Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #1022 Ben (final scene) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 30, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -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 just started this blog and want to read the earlier monologues- for a list of the titles and blurbs from each                                                                                                                                              day, click here  There are now over 990!
 
Get  more great  award-winning monologues - 
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 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 #1022 by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 30, 2016

This is my choice for the final monologue of the play......for now.......
For other monologues from the play, please see Days 7, 142, 153, 189, 755, 936, 948

                         Ben                            
                      A monologue from the last scene of the play
                                                by Janet S. Tiger
                                           © all rights reserved
                                           tigerteam1@gmail.com
  

I have thought hard about how to end this evening.  Before I do, I thought it best to talk about one of my most important memories - a mistake.

Now I look back and see it not as a mistake, per se, because I was raised to believe certain things, and it is always difficult to fight off the prejudices installed in youth by one's parents, friends, society.

I am not happy to admit that I had advertisements for slaves in my publications.  And, worse than that, I owned slaves.  After analysis, I concluded slavery was not, in its basic concept, a wise financial operation.  This analysis was due to my dear wife, Deborah,  who took our slaves, and enrolled them in school.  She expressed to me her high opinions of the natural capacities of the black race......and so, after studying, I freed them.

And I wrote a piece....included in the booklet available for purchase in the lobby!......
where I explain how slavery diminishes the nation, undermines the virtue of industry, and diminishes the health and vitality of the nation. I argue that - in opposition to those who populate the Southern states - slavery isn't as cost effective or productive as free labor.

Some people feel my work gave Mathus the clue the enabled Darwin in his work, but I don't need more credit to my name......although - as with brandy - I am always happy to take it when offered!

       (He takes a snifter and sips)

Perhaps I am partial....to the complexion of my country.....for such kind of partiality is natural to mankind.....that does not make it right, no more than it is right to submit to the very strong urge to hit your older brother when he takes your pennywhistle and makes fun of you for paying too much!

It only took me 12 more years to visit that school in Philadelphia......, and I have to say, I was, impressed......(he is back at the school)

Yes, Deborah, if I close my eyes, I hear the children, and they sound no different from children of white parents.....they are polite, and they know their tables, and they know their catechism.....if I were forced to judge the color of their skin with my eyes closed, I could not swear to any other than the color ......of youth.....

And once I had heard those voices, seen those children......my life was different.....I worked very hard to make a country out of a group of colonies.....but after that, abolition was at the forefront of my life....I became the president of the Penn Abolition Society.....and, then I brought a
 petition before the House of Representatives in 1790....

        (He stops and we can hear the argument echo in the room)

There was a great debate - and a fellow named Jackson wrote a strong argument,  I wrote a parody, and noted the similarity between Jackson's defense of slavery of African Americans and an Algerian pirate's justifications ....... for the enslavement of Christians!

        (The argument slowly dies out and he sighs)

Unfortunately, on April 17th, I did something very foolish.....

What was it?  Oh, I died......which caused the issue of slavery to be ignored by Congress for decades.......I will never forgive myself....It was truly my greatest mistake.....

        (He takes a final drink from the snifter)

And so I end with a plea to all who can still hear my voice - the words I spoke were true then, and true now, as truth is something that does not erode.

Consider these truths when you work amongst yourselves towards the freedom of all peoples, of all colors.....of all backgrounds......because that is what this whole shebang is all about!  

Goodnight!  

        (He exits, stops, looks back)

I just love that word shebang!  

        (Before he exits, he goes to the bottle of brandy and grabs it, waves to the crowd.  Maybe...The end.)
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More info on Ben-

