Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #532 Things That Go Break in the Night (for Book of Teas) by Janet S. Tiger July 29, 2015

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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-
     To start at the beginning - Feb. 13, - 
click here.
     For a list of the blurbs from each day, 
click here  There are now over 500!

 
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 -
            How to Write a Monologue in 10 Easy Lessons (Well, maybe not so easy)
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site.  Wishing you much success!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monologue Mania Day #532   by Janet S. Tiger  July 29, 2015
      This is the same character from Days # 15, 41-53, 69, 84, 96, 105, 118, 156, 173, 175-8, 181-5, 269, 331, 361, 452, 506.  Southern accent.
     
                          Things That Go Break in the Night 
                                      (for Book of Teas - haven't thought of a chapter yet)
                        A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com



            (A Southern woman of a few years enters)
Fear.
Now that is a universal constant.
Everyone is afraid...afraid of somethin.
Some people are afraid of everythin, which is, in some ways, simpler.
I saw my first horror movie when I was only five.  Frankenstein.   Most mothers did not like their children to see movies like that at a tender age, but fathers were mostly interested in keepin children occupied while they played cards and drank. 

Buddy, one of Daddy's poker friends, got the reels of Frankenstein from some pal he knew in Atlanta. a former bootlegger, I imagine, but one who now owned movie theaters and would 'borrow' the equipment to privately screen items for neighbors.
 And so, at the tender age of not yet six years old, I was introduced to one of the most frightening movies ever made.  I still shudder when I think of the scene where the monster is shocked into existence.  It's alive!  It's alive!  That's all my friends had to say to get me to hide in a closet.  And of course the fact that the little girl in the movie looked like me did not help one iota.
But the most frightening part was when my mother found out I had been exposed to this horror.....she almost murdered my father.  He was slightly drunk already, but the look of fear in his eyes when she was screaming at him - which was a rarity, so very special - that look of fear was actually much like mine.  'How could you let your little girl see somethin like that?'  she shrieked, and he would cower, no explanation possible.
But it was effective on his part - momma didn't ask him to watch us for a long time, not until we were old enough to take care of ourselves.
Fear.   Things that go bump in the night.  These things do not bother me any more.  If Frankenstein himself came into my room I doubt if fear would be the first thought in my head.  No, I do believe I would say to him - Honey, do you mind?  I need to go to the bathroom and I hate peein in these diapers.  Would you help me please? 
And he would help.  I know he would because his face may've been all chewed up, but he is a tall man, and tall men like to help.  I think it's genetic. (Sighs, looks up)   But I would not be afraid.   No, those fears are gone with the wind, replaced by real-world frights - things that break in the night.
Like hips ......when you fall tryin to get to the bathroom.  Now that's a horror story - even if it never happens, it's like the bogeyman, always there in your mind.  The fear allowing you to pee in your pants again, just like I did the first time at Frankenstein.  And I didn't even notice until they had to change the reel and the lights went on - and everyone laughed at me.
Now I pee in my pants with abandon.  I hate it but…. I think it is wonderful. 
As for other things that go break in the night, this would include all appliances - from toasters to cars.  All things that can possibly break, like plumbing - sinks and toilets and showers and hoses.  And let's not forget curtains and light bulbs and all manner of electrical items - and now electronic things like those damn computers.
And I am not even discussin broken things caused by horrible natural events like hurricanes and floods - I am just thinking about the ordinary, everyday garden variety of breaks.
What am afraid of most?  Each break means trouble - change - something needs to be fixed, or now, usually replaced, as most things are designed to fall apart after a certain, usually small, amount of time. 
The most frightenin part is the change.  You call up the store, they don't make the same model anymore.  The repairman that shows up is not old Mr. Timmons, with his hundred year old overalls and the same red bandana in the back pocket, it is someone who is too young to shave properly, if he owned a razor that is.
And this young person who is nice lookin but talks way too fast for me to understand, is tellin me that the washin machine cannot be fixed for less than a year's wages, and even if I did, the parts have to be flown in from the moon, which takes at least two to three weeks, and I would be better off with a new machine, which just happens to be on sale this week, and he will deduct the cost of the house visit from the price....when do I want it delivered?
Is it the same exact model?  I ask.  It's better they assure me, with wide smiles and bright shiny teeth.  But it doesn't matter whether it's better or worse - it's different, it's somethin I have to get used to, something new, something  that's changed.

