Monday, June 22, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #495 My own prison......by Janet S. Tiger June 22, 2015

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                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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Monologue Mania Day #495 My own prison…..by Janet S. Tiger  June 22, 2015

                                         My own prison.....
                           A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved  2015                                                                                       tigerteam1@gmail.com 

        (This is a monologue in the sense that only one actor will be speaking, but there will be two actors onstage - one an old man sitting in a chair, looking off into space.  He can be nodding, with a vacant stare - most of the time.  But some of the time he can react to the other actor, a younger man, maybe 20s or 30s who comes onstage and looks at the older man with horror, sadness and some disgust)

There you are......I never know where you're gonna be, all I know is that you and I just are not connected like we once were.  Right?

         (The older man ignores him)

Do you have any idea what's going on, old man?  Can't you hear them talking to you?

         (He points at the audience)

They are trying to figure out how far gone you are.....and if you fail this test, they are sending you to a place .......a place just like the one that scared you when you were a kid and had to visit your grandpa in that old age home.  Remember?

         (The older man turns and makes eye contact for a minute and nods) 

I knew you remembered!  I'm sorry I called you an old man…you can't help what's happening to you....any more than I can help who I am.

         (He turns and faces the audience, smiles)

And who am I? You know my name.......you have it on the papers there......I am.....him.....

         (He points to the old man()

Or is it...I am he?   Grammar.  Always hated it......

But you heard me.....I am ......that old guy.....inside of that decrepit body is a young man, and I am that young man.  I can hear everything you say, all the nasty comments that you think I don't hear......all the jokes, all the innuendo.....all the disrespect. 

         (The old man tries to speak, can't)

I can't blame you, you think that I'm not here anymore, I think one of the doctors described this like a Polaroid in reverse, but that's not true.  Not from where I sit, at least.  It is more like a sentence of death.....

This disease has been like a slow tidal wave.....approaching in glacial time, I could see the signs, but there was nothing I could do to stop it, no more than anyone can make the sun rise one second faster than it wants to.......is that a good metaphor?  He doesn't know what a metaphor is anymore, but I do.

I used to like some English, the part with funny limericks was one of my favorites......There once was a man from Nantucket......
Who kept all of his cash in a bucket,
But his daughter, named Nan,
Ran away with a man,
And as for the bucket, Nantucket.

      (The old man smiles and nods)

What limerick did you think I was gonna tell?  Yeah, I collected the other kind, too, but for now, I like surprising myself......because now, that's all I can do in here.

(Starting to get emotional)  And when I say 'in here' I mean ....in prison.  I am serving a life sentence, you see......and I didn't even know what my crime was!  I am trapped in this hell hole of a body, doomed to live like this until I die....I am....my own prison.....

      (He goes to the old man and touches his shoulder, they start to walk out together, then he stops, looks back, very affected)

And the worst part, the hardest part is.....watching those I love.....be tortured by my sentence....of life.....

      (They exit, as we pray for a cure for this horrible disease.  June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month - for more info - http://www.alz.org/)
       

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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-83

1 comment:

Jennifer Silva Redmond said...

Heartbreaking and poignant. I love how you always interweave humor with pathos. Bravo!