Benjamin Franklin and His Fight to Abolish Slavery

By Angelo Lopez
June 6, 2010

Benjamin Franklin has always been my favorite Founding Father. Of all the Founding Fathers, he seemed the most witty, the most personable. When I watched the movie 1776, I really enjoyed the jolly Benjamin Franklin persona that I watched on the screen. I admire Franklin's accomplishments as a scientist, a politician, and a diplomat to France and England. When I read the bookFounding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis, I didn't realize the extant of Benjamin Franklin's involvement in the fight to abolish slavery in the early nation. Ellis' book details Benjamin Franklin's attempt in 1790 to force Congress to confront the issue of slavery. This last crusade of Benjamin Franklin before he died was the culmination of a lifetime where he evolved in his views on slavery and the equality of African Americans.
In his early life, Franklin held many of the same views of race as his fellow neighbors. His newspaper publication had ads for slave trades and he personally owned a slave couple until 1751. That year he wrote an essay Observations on the Increase of Mankind which argued against slavery on economic grounds, but was demeaning of Africans as a race. Franklin's attitudes on race began to change when he joined the Associates of Dr. Bray to establish schools for blacks in America.
Walter Isaacson's book Benjamin Franklin: An American Life describes how Franklin's wife Deborah had enrolled her servants in the Philadelphia school and expressed her "high opinions of the natural capacities of the black race." Benjamin Franklin himself observed how these African American children were just as smart and learned just as quickly as their white counterparts, and this led to a change in his opinions.
In the book A Benjamin Franklin Reader edited by Walter Isaacson, Franklin wrote a letter to Reverend John Waring in December 17, 1763 about his change in attitude:
This is chiefly to acquaint you, that I have visited the Negro school here in company with the Rev. Mr. Sturgeon and some others; and had the children thoroughly examined. They appeared all to have made considerable progress in reading for the time they had respectively been in the school, and most of them answered readily and well the questions of the catechism; they behaved very orderly, showed a proper respect and ready obedience to the mistress, and seemed very attentive to, and a good deal affected by, a serious exhortation with which Mr. Sturgeon concluded our visit. I was on the whole much pleased, and from what I then saw, have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race, than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong, and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children. You will wonder perhaps that I should ever doubt it, and I will not undertake to justify all my prejudices, not to account for them.
From that time on, Franklin began a slow process of supporting abolitionist sympathies. In the 1770s, he expressed sympathy for the views of Philadephia abolitionist Anthony Benezet and the Quakers in their demands for the quick end of the slave trade, although Franklin hoped for a gradual abolition of slavery rather than Benezet's and the Quakers' wishes for a quick abolition. He began to write articles, like the 1772 The Somerset Case and the Slave Trade, which argued against Britains foisting of slavery on America.
Most significantly, Joseph Ellis notes in his book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation that during the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin had wanted to introduce a statement of principle in the Constitution condemning slavery and the slave trade to commit the government to eventual emancipation. Several northern delegates, however, persuaded Franklin not to introduce the statement on the grounds that it put the fragile Sectional Compromise that held the Consitutional Convention together at risk.
In 1787 Benjamin Franklin agree to serve as president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and he made the abolitionist cause the final project of his life. The Pennsylvania Abolition Society set out not only to abolish slavery, but also to set up programs to help freed slaves to become good citizens and improve the conditions of free African Americans. Benjamin Franklin recommended that a committee of 24 people be set up to guide freed African American slaves in moral instruction, set up apprenticeships to teach their children in a trade or other business, to set up schools for education, and to procure meaningful employment. The book A Benjamin Franklin Reader has a speech that Franklin gave on November 9, 1789 that told of the need for any abolition plan to include programs to help prepare freed slaves to integrate into society.
Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of human nature, that its very extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source of serious evils.
The unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal, too frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human species. The galling chains that bind his body do also fetter his intellectual faculties, and impair the social affections of his heart. Accustomed to move like a mere machine, by the will of a master, reflection is suspended; he has not the power of choice; and reason and conscience have but little influence over his conduct, because he is chiefly governed by the passion of fear. He is poor and friendless; perhaps worn out be extreme labor, age, and disease.
Under such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune to himself, and prejudicial to society.
Attention to emancipate black people, it is therefore to be hoped will become a branch of our national police; but, as far as we contribute to promote this emancipation, so far that attention is evidently a serious duty incumbent on us, and which we mean to discharge to the best of our judgment and abilities.