Change. 

Scary.  Really scary.
Always scary.
Way more scary than Frankenstein

-----------------------------------------------------         

Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #531 Nothing New (for Where's My Thank You Note!) by Janet S. Tiger July 28, 2015

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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-
     To start at the beginning - Feb. 13, - 
click here.
     For a list of the blurbs from each day, 
click here  There are now over 500!

 
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 -
            How to Write a Monologue in 10 Easy Lessons (Well, maybe not so easy)
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site.  Wishing you much success!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monologue Mania Day #531   Nothing New by Janet S. Tiger  July 28, 2015

              Please forgive if this piece is piecemeal - the computer was acting funny (the blue screen f horror!) and some lines have disappeared.  Am trying to put them back in - should have it all fixed by tomorrow.   In all these 530 monologues, never had this happen before, but since I sometimes cut it close, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.  Thank you all for your patience!
   
                                             Nothing New

                           (for the one-act Where's My Thank You Note - Day # 404)                        
                         (Not really) A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com


            (Jeffrey is in his early 20s, but looks older and in bad shape due to the surroundings - and the fact he is a combination of hung-over and high, and has been for a long time.  He takes the pen in hand, then shakes his head, pulls his hair and stands)

JEFFREY - I can't do it!  Grandma I love you, but I can't do it!  Whaddaya want from me?  I don't wanna write a thank you!  Or anything!  I can tell you thank you, thank you very much, thank you for giving me the money and for finding out I wasn't dead....and thank you for being the greatest grandma in the world, but I can't write you a thank you!

GRANDMOTHER-  And why, pray tell, not?

JEFFREY-  Because.......because.....

GRANDMOTHER -  That's hardly eloquent, and most certainly not clear! I have not come all this distance to hear you be unable to explain yourself in way!

JEFFREY -  We were gonna be the next great band......

GRANDMOTHER - I see...

JEFFREY -  And we got....into stuff......

GRANDMOTHER - (Dark)  That I can certainly see...

JEFFREY -  I thought it could help me write, but I was wrong... and now, I can't write anything....because it's all been done....every song I think of....it's been written.....and when I try to do something new...something that's original, and people will like.....I hear another song just like it on the radio.....in my head.....I can't tell what new and what's old......because there's nothing new.....

        (He sits dejected)

GRANDMOTHER -  Pardon me while I get my violin......Do I understand you correctly?  Are you telling me all the expensive schooling that you have received was worth....nothing?

JEFFREY -  Yeah....

GRANDMOTHER-  Poppycock!  ooh, I love that word!  I don't care if it's 1000 years old, I still giggle when I hear it, let alone say it......look at me, young man.....

          (She goes over and takes his face in her hands, gazing into his eyes  He is embarrassed but she will not give in)

GRANDMOTHER -  All those boarding school years of shirts and ties and tests .....and your parents insisting that you loved it.....and you missed the most important lesson .....a lesson that is one I have to teach you...no, teaching is not the word.....a lesson you must still learn......you say there is nothing new.  I have heard this before throughout my whole life......how it couldn't be possible to have a worse time than World War I, and then, along came number II, appropriately named for those whose minds reside firmly in the gutter......and each new school of art or music...or writing.....no way for something to supplant the popular, until of course, there is something new....or recycled......and the people who say nothing is new are doomed to be always two steps behind those who shine a light on the new......because the truth is..... there is nothing new.  We are born, we live, we laugh a little, we cry a lot, and then we die.......nothing new.....Except......

