dramatic TV About 1:00
Rebecca finally tells Ted that she hired him to sabotage the team and hurt her ex-husband. It is short, specific and has nowhere to hide: she has to say the worst thing about herself to the kindest person she knows. Play it without asking for sympathy.
Where to find it: Season 1, Episode 9 of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+.
03
Jo March
Little Women · Greta Gerwig (2019)
“Women, they have minds”
Women 20s Dramatic Film About 0:50
In the attic, Jo tells Marmee that women have minds and souls as well as hearts, and that she is sick of hearing that love is all a woman is fit for. Then, in the same breath, she admits how lonely she is. The turn from fury to honesty is the whole piece.
Where to find it: Little Women (2019) is available to rent or stream; look for Sony Pictures’ published awards screenplay.
04
Joy
Everything Everywhere All at Once · Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (2022)
The everything bagel
Women 20s Dramatic Film About 1:00
Joy, as Jobu Tupaki, finally explains to her mother why she put everything on a bagel and why nothing seems to matter, and admits she hoped her mother would see something she couldn’t. It moves from deadpan to devastating; keep the stakes on the mother-daughter relationship, not the multiverse.
Where to find it: A24 film, available to rent or stream; A24 has published the screenplay.
More film and TV monologues
Five screen monologues with the full text in our database. They suit on-camera auditions and self-tapes, where a smaller, truthful delivery reads best.
05
Fleabag
Fleabag · Phoebe Waller-Bridge (TV, 2016–19)
“I want someone to tell me what to wear”
Women 20s–30s Comedic · Dramatic TV About 1:15
“I want someone to tell me what to wear in the morning. No, I want someone to tell me what to wear every morning. I want someone to tell me…”
06
Daphne
Bridgerton · Chris Van Dusen (TV, 2020)
“Just because something is not perfect…”
Women 20s–30s Dramatic TV About 1:15
“I know why you made that vow to your father. I found the letters you wrote to him as a child, and I read them. Just because something is not…”
07
Amy March
Little Women · Greta Gerwig (2019)
“I know more about the world than you”
Women 20s–30s Dramatic Film About 0:45
“You think I’m stupid, Josephine, but I know more about the world than you ever did! You think that if you go to Europe, things will be so different: that…”
08
Tiffany
Silver Linings Playbook · David O. Russell (film, 2012)
“Has anybody ever told you how Tommy died?”
Women 20s–30s Comedic · Dramatic Film About 1:00
“Yes. Do you feel that? That’s emotion. Has anybody ever told you how Tommy died? We were married for three years and five days, and I loved him…”
Tiffany, a young widow, tells Pat the truth about her marriage and refuses to be judged for how she has grieved. It is blunt and quick, and it lets you show comic timing and real pain in the same minute.
09
Rosemary
Easy A · Bert V. Royal (film, 2010)
“Your father and I are totally supportive”
Women 20s–40s Comedic Film About 0:45
“That boy from the other night just dropped this off for you. He seems like a nice kid…”
Olive’s mother delivers a cheerful, wildly misinformed pep talk to her daughter. It is one of the few strong comedic minutes written for a mom, and it works best played with total sincerity.
Monologues from modern American plays
Five speeches from American plays written between 1947 and 2000. A piece from a published play is the safest choice when a theatre notice asks for a contemporary monologue.
10
Catherine
Proof · David Auburn (play, 2000)
“I lived with him”
Women 20s Dramatic Play About 1:15
“I lived with him. I spent my life with him. I fed him. Talked to him. Tried to listen when he talked. Talked to people who weren’t there . …”
11
Abigail Williams
The Crucible · Arthur Miller (play, 1953)
“It were a fire you walked me through”
Women Teens–20s Dramatic Play About 1:15
“Why, you taught me goodness, therefore you are good. It were a fire you walked me through, and all my ignorance was burned away…”
Seventeen-year-old Abigail tries to win John Proctor back, insisting their affair opened her eyes to the hypocrisy of Salem. It gives younger actresses a character who drives the scene rather than reacting to it.
