THEA 341: Acting Master Class (Cabus)

This guide covers:

• How to use a monologue book to find a good audition scene
• How to get your hands on the whole play the scene comes from
• How to use OneSearch to find the contemporary plays the BSU libraries own

Remember to reach out to Jackson if you have questions!  Or go to Ask a Librarian and use our chat service!

Several of the search techniques included on this guide require you to understand that records in library databases are divided up into different "fields," which describe different information about the library item.  Typical fields include Title, Author (or Creator), Subject, Creation Date, and Genre.

When you do a general search in a library database, you're searching through all of those fields, which often works fine.  Using drop-down menus to specify which fields to search in, however, allows you to be more specific.

Inspiration for audition materials can from many places.  Maybe you've seen a play you thought was great, and had good passages spoken by one person.  Great!  Look that play up in OneSearch (as detailed below).

If you don't have a play in mind already, you can start with a monologue book.  Browse the shelves in Bracken Library around the call number PN2080, located on the east side of the third floor to see the monologue books we own.

For specific titles you can look for, visit the "Audition Material" page.

Once you find a monologue you're interested in, you need to read the entire play it came from.  To find the play, take the title of it and the author's name and search in OneSearch.

Famous plays will be easier to find, like "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen.  This shows a search on the Advanced Search page of OneSearch, using the drop-down menus on the left to specify the title and author:

More contemporary plays will be more difficult, and likely will need to be requested from another library through Interlibrary Loan.

To find "Muswell Hill" by Torben Betts, we can do a similar search on the Advanced Search page of OneSearch:

We didn't find any results.  However, OneSearch suggests we could search outside of our library's collection.  We can click on that link to perform a search beyond what the Ball State libraries own.

And we end up finding one result.

Although we do not have immediate access to this book (physically or electronically), we can request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.  To do that, we'll click on the title, to bring the whole record up.

Then we'll scroll down a bit, and look for "Links."  Just below that, we'll click on "Request the item with interlibrary Loan."

We'll be prompted to type in our Ball State username and password, and then brought to an Interlibrary Loan Book Request form already mostly filled out, like this:

Choose a date you'd prefer that the the play delivered to you by, and scroll down and choose "Submit Request."  You will be emailed when your book is available for you to pick up at the Library Information Desk in Bracken.  This is likely to take at least a week, and possibly longer.

Some contemporary plays will not be found in OneSearch, even after choosing to search beyond our library collection.

In that case, we'll need to use a bigger database, called WorldCat that allows you to search through thousands and thousands of libraries around the world.

When I was unable to find an information on the play "Deadeye" by Amber Lone, I went to WorldCat and searched like this, using the drop-down menus to choose "Title" and "Author."

Often there are many versions of a title, just depending on how each library has it entered into their system.

Click on one of the titles, to bring the full record up.

Then look down below "Get This Item" and click on the link that says "Request via interlibrary loan."

You may be prompted to log in with your Ball State username and password, and then you'll be brought to the Interlibrary Loan Book Request page, with most of the information filled out (as outlined above -- refer up above for more details).

To find plays that the Libraries recently acquired, we can do a search in OneSearch where we specify the genre of the item as well as the dates we're interested in.

Here's what that looks like:

• Choose the "Advanced Search" option linked under the OneSearch box at the top of the Libraries' homepage.
• In the drop-down menu to the left of the search box, choose "Genre."
• In the search box, type plays OR drama. (Be sure to use these words exactly.)
• Finally, to limit to contemporary works, choose "5 Years" under "Publication date."

Be forewarned that you will not get perfect results.  For example, it will also bring up reprints published in the last 5 years of older plays, and occasionally recent discussion of older 'drama.'  But it gives you a manageable list to work with.

To figure out which floor to find your play on in Bracken Library, look at the first couple letters of the call number (likely PR or PS), and then consult a chart near the elevators or Book Locations & Floor Plans

If you have big questions -- please reach out to Jackson (email works best: jackson.harmeyer@bsu.edu).  She can often help you over email, or you can arrange a time to meet, in-person or via Zoom.

If you have little questions (like "How do I fill out this Interlibrary Loan form?" or "How do I find the full text of this article?"), try using the chat feature through our Ask a Librarian option on the Libraries' homepage.  Chat is monitored from early in the morning til late at night, and on the weekends, so it's your best bet for getting quick help.