        (She sighs and he takes her hands)

GRANDMOTHER -  Except you, my dear boy.  You are new.  In all the amazing history of this incredible universe, there has never EVER been...another you!  You are unique, with no equal....and from what I understand of those shows on television, even clones are not the same!  You were born to be new!..... with the ability to do anything......maybe not everything, but any one thing.....and it just possible could change the world.....when I was a girl, a man on the moon was from a song.......what world will you dream, my dear Jeffrey?  (Annoyed)  How could you say there is nothing new.... when in your very DNA could be the idea that creates a company that employs a million people.......or perhaps you could go into politics and be the first honest politician.....now that would be new!

           (She holds him, as if he were a baby)

Or perhaps......in you, in all this pain, is the very song that brings peace to this troubled world......

           (He pulls back, looks at her)

JEFFREY -  You still believe I could do that?

GRANDMOTHER -  Of course I do!

JEFFREY -  (Really touched)  Thank you....

GRANDMOTHER - But you will never do ANYTHING unless you actually....DO IT!  START IT!  WORK ON IT!  FINISH IT!

           (He jumps back as if he was hit, then laughs)

GRANDMOTHER -  And you will never, ever do any of those things until you......

GRANDMOTHER /JEFFREY - (Together)  WRITE THE THANK YOU!

           (They hug and laugh, lights down, end of scene)

-----------------------------------------------------         

Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #530 ( (two revised) Super Bugsucker! and Independence Daze by Janet S. Tiger July 27, 2015

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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-
     To start at the beginning - Feb. 13, - 
click here.
     For a list of the blurbs from each day, 
click here  There are now over 500!

 
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 -
            How to Write a Monologue in 10 Easy Lessons (Well, maybe not so easy)
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site.  Wishing you much success!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monologue Mania Day #530 ( (revised)  Super Bugsucker!by Janet S. Tiger  July 27, 2015

It was brought to my attention that the two monologues below had problems.                               
Thank you, Diane, for making me fix these up so they are (I hope) clearer. More clear?  More understandable?  I hope they work now.....who knows, maybe they belong together in some way.....

        
                                             Super Bugsucker!
                           A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com

         
        (An older man comes onstage, but he is dancing around as if he were very young.  He is holding a present- a butterfly net - and he is very excited about it)

This is the best birthday in my whole life!  I was hoping for this, but I never thought I'd get it!  Thank you, grandpa!  You're the best grandpa in the whole world!  I saw this online and I just had to have it!  A super bugsuckerr!  Did you see it?

        (He holds out the net)

It has a vacuum that can suck the bugs up, and there's even a magnifying glass so I can look at 'em up close!  And a mini-microscope with a camera so I can send photos to a website to identify them!  And I could even make a bug movie, just like AntMan!

Have you ever seen anything so amazing!  And there's a book about bugs.... all about ......BUGS! And it has all the names in Latin and Greek and everything!

Oh, this is the greatest day in my life.....and I wanna thank you!

        (He goes over to hug his grandfather)

Can we go get some bugs now, can we, can we?  I wanna look at them under the microscope, and take pictures......it's just like.....I can be a real scientist now, just like the guys on TV!

        (He waves the net)

I think I got one!  Maybe it's a new species.......

        (He holds the net and looks in)

Maybe I could be a scientist.....just like you grandpa....

         (He holds out his hand and starts to walks off, stops, looks back)

Tell me about your Daddy again, and how he got you the butterfly net.......I like that story...it's kinda like watchin' youtube when you tell it....

        (He skips out, now a bit buggy about bugs)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

     This could actually be performed by a younger actor - the key is the butterfly net, which will connect him to the grandfather. 
      Thank you Bradley, for being the inspiration for this!



-------------------------------------------------------------------
 The changes in this piece are less evident, but a few lines were added.....