12
May
Fool for Love · Sam Shepard (play, 1983)
“Fifteen years I’ve been a yo-yo for you”
Women 20s–30s Dramatic Play About 1:00
“Okay. Look. I don’t understand what you’ve got in your head anymore. I really don’t. I don’t get it…”
May tells Eddie she no longer believes his promises after fifteen years of him leaving and coming back. The anger sits on top of a long history, so the speech rewards an actress who can let both show.
13
Emma
Curse of the Starving Class · Sam Shepard (play, 1977)
“You boiled my chicken?!”
Women 20s–30s Comedic Play About 1:00
“Ma, you didn’t use my chicken did you? That was my chicken. You boiled it? You boiled my chicken?!…”
Emma finds out her mother cooked the chicken she raised for her 4-H demonstration. The outrage is completely real to her, which is exactly why it plays as comedy.
14
Kate Keller
All My Sons · Arthur Miller (play, 1947)
“He was so real I could reach out and touch him”
Women 40s–60s Dramatic Play About 1:15
“I was fast asleep, and — Remember the way he used to fly low past the house when he was in training?…”
Kate describes a dream about her son Larry, a pilot missing since the war, and holds on to her belief that he is alive. It is a rare one-minute piece with real weight for women in their 40s to 60s.
Classical and public domain monologues
All five were written before 1930, so they are free to perform. They show a casting team you can carry heightened language, and most link to the full play on Project Gutenberg.
15
Mrs. Hale
Trifles · Susan Glaspell (1916)
“We live close together and we live far apart”
Women 40s–60s Dramatic Play About 1:00
“I could’ve come. I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful—and that’s why I ought to have come. I—I’ve never liked this place. Maybe because it’s down in a hollow and…”
Cut from Mrs. Hale’s speeches near the end of the play, as she realizes what Minnie Wright has lived through.
Read full monologue
I could’ve come. I stayed away because it weren’t cheerful—and that’s why I ought to have come. I—I’ve never liked this place. Maybe because it’s down in a hollow and you don’t see the road. I dunno what it is, but it’s a lonesome place and always was. I wish I had come over to see Minnie Foster sometimes.
I wish you’d seen Minnie Foster when she wore a white dress with blue ribbons and stood up there in the choir and sang. Oh, I wish I’d come over here once in a while! That was a crime! That was a crime! Who’s going to punish that?
I might have known she needed help! I know how things can be—for women. I tell you, it’s queer, Mrs Peters. We live close together and we live far apart. We all go through the same things—it’s all just a different kind of the same thing.
16
Nina
The Seagull · Anton Chekhov (1896)
“I am a sea-gull—no, I am an actress”
Women 20s Dramatic Play About 1:10
“I am so tired. If I could only rest—rest. I am a sea-gull—no—no, I am an actress. He does not believe in the theatre; he used to laugh at my…”
From Act 4, in the 1912 translation by Marian Fell; cut to the core of Nina’s return to Konstantin.
Read full monologue
I am so tired. If I could only rest—rest. I am a sea-gull—no—no, I am an actress. He does not believe in the theatre; he used to laugh at my dreams, so that little by little I became down-hearted and ceased to believe in it too.
I have changed now. Now I am a real actress. I act with joy, with exaltation, I am intoxicated by it, and feel that I am superb. I have been walking and walking, and thinking and thinking, ever since I have been here, and I feel the strength of my spirit growing in me every day.
I know now, I understand at last, Constantine, that for us, whether we write or act, it is not the honour and glory of which I have dreamt that is important, it is the strength to endure. One must know how to bear one’s cross, and one must have faith. I believe, and so do not suffer so much, and when I think of my calling I do not fear life.
17
Joan
Saint Joan · George Bernard Shaw (1923)
“Light your fire”
Women Teens–20s Dramatic Play About 1:10
“Light your fire: do you think I dread it as much as the life of a rat in a hole? My voices were right. Yes: they told me you were…”
From Scene 6, the trial. Cut from Joan’s speech after she tears up her recantation.