To instruct, to advise, to qualify those who have been restored to freedom, for the exercised and enjoyment of civil liberty; to promote in them habits of industry; to furnish them with employments suited to their age, sex, talents, and other circumstances; and to procure their children an education calculated for their future situation in life, these are the great outlines of the annexed plan, which we have adopted, and which we conceive will essentially promote the public good, and the happiness of these our hitherto too much neglected fellow creatures.
On February 12, 1790, a petition from Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was presented to the House of Representatives calling for the federal government to take steps for the gradual abolition of slavery and end the slave trade. The petition stated that slavery and the slave trade were incompatible with the values of freedom of the American Revolution. The petition challenged the idea that the Constitution prohibited legislation against the slave trade until 1808 by suggesting that the "general welfare clause" (Article 1, Section 8) allowed the Congress to eliminate the slave trade and abolish slavery. The petition, from a website on historical documents, reads in full:
To the Senate & House of Representatives of the United States,
The Memorial of the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, the relief of free Negroes unlawfully held in bondage, & the Improvement of the Condition of the African Races.
Respectfully Sheweth,
That from a regard for the happiness of Mankind an Association was formed several years since in this State by a number of her Citizens of various religious denominations for promoting the Abolition of Slavery & for the relief of those unlawfully held in bondage. A just & accurate Conception of the true Principles of liberty, as it spread through the land, produced accessions to their numbers, many friends to their Cause, & a legislative Co-operation with their views, which, by the blessing of Divine Providence, have been successfully directed to the relieving from bondage a large number of their fellow Creatures of the African Race. They have also the Satisfaction to observe, that in consequence of that Spirit of Philanthropy & genuine liberty which is generally diffusing its beneficial Influence, similar Institutions are gradually forming at home & abroad.
That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty being, alike objects of his Care & equally designed for the Enjoyment of Happiness the Christian Religion teaches us to believe & the Political Creed of America fully coincides with the Position. Your Memorialists, particularly engaged in attending to the Distresses arising from Slavery, believe it their indispensable Duty to present this Subject to your notice. They have observed with great Satisfaction that many important & salutary Powers are vested in you for "promoting the Welfare & Securing the blessings of liberty to the "People of the United States." And as they conceive, that these blessings ought rightfully to be administered, without distinction of Colour, to all descriptions of People, so they indulge themselves in the pleasing expectation, that nothing, which can be done for the relive of the unhappy objects of their care, will be either omitted or delayed.
From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the Portion, It is still the Birthright of all men, & influenced by the strong ties of Humanity & the Principles of their Institution, your Memorialists conceive themselves bound to use all justifiable endeavours to loosen the bounds of Slavery and promote a general Enjoyment of the blessings of Freedom. Under these Impressions they earnestly entreat your serious attention to the Subject of Slavery, that you will be pleased to countenance the Restoration of liberty to those unhappy Men, who alone, in this land of Freedom, are degraded into perpetual Bondage, and who, amidst the general Joy of surrounding Freemen, are groaning in Servile Subjection, that you will devise means for removing this Inconsistency from the Character of the American People, that you will promote mercy and Justice towards this distressed Race, & that you will Step to the very verge of the Powers vested in you for discouraging every Species of Traffick in the Persons of our fellow men.
Philadelphia February 3, 1790
B. Franklin
President of the Society
A strong debate took place in the House, with fierce opposition to the petition coming from the representatives of the Deep Southern states of South Carolina and Georgia. Congressman James Jackson of Georgia gave the strongest arguments for slavery in the South, arguing that slavery was sanctioned by the Bible, that the two races could not live together on equal terms and had to be separate, and that slaves were needed to do the labor for the Southern plantation economy. In response to Jackson's arguments, Franklin wrote a parody of Jackson's arguments in the March 23, 1790 edition of the Federal Gazette. Writing under the pseudonym Historicus, Franklin noted the similarity between Jackson's defense of slavery of African Americans and the justifications of an Algerian pirate named Sidi Mehmet Ibrahim for the enslavement of Christians.
In the middle of the debate in Congress, Franklin died on April 17, 1790. Soon afterwards, the petition was tabled, and Congress would not debate the issue of slavery again until several decades later. The hopes for a gradual abolition plan for the U.S. died with Franklin.
Most of the Founding Fathers were against slavery. Of all the Founding Fathers, though, only Thomas Jefferson did as much as Benjamin Franklin to try to get the federal government to adopt some plan to gradually abolish slavery and end the slave trade. Benjamin Franklin remains my favorite Founding Father and his fight against slavery only adds to my esteem of him.
To read more of my blogs on the Founding Fathers, click a link below


