This unique anthology provides a wealth of material for actors and acting students, and a wonderful overview of the best recent plays for anyone interested in theatre. The more than 150 monologues cover a diverse range of subjects, and offer a variety of dramatic styles and moods. Each monologue is introduced with a short description of the plot, setting, and character type by the leading plauwrights of our time. Featured dramatists include: Christopher Durang, Wendy Wasserstein, Lanford Wilson, Wallace Shawn, Tina Howe, Caryl Churchill, Athol Fugard, Beth Henley, Sam Shepard, David Henry Hwang, Harry Kondoleon, John Patrick Shanley, Larry Shue, Michael Weller, David Rabe, Marsha Norman, August Wilson, Albert Innaurato, Jules Feiffer, Harold Pinter, David Hare, Jose Rivera, Tom Stoppard, John Guare, David Mamet, Charles Fuller, William Matrosimone, Robert Patrick, Miguel Pinero

This latest in Smith and Kraus?s popular series is a terrific collection of scenes for two men, for two women, and for one man and one woman, all from plays first published and/or produced in 2005?2006 and most are appropriate for use by young actors.A partial list includes:Almost, Maine John CarianiIndoor/Outdoor Kenny FinkleModern Orthodox Daniel GoldfarbThe Scene Theresa RebeckBoar?s Head Don NigroTwenty Years Ago Frederick StroppelFrame 312 Keith ReddinNatural Selection Eric CobleAre We There Yet? Garth WingfieldTheatre District Richard KramerD. L. LEPIDUS is a freelance critic and editor who has covered the New York theater scene for more than twenty-five years. Since 1993, his work has appeared in theater columns for Chelsea Clinton News and the Westsider.

The latest edition of America's best-selling scene study series for women and men. All scenes are excerpted from plays produced during the 1998 theatrical season.