Masterfully crafted by award-winning writer and actor, Tia Dionne Hodge-Jones, ‘Play.Speak.’ provides young actors with forty modern monologues that fit almost any personality or circumstance. While the content is of obvious benefit to any young actor looking to elevate their career to a new level, the book also forms part of a larger charitable project to bring monologue writing and performance classes to the homeless. Everything kicks off with gusto on May 29th, with a Times Square launch party.

Bloomfield, NJ -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/08/2014 --Bloomfield, NJ – While she now has acting credits on ‘Law & Order’, ‘One Life to Live’ and ‘Conviction’, Tia Dionne Hodge-Jones was once a young actor struggling to find that perfect monologue. In a bold move to help other young actors get their turn under the spotlight, Hodge-Jones is making forty diverse, unusual and compelling monologues available to the masses in her new book.

‘Play.Speak.’ helps any young actor find the perfect monologue for them; in order to captivate audiences and scouts with a diverse range of emotions and reactions. With each script existing as wholly unique, young actors can also eliminate the risk of choosing a monologue that’s overused within the industry.

“It’s painfully difficult for young actors to shine through and find the perfect monologue; but my book changes all of that,” says Hodge-Jones. “It brings together forty challenging monologues for those aged thirteen to eighteen. The collection covers a vast range of circumstances that address many different situations from a variety of factors including social class, race and ethnicity, mental health, and simply, maturity level, wrapped in an array of circumstances and genres, i.e. family drama, personal discovery and growth, coming of age comedic drama, and more, that can be used for auditions, acting exercises, or audience entertainment in a stage review.”

Continuing, “However, the book is part of a wider project that sees me collaborate with my students as well as Jacquelyn Aluotto, founder of RBRW.org, as we create workshops to teach monologue writing and acting to homeless youths living in a local shelter.”

Advanced praise for the book has been nothing short of impressive. Artistic Director Dean Kravitz comments, “Her brilliance in creating original works for our students to really sink their teeth into and hone their craft is a key reason her students cherish their time and training with Tia Dionne. Our students know they are studying with an actor of true top talent, intellect and creativity.”

Award-winning American Theater Director, Producer and Dramaturge Clifton Turner Davis adds, “The characters and the dramatic situations Tia Dionne Hodge-Jones creates are controlled and focused. She has a gift of being able to write believable dialogue.”

The book and its new website will be launched during a dazzling party on May 29th at TRYP by Wyndham in Times Square South, between 19:00 and 22:00.

“We’re expecting some amazing attendees, from some of my well-known industry friends, to instructors looking to use the release as a workbook, through to students who’ll be directly utilizing the monologues. All public and media are welcome!” Hodge-Jones adds.

‘Play.Speak.’, published by OddInt Media, will be available from May 29th, 2014.

Book’s official website: http://www.playspeakmonologues.com.

Author’s website and portfolio: http://www.tiadionnehodge.com.

About Tia Dionne Hodge-Jones
Tia Dionne Hodge-Jones is an award-winning writer, actor, and director/producer. Tia Dionne is the inaugural recipient of the Adrienne Kennedy Society’s Louis Kent-Hope Award for Excellence in Creative Writing & Poetry, and a National Poetry Slam Team Champion (Cleveland Team). Her plays, Puddin’, A Spider in Wine, and Love… Like Lemonade received workshops by New Jersey Dramatists & Waterfront Ensemble (Hoboken, NJ). Puddin’ , was accepted and produced at the New Perspectives Theatre Company Voices From the Edge 6.0 & 7.0 Festivals (NY, NY), was an alternate for the NY International Fringe Festival in 2003, was accepted into the 2009 New Moon Reading Series at Luna Stage (Montclair, NJ,) and the 2009 NY International Fringe Festival. A Spider in Wine was recently accepted and read at The Classical Theatre of Harlem's Playwright's Playground (January 2014).

Some of Tia Dionne’s other monologues and essays can be found in New Monologues for Women by Women, Volume II and Black Comedy - 9 Plays. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, New York Women in Film, SAG-AFTRA and AEA. She earned her M.A. and B.A. in English Literature from Case Western Reserve University in 1996. As an actress, she has appeared in numerous national and regional on-camera and voice-over/radio commercials, and has appeared on 666 Park Avenue, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order SVU, Conviction, as well as the pilot, The Third Degree, for Fox. In 1998, she received a Best Actress nomination by the Independent Reviewers of New England for her performance as “Veronica” in New Repertory Theatre’s production of Athol Fugard’s Valley Song. She has appeared as the recurring characters “Angel Mel” and “Amelia Bennett” on ABC’s One Life to Live, and can be seen as a panelist on Cafemom.com’s Coffee Shop Confessions. She is a proud acting instructor at Performers Theatre Workshop in Maplewood, NJ, and resides with her husband and daughter in Bloomfield, NJ.