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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observations_Concerning_the_Increase_of_Mankind,_Peopling_of_Countries,_etc.
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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #1021 Finally (one-act) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 29, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -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 just started this blog and want to read the earlier monologues- for a list of the titles and blurbs from each                                                                                                                                              day, click here  There are now over 990!
 
Get  more great  award-winning monologues - 
MonologueZone.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!
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Monologue Mania Day #1021 Finally (one-act) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 29, 2016

                                                 Finally                                 
                                    (Not)    a monologue by Janet S. Tiger
                                           © all rights reserved
                                           tigerteam1@gmail.com
  
          (The woman is older but looks spry for her years as she enters, smiling, carrying a large travelling bag and a shopping bag.  She puts down her things and sits, talking to the audience as if they are another traveler.)

Oh, thank you my dear for watching my other bags for me!  I brought you something to show my appreciation......

         (Opens the bag and hands a package of some food)

No trouble!  It's so nice to see a young person going around the country by bus.....I was always going to do that, but things always got in the way......when I graduated from high school, my father passed away, so my mother needed the money I had saved for my trip and I had to go back to work ....and just after I had finally saved enough again.....I met Errol, and we got married, and even though we had a small honeymoon, it's not the same......and I got pregnant on the honeymoon, and that was that.....

       (She sighs and takes out a snack and munches)

Once you have children, the years race by ......you barely know where they went.......and it turns out Errol was not a traveling man, all he liked was business......when he retired, I finally got to know him and.....it turns out I hated him.  After all those years...who knew?  It was difficult, but the children were all grown, with families of their own......and I had decided to leave him, when.....luck would have it.....not my luck, of course, but he was diagnosed with that horrible disease from that baseball player....Lou Gehrig. 

       (She takes another bite and sighs)

How could I leave a sick man?  What kind of horrible person was I?  So my life became that of a caregiver......not much different than raising children, but in reverse.  With children, you know when they fall down, they get up again, and in a few years....they run away.  With someone older, they fall down, but don't get up so fast.....and they never run away.  They leave......but it takes time......

We had a daily pattern enough to run a clock on - up in the morning, breakfast, a nap, lunch, another nap and then to the local cafe for dinner.....an outing for him and a break for me. 

Joe's Diner......just like out of a movie.....we knew all the people there like family, and Joe......

       (She gets a bit starry-eyed when she recalls)

Joe was the owner......he and his wife took over the place from his father, Joe, Sr.  Very original people, but sweet.

Joe was retired, but would come in after the dinner hour to help close up, take home the money!  He was so funny, he knew all of the lines from old movies and he would act them out.....and he would give me a hug, and I would look forward to that hug more than anything else in my life!

        (She touches her face)

Am I blushing?  Amazing!  Same reaction!  Well, time marches on, or when you get older, it shuffles on......my husband passed, Joe's wife died.....I would still go every night for my hug and to listen to him do W. C. Fields and Groucho Marx!  He had to sow some wild oats.....he dated a lot of his waitresses, but I hung in there.....because I knew what he liked......food.  It's still true, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!  Remember that my dear....sex is wonderful, but the glow fades after awhile.....the truth is.....we all have to eat every day!

I waited until he was between waitresses, and I invited him over for dinner.......I knew his favorite, pork chops and gravy, and his eyes lit up when he tasted them!  He was mine!  We got married the next month, and then........ I found out.......he didn't want to travel either! 

All he wanted to do was.....eat!  I had to cook for him ALL THE TIME!  I was a ...a....food slave!   At least before we were married, I could eat at his restaurant, but that finished when we got hitched, and when I say hitched, that's what it felt like!  Like I was hitched to a plow, only it was a kitchen plow!

And his Three Stooges impressions - funny once a day! - were driving me crazy when I had to listen to them ALL DAY!

I was going crazy - my own fault, of course, but no consolation.......and then.....

        (She perks up, remembering)

A friend took me to see some play about a woman whose husband drove her crazy, and the last straw was when he ruined one of her towels.....a small thing, but I could totally identify with her!  And she took a gun.....and shot him through the heart!

She escaped!  She may have been going to jail, but she escaped!  The solution was right there in front of me!

         (She leans over, listens, laughs)

Oh, no, dear!  I didn't shoot Joe!  But I am escaping....I left him a note and.....I'm finally going on a bus!

        (Listens, gathers her things)

And that is the call for my bus!  Perfect timing ......because it's the end of this chapter of my life.....
I wish you luck, my dear, and have a wonderful trip!

       (She turns to leave, stops, looks back)

Where am I going?  Well, isn't it obvious?  I'm going home to mother!

      (She waves and as she starts to 
walk offstage, we see a large man run into the bus station, looking around wildly.  This is Joe, and he is upset.  He sees her and runs over)

JOE - (Slight Italian accent)  Elsie!  Elsie!

