Saturday, July 14, 2018

Monologue Mania Day # 1610 What Inspired Me to Work in the Theater by Janet S. Tiger (c) July 14, 2018

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!
Today is Day # 1610!  To look at the other 1609 titles - click here
  first   year - Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 12, 2015  second year -  Feb. 13, 2015 - Feb. 12, 2016  third year -  Feb. 13, 2016  four year Feb. 14, 2017 today!                 
I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop - if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
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Monologue Mania Day # 1610 What Inspired Me to Work in the Theater by Janet S. Tiger (c) July 14, 2018

  This was first posted exactly four years ago today - Day # 152     What Inspired Me to Work in the Theater July 14, 2014
It was ripped from the headlines - and the heart -  of my life.......

WHAT INSPIRED ME TO WORK IN THE THEATER
                              A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved 2014
                                                     tigerteam1@gmail.com       
(A woman enters.  She is uncertain, as if not sure what to do.  There is a typewriter with a paper in it.   When she sees it, she lights up, sits down, reads the paper, scratches her head, then smiles, looks at the audience.)

What inspired me to work in the theater?  Interesting question.
But I think  the question would better be - what DIDN'T inspire me?
I have known since I was very little that I was a writer - in rooms with locked doors, I had long conversations and intricate plots with characters in my head.   But....why the theater?  Because the theater made sense - you see, I hated to describe anything!  What color are his eyes?  How big was the horse?   How can I remember....but what they said…(she shudders a little)...aah!....  that is carved into my brain indelibly.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words, that is what moves me.  And others.
The pen is mightier than the sword - and when that pen writes words that others speak, it is as if I speak wherever those words are heard.
Out loud.
That is what inspires.  A theater.  A crowd. 
My first play was too long.  Four hours too long.  
From the first page I knew - and  I was so embarrassed that I wanted to hide under a rock.  But the group, Scripteasers, was kind to me, and that kindness resulted in my next play being only 45 minutes - and has won prizes and been produced all over the world.
My third play - aptly titled Scriptease after the group which had not stoned me for my first mistakes - turned out to be my first production - a baby I was happy to see, the audience laughing, crying, sitting on the edge of their seats.  
But the first time I shuddered with delight was when the end of one of my plays made my audience...gasp!  It was as if I had been a magician.  That is what I aim for - to delight, to entice, to bring out a tear- or a grin,  to make the audience gasp...and then think.  And maybe change the way they think.
That is the goal.  Because of publication, my work is seen and heard all over the world - from Kennedy Center to Jakarta, from South Africa to Saskatchewan.  It is as if I can be in many places at once - and the thought that not a week goes by (maybe even a day now) that someone doesn't read or hear or see my work, gives me the inspiration to continue.
And for inspiration now, I only need to read a newspaper, to hear a story, to feel a joy or pain.  The question is now - how will I find the time for all the inspiration to become the plays others will hear.  What is my inspiration?  It’s simple.  The audience.
(She starts to type, lights dim.  She pulls out the page and starts to exit.  Turns to the audience and smiles.)

That.....and I always wanted to be poor!

                (Blackout.  As you know by now....never the end.)
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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 

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Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315                CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

1 comment:

Jennifer Silva Redmond said...

Love this, love your work, and love you!