Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
first year - Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 12, 2015
second year - Feb. 13, 2015 - Feb. 12, 2016
********* third year - Feb. 13, 2016 - today!
I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop, so if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
If you'd like to write your own monologues, I happen to have a book for that -
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site. Wishing you much success!
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Monologue Mania Day #804 10,000 Hours (for Osculation) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Apr. 26, 2016
Dedicated to my dear Irene, who inspired this piece - because she, too, is not fond of math!
Other monologues from Osculation (or Love and Math in the Time of Chemistry) are on
Days # 308, 470, 490, 698, 750
10,000 Hours
(for Osculation)
(Not really) A monologue by Janet S. Tiger (c) 2016 all rights reserved
tigerteam1@gmail.com
(ARIANA and ISAAC come out, she is trying to retain her cool, HE is not understanding at all)
ARIANA - Did I hear you right? What did you just say?
ISAAC - I said you need to work harder.......
(She looks at him like she wants to kill him, then takes a deep breath)
ARIANA - You like numbers, right?
(He nods)
ARIANA - - Ok, here' a number - 10,000.
ISAAC - I always loved 10,000! it's 100 squared! Or 10 to the 4th! A great number!
ARIANA - Have you ever heard of .....10,000 hours?
ISAAC - Yeah, that's a theory by Malcolm Gladwell that the number of hours before you get successful at something is 10,000, and then you've mastered it and great things start to happen....
(She gives him a glaring look)
ISAAC - Is that the name of a new band or something?
ARIANA - Amazing.......but no, it's not the name of a band, although who knows, one day...but you were right the first time....
ISAAC - So what's with the look?
ARIANA - How many hours do you think I'VE done in math? Think about it, Mr. Genius named after Isaac Newton! I am 18, in school, hating math, since I was 6......12 years of hate.....at 1000 hours a year....even I know that's more than 10,000!
ISAAC - Actually, I don't think you did 1000 hours a year......\
ARIANA - Oh, no? Pray tell how many do you think I did?
ISAAC - Well, at 10 months in the school year.....
ARIANA - Summer school every year......no time off for bad behavior.....
ISAAC - (Horrified) Every year?
(She nods)
ISAAC - Even so, let's say 300 days a year.....at one hour a day....
ARIANA - Who told you an hour? I would've been screaming happy if it was only an hour! Figure two, three hours A DAY! Three hours a day times 300....that's......
ISAAC- That's 900....
ARIANA - (Annoyed, but glad he said it) I knew that...... and 900 times 12....
ISAAC - That's.....whoa....you might be right, I mean....three hours a day.....
ARIANA - More than three hours! Three hours of compounded disinterest times a million! I have reached the 10,000 hours weeks ago, months ago, maybe last year and all I can ask is this? Why aren't I good at math yet? Bigger question - why am I not Albert Einstein? If that rule is true....
ISAAC - Well, actually, it's a theory, and a theory is.....
ARIANA - I don't care what anything is! All I know is that after the one million hours I still hate math! And.....I am sure....it hates me back! I have tried and I have cried and I have had too many tutors to remember....with one dubious accomplishment.....I made all of them cry, too! Not one lasted! And what could I have done with all those hours! I could have learned another few languages, I could have memorized the encyclopedia, not just parts of it.....I could have learned to be a great artist and spent my time drawing and painting and sculpting....but NOOOOOO! I had to do......MATH!
So don't you dare tell me......do you hear? Don't you ever say to me again, that I, ME - don't work HARD ENOUGH!
(She storms out and he watches her go, still amazed)
ISAAC - But I didn't say that......
(He turns to leave, stops, looks back)
ISAAC - Or did I?
(Lights dim as he exits. Blackout)
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if it's split into just a monologue for her-
(ARIANA come out, she is trying to retain her cool,)
ARIANA - Did I hear you right? What did you just say?
(Shakes her head, fuming)
ARIANA - Okay, you like numbers, right?
(He nods)
ARIANA - - Ok, here' a number - 10,000. ..10,000 hours......
(She gives him a glaring look)
ARIANA - No, it's not the name of a band! It's a theory by a guy named Malcolm Gladwell that the number of hours before you get successful at something is 10,000, and then you've mastered it and great things start to happen....(Getting more annoyed) How many hours do you think I'VE done in math? Think about it, Mr. Genius named after Isaac Newton! I am 18, in school, hating math, since I was 6......12 years of hate.....at 1000 hours a year....even I know that's more than 10,000!
(She leans over to listen, raises her eyebrows).\
ARIANA - Oh, no? Pray tell how many do you think I did? And it wasn't 10 months in the school year.....it was summer school every year......no time off for bad behavior.....and who told you an hour a day? I would've been screaming happy if it was only an hour! Figure two, three hours A DAY! Three hours a day times 300 days in a year, give or take....that's......(thinks hard, uses fingers) 900!
And it was more than three hours a day! Three hours of compounded disinterest times a million! I have reached the 10,000 hours months ago, maybe last year and all I can ask is this? Why aren't I good at math yet? Bigger question - why am I not Albert Einstein? If that rule is true....and don't try to tell me a rule is not a theory.....I don't care!
I don't care what anything is! All I know is that after the one million hours I still hate math! And.....I am sure....it hates me back! I have tried and I have cried and I have had too many tutors to remember....with one dubious accomplishment.....I made all of them cry, too! Not one lasted! And what could I have done with all those hours! I could have learned another few languages, I could have memorized the encyclopedia, not just parts of it.....I could have learned to be a great artist and spent my time drawing and painting and sculpting....but NOOOOOO! I had to do......MATH!
So don't you dare tell me......do you hear? Don't you ever say to me again, that I, ME - don't work HARD ENOUGH!
(She storms out. Blackout.)
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10,000 Hours is a real theory - more here- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315
JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
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* Note: A few words about 'free' - all these monologues are protected under copyright law and are free to read, free to perform and video as long as no money is charged. Once you charge admission or a donation, or include my work in an anthology, you need to contact me for royalty info.
