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Monologue Mania July 20, 2019 The Biggest Secret (one-act 2019) by Janet S. Tiger (c) all rights reserved
This play will be performed as part of an evening of one-acts - Tiger's Tales -in October click here for poster - more info when available
This play will be performed as part of an evening of one-acts - Tiger's Tales -in October click here for poster - more info when available
The Biggest Secret (c) 2019
A play in one-act
By Janet S. Tiger
Tigerteam1@gmail.com
Characters-
RITA - 50s
ALLISON - late 70s,
Rita’s mother
Set - Bare, only a
couple of chairs, some purses, a paper bag.
(The set
is simple - a couple of chairs, two purses by the chairs, and a paper
bag. But there is also a
sense of an emptied house - a place that was once filled that is now very empty. Moving empty.
RITA enters, she is in her 50s and
has the look of 'what have I forgotten?' that you see on people who are moving. She takes a deep
sigh and surveys the emptiness, starting to sniff
a little.)
RITA – I remember the first day we walked in here, it felt like home. Fifty years. Where does it
RITA – I remember the first day we walked in here, it felt like home. Fifty years. Where does it
go? Speaking of where does it go....Mom!
(Listens, then louder, maybe a touch of worry) She was right here….. MOMMMMM!
(We hear a voice offstage, followed by rustling.)
ALLISON - I'm coming!
Hold your horses!
(A
woman comes into sight, this is Allison, Rita's mother, and she is wearing a
large, old, decrepit hat.)
RITA - What is that?
ALLISON - I found it in that
closet behind the back room!
RITA - Why doesn't that
surprise me....
ALLISON - I used to wear this
at the beach! Do you remember it!
RITA - How could I
forget? It's only been in there for 40 years......Mom, there are probably
spiders in that!
(She takes the hat off her mother's head and shakes it with a cloud of dust
coming out.)
RITA - Great! Now I have to
sweep that up!
ALLISON - I'm not afraid of
spiders! Your sister is the one who hates spiders....
RITA- (A little weary)
Yes, Mom.
ALLISON - I think that's why
she wouldn't help me move....
RITA - Ya think?
ALLISON - You're such a good girl,
Rita, I appreciate how you've helped with all this.....
RITA - (Embarrassed, something on
her mind) No problem, Mom
(Allison
is quick to sense something below the surface, she now looks sharply at her
daughter)
ALLISON - What's wrong?
RITA - (Almost like a child
who is hiding something) Nothing...
ALLISON - You always got that look
on your face when you were trying to hide something from me and your father. Well,
mostly me, because you could send a tank in front of your father before he noticed anything. But I can tell,
what is the problem?
RITA- No worries......
ALLISON - (Stops her) I hate
that expression! Of course there are worries! The person who said that first should be shot! Then
they'd have no worries!
RITA - (Laughs in spite of
herself) Ma!
ALLISON - Well, it's true!
RITA - (Sighs) Okay,
there is something .....
ALLISON - (Triumphant) I
knew it!
RITA - It's...hard to tell
you....
ALLISON - (Worried) Is
it the boys? Are they ok?
RITA - The twins are
fine....Jody is fine.....Eric is fine, everybody's fine!
ALLISON- Well, that's all that
counts...you know that's what I always say!
RITA - (Hard to do) That's
true.......I guess, well, I know how you are about secrets...
ALLISON - That's because.......I am ……
RITA and ALLISON -
…..Allison! ...the bearer of
truth.
ALLISON- I hate secrets!
What's so awful you couldn't tell me? Oh, let me guess...
RITA - Don't do that....
ALLISON - You were pregnant
when you and Eric got married....
RITA- Ma!
ALLISON - Everyone knew - no
premature baby is born weighing 8 pounds 6 ounces!
RITA - Ma, that was no secret
- it was 1983! Eric and I were living together for two years!
ALLISON - I always liked to think
you had separate bedrooms.
RITA - You walked in on us once!
ALLISON - (Shuddering)
Why do you have to remind me of that!
RITA - (Amazed) I didn't
bring it up!
ALLISON - So what's the big
secret then? (Thinks, then eyes light up) Wait a minute, is it that
your cousin Terry is gay?
RITA - Everyone knew Terry was
gay from when he was four years old and knew all the words
to Funny Girl! No, Mom, it's
something closer to...home....
ALLISON - (A little
concerned) When you were cleaning up, did you find something your
father hid? Did he have a secret
girlfriend? I would find that hard to believe as he never got off the
couch.......
RITA - No hidden love letters,
no surprise children....