            (Elsie looks and is shocked)

ELSIE - Joe!  What're you doing here?

            (He looks surprised)

JOE -  What am I doing here?  Are you crazy?  I come home and what do I find?  No dinner, no nothin'!  Just this note!

           (He opens up a crumpled paper and reads)

JOE - ' Dear Joe......I am not a slave.  I am leaving on the 8pm bus to Vermont to visit mother,  Have a nice life, Love, Elsie!'  What the hell kind of letter is that?

ELSIE -  That's funny - I thought it was perfectly clear!

JOE -  Come on!  I mean, what are you doing here?

          (He indicates the station)

ELSIE -  Waiting for the bus.  That was in the note, right here....

           (She points to the paper)

ELSIE -  And I am wishing you a nice life.  Everyone wants a nice life, so I'm wishing you one.  Again, very clear......

JOE -  We're married, for God's sake!  I'm your husband!  We got married before a priest! 

ELSIE -  So?

JOE -  So I don't wanna divorce!

ELSIE -  That's okay with me, you can have your waitresses, there's a cute one now, Darlene I think her name is......

JOE -  I don't want a waitress, baby, I want you!

ELSIE -  You mean you want my pork chops.

JOE -  Don't do that!  I'm so hungry!  I haven't had anything since lunch!

ELSIE -  So it is the pork chops!

JOE -  You know I love your pork chops, baby!  And your meat loaf!  Your meat loaf is like heaven!  So soft, it just melts in your mouth!  And when I put it on the menu, sales went up 30 % the first month!  You can't leave!

ELSIE -  That's just silly, of course I can.  And I am!  And I would appreciate it if you would let me go in peace, my bus is leaving in a few minutes....

JOE -  I don't get it!  Did we have a fight and I forgot?  Was I asleep?  What's the problem?

ELSIE -  The problem is that you don't know there's a problem.

JOE -  (Thinks)  That's a big help.  Are you mad about somethin'?  Did I forget to put gas in the car?  Is the toilet running?  I thought I fixed it!

ELSIE -  Yes, you fixed the toilet, and no you did not forget the gas......this is about....travel.

JOE -  Yeah, you're going to visit your Mom, but honey, she's been dead for ten years!

ELSIE -  I know that, I never said I was going to stay with her, just visit......talk to her at the cemetery a bit......but the main thing is....the trip.

JOE -  If you wanna visit your mom's grave, why not take a plane?  You'll be there tomorrow!  Not in a week!

ELSIE -  I didn't say I wanted to get there fast....I want to travel.  When I was 17....

JOE -  Aw, not this story again!

ELSIE -  And there we have the problem...

        (She turns to walk away)

JOE - Okay, okay, I got it, it's something about the trip.....

ELSIE -  What exactly?

JOE -  (Still a bit puzzled)  You wanted to go on a trip when you were 17, but.....you couldn't.....right?

ELSIE -  Yes, and when we got married, you said we could travel, but in five years, we have only gone on three trips, not one of them just for us.....

JOE -  What about our honeymoon?

ELSIE -  That was three days in Las Vegas!

JOE -  But it was fun, wasn't it?

         (In spite of herself, she smiles)

JOE -  And you didn't end up pregnant, even though we tried, right?

ELSIE -  (Blushing)  Joe!  Okay, we went to Las Vegas, but since then, all we did was visit your children and my children.....

JOE -  (Puzzled)  I thought you liked seeing the grandkids!

ELSIE - I do, but I want to see....more!  And you promised!  And every time I reminded you all you say is......'soon'  Well, when you're 85, you don't want to wait for 'soon' - you want things 'now' because if you've ever learned anything, it's that sooner is sometimes too late.......So I'm going......I left some pork chops in the freezer.....with the restaurant, I doubt if you'll starve....and if you don't want a divorce, that's fine, we can stay married in name only, there's no money problem because my son and your friend...our attorneys -took care of all the details with those pre-nups.....we don't have to pretend any more......you can go your way....the way of the eternal pork chop....and I....am going to be free for the first time in my life!.....because I am on the road......for the first time in my life!

        (There is an announcement and she listens, smiles)

ELSIE -  That's the last call, ..have to go!  If some young thing hasn't got the front yet......  I want to get a good seat near the driver.

        (He takes her arm, she looks at him, he drops his hand)

JOE -  I never knew....this meant so much...

ELSIE -  Maybe if I'd spelled it out in pork chops.....