Monologue Mania Day #528  Independence Daze by Janet S. Tiger  July 25, 2015

                                       Independence Daze
                                  (for Senior Channel or Two Sisters - not sure yet)
                           A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com

              (Daddy comes onstage waving a sword- one of the pirate type made for kids -and he is looking around wild-eyed)

Where is the enemy?  I thought I knew the enemy when I was young!  The enemy was....time....I hadn't had enough time to know how to do things....my aspiration was only to learn, to know....how to put on my pants, and button my shirt....those damned buttons were so difficult to get into those little holes!  And zippers!  Another hell!

Let's not forget the joy of shoes - why not go barefoot?  Why not sandals every day to school and church?  Why do we have to wear.....socks! which never go on right....and then to tie those damned laces!  How hard to we work to learn all those things!

(Quiets a bit)  And then we know them, and life presents a myriad of other issues for which older people, people like aunts and uncles and parents and teachers...all ancient!  All over 30!  Telling us we won't understand until we are......(says it like a curse)....OLDER!

And then one day.....we realize we are saying these exact same things to our children....and we watch and learn a bit more from them than from any other school.

          (He takes the sword and stands - carefully! - on a chair)

We have won!  We are the rulers of our universe!  We are old enough to tell others  that we have forgotten more than they will ever know!  And it is the truth.......and it is a lie....because we have forgotten it all.....

         (He carefully gets off the chair)

I used to jump off chairs with an umbrella, just like Mary Poppins.......now, I am happy that I can stand up from the chair....

But in my aging.....I have  made an important discovery.....

         (He brandishes the sword wildly)

......the enemy is still the same........

The enemy is still......time.....because time.....is never still.......
       

            (He pulls back the curtain, peers out)

Are you still there?  Time, you are no friend of mine!  Get away from my door!  

          (He waves the sword at the enemy)

And I thought once I learned to walk all those years ago my problems would be OVER......but now, a trip to the kitchen is a journey.... and my pants fall off when I forget to zip up after I go to the bathroom!  And I still need to figure out how to get my socks on!   I mean, intellectually I know how, but my feet are so far away!

And forget tying my shoes, I have velcro, and that is its own hell of attaching to things you don't want to get attached to!  .....

         (He puts his knees together and grimaces)

And buttons ......STILL hell!  Does it ever end?

        (He stops and takes a deep breath)

I guess it does....

       (He holds up the sword)

A useless sword...... to fight an enemy I cannot see....... in a battle I can never win.......

     (He turns to leave, stops, looks back, holds the sword high)
.......but maybe.....I want to see the grandchildren have their children, maybe I want to tell another generation......that I've forgotten more than ....forgotten more than.....how does that go?  Something about fighting on the beaches, and fighting......and

          (He mumbles as he waves the sword, then brightens)

... and we will never surrender!

         (He exits in triumph.  Another soldier in the battle against time..)





Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #529 Super Bugcatcher by Janet S. Tiger July 26, 2015

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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-
     To start at the beginning - Feb. 13, - 
click here.
     For a list of the blurbs from each day, 
click here  There are now over 500!

 
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 -
            How to Write a Monologue in 10 Easy Lessons (Well, maybe not so easy)
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site.  Wishing you much success!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monologue Mania Day #529   by Janet S. Tiger  July 26, 2015
                                 
                  Thank you Bradley, for being the inspiration for this!
         
                                             Super Bug Catcher
                           A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com

         
        (An older man comes onstage, but he is dancing around as if he were very young.  He is holding a present- a butterfly net - and he is very excited about it)

This is the best birthday in my whole life!  I was hoping for this, but I never thought I'd get it!  Thank you, grandpa!  You're the best grandpa in the whole world!  I saw this online and I just had to have it!  A super bug catcher!  Did you see it?  It has a vacuum that can suck the bugs up, and there's even a magnifying glass so I can look at 'em up close!  And a mini-microscope with a camera so I can send photos to a website to identify them!  And I could even make a bug movie, just like AntMan!

        (He holds out the net)

Have you ever seen anything so amazing!  And there's a book about buga, all about ......BUGS! And it has all the names in Latin and Greek and everything!