ALLISON - You never know...when
Edith's husband died she found out
he'd had an affair with her hairdresser, can you believe
that? Edith always wondered why Dan encouraged her to give such big tips
when she got her hair done.....
RITA - (Takes a deep breath) Boy, this is harder
than I thought....
ALLISON- (suddenly
horrified) Oh, my God! I know what it is! You’re going to put
me in a
home!
RITA- (Tries to interrupt, but it’s like trying to stop a
tsunami) But Mom, that’s crazy……
ALLISON- You've been planning
this for the last year with your brother and sister! I should
have known! And I believed you! I believed
you were getting that place in back ready for me, but you're going to rent it
out and put me away in that awful place! How could you do this to
me!
RITA - That's not it, Mom....
ALLISON - (Looking
around) But you can't make me leave!
RITA- Mom, the house is sold!
ALLISON - I could just stay
here....in a closet!
RITA - Listen to me.....
ALLISON - I've been a good
mother...all right a little messy......
(Rita grabs her Mom's hands and stops her, making her listen.)
RITA - YOU ARE NOT GOING TO A
HOME! THE SECRET IS NOT ABOUT WHERE
YOU ARE GOING, BUT WHAT WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU GET TO MY
HOUSE!
(This stuns Allison and makes her sit down.)
ALLISON - What the hell is
that supposed to mean?
RITA - (Getting upset)
It means that .....(deep breath)....all the junk you wanted me to save....is
gone!
(Allison stares for a moment, trying to digest this news.)
ALLISON - (Stunned) All
my things, my furniture,....(Horrified) ...the photos!
RITA - (Now Rita is horrified)
Not the photos – and certainly not your furniture, Mom! That's
all there!
ALLISON - Even the piano?
RITA - Yes, even the
piano.....(to herself) ...even though you haven't played it in 30
years....
ALLISON - Then what is going
on? What did you throw out that is so damned important?
(Rita picks up a bag and shakes it at her mother.)
RITA - All of this......(hard
not to curse)
ALLISON - (Confused) You
mean .......
RITA - (Getting
stronger) Yes, I mean all of the things you have saved and told me to put
into
storage that are just plain (savors
the word) JUNK!
ALLISON - (starting to grasp what is
going on) But where are they?
RITA - In junk heaven.
ALLISON - All of it?......
RITA - (Builds to a
crescendo) That's right, Mom, all of the boxes and boxes of plastic containers that you so lovingly
washed and stored to be given to the nursery school! All of the envelopes you saved from all of the
bills you received that you counted and put into
rubber bands and stacked for the children to learn to write on! All of
the paper towel rolls that were to be
used by the teachers! Every single twist and tie that you collected that could be used in the garden! It
is all gone! All of it! GONE!
(The following is done quickly as Allison looks through the brown bag and shows
the items
to Rita)
ALLISON- All of the green plastic
baskets from the strawberries that grocers don’t use
anymore?
RITA – (Calm) Gone.
ALLISON – And the magazines?
RITA –(Smiling) Gone.
ALLISON- (Sad) The glass
jars from the English jam….the ones with the pretty flowers?
RITA – (Happy) Gone!
ALLISON - (She lets the word sink
in) So where did they go?
RITA - I threw them all
out!
(Allison
throws up her hands in horror!)
ALLISON - Didn't I teach you better
than that! What about our landfills….
RITA –I gave to the DAV, and to the
recycler and into the garbage and when you live at my
house you will not be saving
anything! And when you go to your class at the gym and bring
home all the towels and jackets and (shudders) underpants…..the DAV will be getting them every month! No,
every week! (As if to a child) Do you understand?
ALLISON - You always had that
streak of Hitler, didn't you?
RITA - (Sighing deeply) I feel
better.
ALLISON - Good for you!
Your whole generation has everything backwards! You talk and
talk about saving the planet, but who drinks billions of
cups of coffee with straws! And fifty
napkins! At least I tried to
recycle! I tried to teach you that
nothing is worthless, that everything can have value! And what thanks do I get!
(Rita
is amazed and laughs)
RITA - Mom, you did a great job teaching us kids,
and I taught mine, and they even had their
classrooms start recycled art projects….it’s just….sometimes
you have to draw a line, so you can walk down the hall in your own home without
tripping! And in my home, you’ll be
safe! So there!
ALLISON – Hmm! (Takes a deep breath) So what was the big deal about telling me?
(Rita is stunned by this and just stares at her mother.)