JOE -  Maybe......and I never knew the pre-nup meant so much....maybe I should've told you...

ELSIE -  Told me what?

JOE - (Embarrassed)  I never liked it, so.....after we got back from our honeymoon, I went to Gary's office and......I tore it up....

ELSIE - What? 

JOE -  I wanted it to be a surprise, when I died, a present for you......my kids have plenty, this would be for you....

ELSIE - (She is touched)  And you did this.....years ago?

JOE -  I love you Elsie....I have for years....when you and your husband would come in to eat, I tried to time it, so I would be there, so I could get a hug from you.........especially after Helen you know, started with the Alzheimer's......I lived for that hug......

ELSIE -  (Quiet)  So did I....

JOE -  What?  You know I can't hear in this ear.....

ELSIE -  You heard me.....I said.....so did I.

          (He touches her shoulder and she leans in, he smiles)

ELSIE -  I still love you, Joe.....

JOE -  And I love you...

ELSIE -  But I'm getting on the bus......

         (She pulls away and he watches her.  She turns to wave)

ELSIE -  Take care of yourself.....

JOE -  You, too....

          (She exits to get on the bus, he goes in the other direction, starts to run, comes back in a rush with a bag)

JOE -  Wait for me!

          (Elsie has seen him coming and meets him - her luggage is already on the bus)

ELSIE -  What're you doing?

JOE -  I'm coming with you, but I had to get something to eat!

ELSIE -  Oh, my God!   Well, hurry!

         (They move quickly to catch the bus, but Elsie stops to look at him)

ELSIE -  What're you going to do for clothing....and everything?

JOE -  I've got my everything....right here...

        (He hugs her)

JOE -  And I can wear the same pants for a few days - as long as I have something to eat!

         (They laugh and head off to the future.  Blackout)

           The end, but the beginning of the trip!


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Originally as two days - Day #606 Finally  Oct. 10, 2015
and  Day # 607  oct. 11, 2015  Joe's Side

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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
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 

Monday, November 28, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #1020 The Face by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 28, 2016

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Monologue Mania Day #1020 The Face by Janet S. Tiger (c) Nov. 28, 2016
                                               The Face
                               A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved
                                                                        tigerteam1@gmail.com   


              (Actor in lab coat and stethescope enters, blows into listeningpart and jumps)

Still works, good.  This is one of your final classes before you are actually allowed to see real, live living patients....not the dolls they've been giving you this last month.

I know some of you are excited, and that's good, too, but before you get to poke at living flesh, before you get to have some fun!  ......you have to know how to show......the face.

           (Points to face)

Now I realize you have learned all the right words......'this is not an easy thing to tell someone, but.....' or ...'we are unable to do anything further at this time'....or my personal favorite....'it's positive for cancer'......they used that on my father and he was completely confused.....'Positive, isn't that a good thing?'  But I digress......you are here to learn how to look when the news is.....less than good.
Watch closely now......


         (Holds face very still)

Not laughing, not crying, just.....placid.  Serious.  Concerned.  

There is a very specific note to play in the perfect face.  It is more than just knowledge....it is....almost an art form!  

For you see, they must never see the truth in your face!  They cannot suspect that you are about to give them horrible words......that they- or their loved one - is sick, or.....worse.  That the disease they thought they vanquished has returned, that their leg must be removed, or their child is never going to walk again.  The horror must never be revealed before the words!

          (Takes a deep breath)

Breathing deeply is a good way to practice, but never, do you hear me...NEVER a sigh!  Your mouth must exude only the tones of the professional!

And when they look upon your visage, they can only continue to hope, because once the words are released, they will be struck dumb, or start crying, or scream, but never because of your face!  You must never give them a reason to worry.......they will have plenty of time for that.....

Now, I will distribute the mirrors, so you can practice a little before we bring in some actors......actors are very good at teaching you about reactions......and they love to over-react!  

          (Turns to leave, hears something stops, looks back)

The first time I saw the face?  Oh, that's easy, I was nine, and the doctor told me the needle WOULD NOT HURT AT ALL........and it worked......Oh, it hurt like hell...but....I stopped wiggling.....


          (Exits to continue facial preparation.  For all those who have seen...the face.....my heart goes out to you.  And to those who have to give ...the face.....my heart goes out to you, too)


----------------------------------------------------------
Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
--------------------------------------------------------------



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