"Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" by Alan Ball

GEORGEANNE: "I was walking down the aisle, first thing I saw was the back of his head. It just jumped right out at me. I recognized that little hair pattern on the back of his neck, where his hair starts, you know where it comes to those two little points, and it’s darker than the rest? I always thought that was so sexy. Then I looked at him during the ceremony, and something about the way the light hit his face … I swear, it just broke my heart. And then outside, I saw him talking to this total bitch in a navy blue linen dress with absolutely no back, I mean you could almost see her butt. And he was smiling at her with that smile, that same smile that used to make me feel like I really meant something to him. And then it all came back, just bang, all those times I sat waiting for his phone call, me going out of my way to make things convenient for him. Having to take a fucking taxi cab to the Women’s Health Center that day because It was so cold my car wouldn’t start. And later that awful, awful night I sat out in front of his apartment building staring at Tracy’s burgundy Cutlass in the driveway, just wishing I was dead. You know, I started smoking cigarettes that night. And if I ever die of cancer I swear it’s going to be Tommy Valentine’s fault. (She lights a cigarette, stands and wanders around listlessly.) God! I feel like I am going crazy! My cousin George, he’s a nurse, he says I am the perfect type to get some weird disease because I’m so emotional.

Lady Macbeth from the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare:)

LADY MACBETH: He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber?

Was the hope drunk

Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?

And wakes it now to look so green and pale

At what it did so freely? From this time

Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard

To be the same in thine own act and valor

As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life,

And live a coward in thine own esteem,

Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"

Like the poor cat i' the adage?

What beast was't then

That made you break this enterprise to me?

When you durst do it, then you were a man;

And to be more than what you were, you would

Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place

Did then adhere, and yet you would make both.

They have made themselves, and that their fitness now

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know

How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums

And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done this. If we should fail?

Screw your courage to the sticking place

And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep

(Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey

Soundly invite him), his two chamberlains

Will I with wine and wassail so convince

That memory, the warder of the brain,

Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason

A limbeck only. When in swinish sleep

Their drenchèd natures lies as in a death,

What cannot you and I perform upon

Th' unguarded Duncan? what not put upon

His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt

Of our great quell?

Katharine from The Taming of the Shrew by the late and great William Shakespear

Katharine:
The more my wrong, the more his spite appears.
What, did he marry me to famish me?
Beggars that come unto my father's door
Upon entreaty have a present alms;
If not, elsewhere they meet with charity;
But I, who never knew how to entreat,
Nor never needed that I should entreat,
Am starv'd for meat, giddy for lack of sleep; 
With oaths kept waking, and with brawling fed;
And that which spites me more than all these wants-
He does it under name of perfect love;
As who should say, if I should sleep or eat,
'Twere deadly sickness or else present death. 
I prithee go and get me some repast;
I care not what, so it be wholesome food.

Portia from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Portia from Julius Caesar:

Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper, 
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing and sighing, with your arms across,
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks;
I urged you further; then you scratch'd your head, 
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot;
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not,
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience 
Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep,
And could it work so much upon your shape 
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.


Go Shakespeare!!!

Going Old School For A While

I'm having a Shakespeare monologue madness in my school so obviously I'm going to be looking into Shakespeare monologues. I will post my favorites up on here for everyone to see. I probably won't put any Romeo and Juliet monologues up because ,well quite honestly, I feel like Romeo and Juliet is heavily over done. It is a wondermous play as are all of Shakespeare's plays but I feel like being a wee bit off the curve.

My experience with a Promedy (by Wade Bradford) monologue

I have been working with the following monologue:
BEATRIX:
That's not true. Young women need the Prom. It's a rite of passage as sacred as getting your driver's license or buying your first bra. There are only a few things in life that are guaranteed to be glorious and memorable and sparkling with gowns and cummerbunds. Prom is the quintessential teenage experience. Think of the unlucky grown-ups and the elderly who lament the day they decided not to go to the Prom. It is a key ingredient to a happy and meaningful life. Prom is short for Promenade, a slow, gentle walk through a shady glen, and this beloved ceremony symbolizes our journey from the shadows of adolescence to the bright sunshine of the adult world with all its freedoms. And it may be the only chance I'll ever have to dance with a boy. Maybe I'll never have someone get down on their knee and Offer me a diamond ring. Maybe I'll never walk down the aisle with a smug look of bridal triumph. But it is my right, and the right of every plain, frumpy, book-wormish, soon-to-be librarian to have one night of Cinderella magic. Even if we have to go with our cousin, or our gay best friend from tap class, we will have a Prom. And you will help me.

In October I went to my state's thespian festival and competed using this monologue and one other from my site. It went really well and everyone complimented me on it. (I actually became a state thespian officer during this weekend. YAY!!) I then went to a GSA workshop as well and got some really helpful tips for when I audition in the spring for GSA. I'm super nervous but my excitement out weighs my nervousness by ten. I'm definitely going to use this for my GSA audition! 


I do NOT own this monologue. All props to Wade Bradford. You rock guy!!!:)

Copyright

I do not own any of these monologues. I tried to list all the authors that were available from all the stuff that were with the monologues when I got them. I hope these will be useful.

It's a Living

Cori: You won't believe what just happened to me! I'm getting off EI and this guy comes up to me and says, "Hi there. You got a minute?" I say, "Sorry, I don't have any money," and I start to walk away. He scurries up beside me and goes, "Wait! I don't need any money. Actually I'm on my way to Crobar. It's fetish night." I pick up my pace. Then he runs infront of me, blocking my path and says, "Look, I don't mean to bug you and I'm not going to hurt you. It's just that I couldn't help but notice your beautiful feet in those sandals. I'll give you ten dollars if you let me smell them for just thiry seconds." You should have seen his face! The guy was dead serious! (Beat.) Of course I didn't! Are you kidding? (Beat.) I made him give me twenty. 

Searching for Justice

Janis: Justice was served?! You've got to be kidding me! I was there. I saw everything. Your client beat that man to a bloody pulp. He left him lying in the street. Just a mass of blood where his face used to be. You saw the pictures. He had to have his entire face surgically redone. And why? Because your hero was itching for a fight and didn't like his long hair. Two years of private investigators calling me and having me indentify photos. And for what? So I could sit in that witness stand and have you twist my words into lies. You must be awfully proud of yourself. What do you feel when you're lying in bed at night? Do guilt or shame ever come creeping in? I have been waiting in that stuffy office all day. Because I came here to tell the truth. And I did. Now would you tell me something? How can you live with yourself? How?

There's Gotta Be a Better Way

Faith: Ma'am, I replaced the first burger free cause it "didn't taste right" to you. And the second burger cause you said it wasn't cooked enough. Now you're telling me that this burger is burnt?! You have got to be kidding me. Where do you think you are. This is McDonald's! We ain't serving no sirloin steak! $5.25 an hour and I gotta put up with the likes of you. I'll tell you what. Why don't you come back here, take my greasy apron and my stupid hat, and stand back here in 128 degree temperature and cook your own burger til you're satisfied. Oh, and hey, don't forgot you gotta smile nice for all the customers while you're sweating to death and the French Fry boys are whispering perverted jokes!! No? Doesn't sound like a good old time to you? Well then, I highly suggest you take that burger back to your little table, eat it, and think about how lucky you are that I didn't smush an apple pie in your face. Have I made myself clear? Thank you. Have a nice day.