Oh, this is the greatest day in my life.....and I wanna thank you!

        (He goes over to hug his grandfather)

Can we go get some bugs now, can we, can we?  I wanna look at them under the microscope, and take pictures......it's just like.....I can be a real scientist now, just like the guys on TV!

        (He waves the net)

I think I got one!  Maybe it's a new species.......

        (He holds the net and looks in)

Maybe I could be a scientist.....just like you grandpa....

         (He holds out his hand and starts to walks off, stops, looks back)

Tell me about your Daddy again, and how he got you the butterfly net.......I like that story...it's kinda like watchin' youtube when you tell it....

        (He skips out, now a bit buggy about bugs)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

     This could actually be performed by a younger actor - the key is the butterfly net, which will connect him to the grandfather.


Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
 

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Monologue Mania Day #528 Independence Daze by Janet S. Tiger July 25, 2015

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free monologue a day- for a whole year-and still going!
                                                                    first year -  Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 13, 2015
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-
     To start at the beginning - Feb. 13, - 
click here.
     For a list of the blurbs from each day, 
click here  There are now over 500!

 
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 -
            How to Write a Monologue in 10 Easy Lessons (Well, maybe not so easy)
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site.  Wishing you much success!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monologue Mania Day #528  Independence Daze by Janet S. Tiger  July 25, 2015

                                       Independence Daze
                                  (for Senior Channel or Two Sisters - not sure yet)
                           A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved                                                                                              tigerteam1@gmail.com

              (Daddy comes onstage waving a sword- one of the pirate type made for kids -and he is looking around wild-eyed)

Where is the enemy?  I thought I knew the enemy when I was young!  The enemy was....time....I hadn't had enough to know how to do things....my aspiration was only to learn, to know....how to put on my pants, and button my shirt....those damned buttons were so difficult to get into those little holes!  And zippers!  Another hell!

Let's not forget the joy of shoes - why not go barefoot?  Why not sandals every day to school and church?  Why do we have to wear.....socks! which never go on right....and then to tie those damned laces!  How hard to we work to learn all those things!

(Quiets a bit)  And then we know them, and life presents a myriad of other issues for which older people, people like aunts and uncles and parents and teachers...all ancient!  All over 30!  Telling us we won't understand until we are......(says it like a curse)....OLDER!

And then one day.....we realize we are saying these exact same things to our children....and we watch and learn a bit more from them than from any other school.

          (He takes the sword and stands - carefully! - on a chair)

We have won!  We are the rulers of our universe!  We are old enough to tell others  that we have forgotten more than they will ever know!  And it is the truth.......and it is a lie....because we have forgotten it all.....

         (He carefully gets off the chair)

I used to jump off chairs with an umbrella, just like Mary Poppins.......now, I am happy that I can stand up from the chair....

But in my aging.....I have  made an important discovery.....

         (He brandishes the sword wildly)

......the enemy is still the same........

The enemy is.......time.....
       

            (He pulls back the curtain, peers out)

Time, you are no friend of mine!  Get away from my door!  

          (He waves the sword at the enemy)

And I thought once I learned to walk all those years ago I would never forget....but now, a trip to the kitchen is a journey.... My pants fall off when I forget to zip up after I go to the bathroom!  And I still need to figure out how to get my socks on!  And forget tying my shoes, I have velcro, and that is its own hell of attaching to things you don't want to get attached to!  .....

         (He puts his knees together and grimaces)

And buttons ......STILL hell!  Does it ever end?

        (He stops and takes a deep breath)

I guess it does....

          (He turns to leave, stops, looks back)

.......but maybe.....I want to see the grandchildren have their children, maybe I want to tell another generation......that I've forgotten more than ....forgotten more than.....how does that go?  Something about fighting on the beaches, and fighting......and

          (He mumbles as he waves the sword, then brightens)

... and we will never surrender!

         (He exits in triumph.  Another soldier in the battle against time..)






Janet S. Tiger    858-736-6315
www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8