Read full monologue
Light your fire: do you think I dread it as much as the life of a rat in a hole? My voices were right. Yes: they told me you were fools, and that I was not to listen to your fine words nor trust to your charity. You promised me my life; but you lied. You think that life is nothing but not being stone dead.
It is not the bread and water I fear. But to shut me from the light of the sky and the sight of the fields and flowers… all this is worse than the furnace in the Bible that was heated seven times. If only I could still hear the wind in the trees, the larks in the sunshine, and the blessed blessed church bells that send my angel voices floating to me on the wind.
But without these things I cannot live; and by your wanting to take them away from me, or from any human creature, I know that your counsel is of the devil, and that mine is of God.
18
Helena
A Midsummer Night’s Dream · William Shakespeare (c. 1595)
“O spite! O hell!”
Women Teens–30s Classical · verse Play About 1:00
“O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent / To set against me for your merriment…”
Act 3, Scene 2. Suddenly adored by both young men, Helena is certain the three of them are mocking her. It shows you can handle verse while staying funny and genuinely hurt.
19
Lady Bracknell
The Importance of Being Earnest · Oscar Wilde (1895)
“A hand-bag?”
Women 50s+ Comedic Play About 1:15
“Mr. Worthing, I confess I feel somewhat bewildered by what you have just told me. To be born, or at any rate bred, in a hand-bag, whether it had handles…”
How to choose your one-minute monologue
- Cast yourself honestly. Choose a woman within about ten years of your playing age, in a role you could realistically be called in for.
- Pick a character with an objective. She should want something from the person in front of her, not just describe how she feels.
- Keep one comedic and one dramatic piece ready. Many open calls ask for contrast, and a second piece costs you nothing to prepare now.
- Match the medium. Use a play for theatre auditions and a film or TV monologue for self-tapes and on-camera work.
Trimming a longer speech to 60 seconds
Mark three lines before you cut anything: the line where her want starts, the line where she changes course and her final line. Keep all three, then remove repeated points and names the listener would need explained. Several picks on this list run 1:10 to 1:15 in full, so trim the middle rather than the ending.
Questions about one-minute monologues for women
How long is a one-minute monologue for women?
A one-minute monologue for women runs 50 to 70 seconds out loud, which is roughly 130 to 160 words. Time it standing up, with your slate, because a piece that reads as 60 seconds at a desk often runs longer on its feet.
What is a good one-minute comedic monologue for women?
Emma from Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class, Rosemary from Easy A and Lady Bracknell from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest are three reliable comedic one-minute monologues for women. Emma suits actresses in their 20s, Rosemary suits 30s and 40s, and Lady Bracknell suits women 50 and over.
What is a good one-minute monologue for a teenage girl?
Abigail Williams from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Joan from George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan are strong one-minute dramatic monologues for teenage girls. Both characters are young women who drive the scene and argue for what they want.
Which one-minute monologues suit women over 40?
Kate Keller from All My Sons, Mrs. Hale from Trifles and Rebecca from Ted Lasso are one-minute monologues written for women over 40. For comedy, Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest suits women 50 and over.
Can I use a film or TV monologue for a theatre audition?
Only when the notice allows it. Most theatre auditions ask for a monologue from a published play, so keep a piece such as Catherine from Proof or May from Fool for Love ready. Save screen monologues like Fleabag or Tiffany for on-camera auditions and self-tapes.
Keep building your audition book
Once your minute is ready, add a longer contrasting piece. Try our comedic monologues for women, dramatic monologues and monologues for teens. If you coach actors of every gender, our one-minute monologues for men uses a different set of plays and films.
Every piece was timed read aloud at about 150 words a minute. Copyrighted monologues appear as short excerpts for study, and the full texts belong to their writers and publishers. Public domain plays link to Project Gutenberg.
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