A collection of ten-minute plays by women over forty.

She Persisted: One Hundred Monologues from Plays by Women over Forty is a collection of monologues from plays by members of Honor Roll!, an advocacy group of women over forty.

About Honor Roll!:

Honor Roll! is an advocacy and action group of women+ playwrights over forty--and our allies--whose goal is our inclusion in theater. The term women+ refers to a spectrum of gender identification that includes women, non-binary identifiers, and trans. We are the generation excluded at the outset of our careers because of sexism, now overlooked because of ageism. We celebrate diversity in theater, and work to call attention to the negative impact of age discrimination alongside gender, race, ethnicity, faith, socioeconomic status, disability, and sexual orientation in the American Theatre and beyond.

These women are in their forties and fifties and sixties, and they have been writing a long time, and they are at the height of their craft. These are tight, complex, nuanced pieces of writing, which no one has seen because for too long they weren't looking.

These are important writers, and important plays.

--Theresa Rebeck, from the introduction

There are terrific comic pieces (laughs) and terrific dramatic pieces (no laughs), and all represent the best of contemporary playwriting. This collection is an invaluable resource for aspiring actors hoping to ace their auditions and impress directors and teachers with contemporary pieces.

- Barbecue by Robert O'Hara - a wildly inventive new play that proves family can be a bigger vice than any other addiction.

- New Country by Mark Roberts - a rowdy, raucous rodeo and a New York Times Critics Pick.

- Lost Girls by John Pollono - a hard-hitting working-class drama about people struggling to redefine family.

Plus three more of the most innovative and enjoyable plays to hit the stage in 2015!

A valuable tool for playwrights daunted by the extremely difficult task of getting their work produced, as well as to playwriting students, How I Did It is full of stories of how it's done.

The collection features wonderful monologues by some of our finest playwrights, such as Don Nigro, Cassandra Lewis, Reina Hardy, Kayla Cagan, Jenny Lyn Bader, Eric Coble, Glenn Alterman, Constance Congdon, and Barbara Dana. It also highlights exciting up-and-comers, such as Sharon Goldner, Gabriel David, Deanna Alisa Ableser, Martha Patterson, David Eliet, Connie Schindewolf, Mark Lambeck, and Phoebe Farmer.

1.On any given day, the average teen spends nine hours engaging with digital media. A fair chunk of that time is spent watching viral videos, which run, on average, for about five minutes.

2. Needless to say, an average play runs far longer (and costs much more). Accordingly, teens don't have the time (or money) for theater.

3. Adolescence is an emotional roller coaster rife with laughs and melodrama, reality and fantasy. Whatever a teen's mood, bite-sized bits of online entertainment keep him/her covered.

4. At long last, the world of theater has caught up with the digital realm. Five-minute plays and festivals abound -ÿyou can now plow through a full-fledged performance before your kids loses interest

5. Seems your children/students/kids suddenly do have time for theatre.

Whether you're a frustrated acting teacher struggling to retain your students' interest, a performing arts counselor looking for an engaging exercise, or a group of theater kids looking to screw around between sets, 5-Minute Plays for Teens shoehorns all the theater you need into the precise attention span you're granted. Why not give it a whirl?

1. On any given day, freely circulated viral videos make waves across our society -ÿand we take the time to consume them. The top trenders boast an average length around five minutes.

2. Needless to say, an average play runs far longer (and costs much more). Accordingly, we don't have the time (or money) for theater.

3. Variety is the spice of life - perhaps that's why the passive consumption of digital media runs rampant. Sometimes you feel like something melodramatic; sometimes you feel like something comedic. Sometimes you crave the firm grounding of realism; sometimes you crave the sweet escape of surreality. Sometimes you desire each of these things in rapid succession within the course of a half hour. Whatever your mood, bite-sized bits of entertainment keep you covered.

4. At long last, the world of theater has caught up with the digital realm. Five-minute plays and festivals abound - you can now plow through a full-fledged performance in less time than it takes a busy barista to make your grande chai latte, skim, with whip.

5. Seems you suddenly do have time for theatre.

Whether you're an actor looking for a quick warm-up, an instructor scrounging for tight scene exercises, or an everyday reader eager to speed-date some of today's most talented playwrights, 5-Minute Plays provides all the theater you need without killing all the free time you have. Why not give it a whirl?

There are terrific comic pieces (laughs) and terrific dramatic pieces (no laughs), and all represent the best of contemporary playwriting. This collection is an invaluable resource for aspiring actors hoping to ace their auditions and impress directors and teachers with contemporary pieces.

There are terrific comic and dramatic pieces, and all represent the best of contemporary playwriting. This collection is an invaluable resource for aspiring actors hoping to ace their auditions and impress directors and teachers with contemporary pieces.

Renowned editor Lawrence Harbison brings together approximately one hundred never-before-published men's monologues for actors to use for auditions and in class, all from recently produced plays. The selections include monologues from plays by both well-known playwrights such as Don Nigro, Theresa Rebeck, Rob Ackerman, Len Jenkin, Stephen Belber, and Tim Blake Nelson, and future stars such as David MacGregor, Reina Hardy, Chris Daftsios, Frank Basloe, and Will Arbery.

There are terrific comic and dramatic pieces, and all represent the best of contemporary playwriting. This collection is an invaluable resource for aspiring actors hoping to ace their auditions and impress directors and teachers with contemporary pieces.

- The Country House, a comedy about a deeply dramatic family, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies.

- Dinner with the Boys, an offbeat, dark comedy by Dan Lauria about some old-time wise guys who want to have a good Italian meal and a few laughs - and tie up some loose ends before dessert.

- Mala Hierba by Tanya Saracho, inspired by Latin American culture, which pits human yearnings against the power of culturally predetermined obligations.

- Based on real events, Our Lady of Kibeho by Katori Hall was hailed as the most important new play of the year! by Terry Teachout of The Wall Street Journal.

- When January Feels Like Summer by Cori Thomas presents five lives colliding as a feeling of change hums in the air during one strangely warm winter in Central Harlem.

- Year of the Rooster (New York Times Critics' Pick) by Eric Dufault a fiercely comic play about cockfighting, connections, and clawing your way to the top.

There are scenes here by veteran playwrights such as Don Nigro, Jenny Lyn Bader, Eric Coble, Constance Congdon, Arleen Hutton, Jack Neary, Kermit Frazier and Carlos Murillo, and by exciting up-and-comers such as Cassandra Lewis, Reina Hardy, Deanna Alisa Ableser, Martha Patterson, Mark Lambeck and Merridith Allen. Some are from plays, but many are original pieces written for this book. The age of each character is given, but don't let that deter you if you like the scene, as many could be done by kids not that age.