ALLISON – That was the big
secret? You have no idea of what a good secret is! Your grandmother and grandfather were
divorced for 16 years and never told us children – now that’s a secret! Aunt Hilda and that stupid son of hers Ralph
won the lottery and never told anyone in
the family – we only found out when they both died in that auto crash that they were rich and didn’t need the money we
sent every month! Now there’s a secret! Did you think I’d be upset? Didn’t I always
teach you children that things aren’t as important
as people?
(Rita nods, then thinks.)
RITA - (Amazed) Then why
did you save all that crap?
ALLISON - It gave me something
to do.
(Rita
starts laughing, we can see she’s thinking about all that she had
to do involving the junk.)
ALLISON – I can’t believe you were
so worried about telling me this!
(Rita laughs harder)
ALLISON – I guess we can never
understand our children. Do you want to
know a real secret?
RITA – Do I? Oh, my God…I’m
adopted! I always suspected but…
ALLISON - You’re not adopted!
RITA - Daddy’s not my father?
ALLISON - You look just him! You watch too much TV!
RITA - (Getting irritated) So what’s the big secret?
ALLISON – (Shakes her head) I knew.
RITA - You knew what?
ALLISON – That you were…..how can I
say it politely? Discarding my carefully
saved items.
RITA – (Stunned) Are you joking?
ALLISON – One night, you forgot one
of the bags, and it had some important coupons in it that I
knew you used, you know the ones
from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
RITA – Eric loves the colonel’s
breasts!
ALLISON – So I followed you in my
car back to your house…..
RITA – Why didn’t you just call me
on my cell phone?
ALLISON – I can’t remember the
number for that! Anyhow, I was down the
street and I saw
you taking items from your car and
dumping them directly into the garbage pail.
RITA – Oh, my God!
ALLISON – So I kind of knew.
RITA – (Apologetic) I only threw out the things I couldn’t
recycle, like the plastic holders from
the fruit. Nobody wanted them! I tried!
ALLISON – What about the nursery
school? (Laying on the guilt) That’s where you TOLD me
you were dropping them off for the
kids!
RITA - I did! For years, I did! Really!
But then they caught me…..
ALLISON – Caught you?
RITA – Yeah, originally, when Jody
was going there, they said they could use stuff like that, but
then after she was …older….I would just drop the items off
when it was closed. But one day the
principal was there and she said all they did was throw out most of the junk,
so I shouldn’t bring any more.
ALLISON - It must’ve been sad….
RITA – That’s not the word I was
thinking of….(Gets a funny look, remembering the drop offs)
Wait a minute, Jody has two kids of her own! It’s been a long time - So why didn’t you tell me before?
ALLISON – (Deep breath) Because it was nice to see you every week.
RITA – (Chuckles) You know, we could have just gone to lunch
together every week, like most
daughters and mothers do….
ALLISON – No, they don’t. And didn’t we have some good times when you
came and I showed
you all the goodies I got from the
gym?
RITA – We did….and now, we can have
lunch together every day if you want.
ALLISON – I may be looking forward
to that…….
(There is the noise of a large truck outside.)
RITA - That must be the
cleaners - I think it’s time to go…
ALLISON - Maybe I should take
one last look....maybe I left something in one of the drawers…
RITA – (Annoyed) Ma! I
went through all the drawers! Here’s the
last junk…stuff I found…
(She
starts to rummage in the brown bag.)
ALLISON – What’s this?
RITA – That’s the (pronounces it
with gusto) ‘pee-ess day la resistahnce’
(She pulls
out a fancy toothpick and holds it out to her mother. Her mother examines it closely.)
ALLISON – (Misting up a little) I know what that is – it’s from your wedding,
the prime rib was so delicious
your father saved this as a memory.
RITA – (In shock) Daddy saved this! Impossible!
It still has food particles on it!
(Allison
is affected and Rita puts an arm around her shoulders)
RITA – So there’s still secrets
here…I guess no matter how empty, a house still holds its secrets.
ALLISON - It’s not the house that holds them, it’s our
hearts.
(They
hug then pull apart, they gather their purses, etc. to go, and Rita takes one
last look
at the
house, then turns to her Mom, who is smiling)
ALLISON - You know, Rita, even
though I'm still very angry I have to be honest, I'm glad you threw it all out.
RITA - (Surprised)
Really?
ALLISON - (Takes a deep
breath) No, but I thought you might like to hear me say that.
(As they exit we hear...)
RITA - (Smiling) Oh, ma.....
ALLISON - Besides, I can
always get more twist 'n ties at the market. Now those green baskets,
those I'm gonna miss......oh,
wait....maybe I have a few in this bag.....
(Lights out, the end.)
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315 CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
