Monologue Mania

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #967 Flexible by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 6, 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 960!

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 #967 Flexible by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 6, 2016

Flexible

by Janet S. Tiger

tigerteam1@gmail.com

(Older woman- she is smiling, almost in a dreamlike way)

Oh, hello, it's so good to see you! Did we have an appointment? I can't remember that well now, so glad you understand.......Time was so different when I was younger. It was...rigid. School started PROMPTLY at 8 am! And dinner was served PROMPTLY at 6:30 pm when Daddy got home from work.

These schedules lasted for years....into my life with children......forever....or so I thought.

Now, I go to sleep, perchance to dream, and I wake up and see the sunshine, and I want my breakfast, but ......it's dinnertime......Not 7AM, but 7 PM.....

Time is..... flexible now......I don't have to be anywhere, except when I do, and then someone takes me, and they bring me, and if I wait for hours and complain, they tell me it was only five minutes.....but was it? I can't read my watch anymore, and the ones with numbers make no sense......five....fifty-two, what does that mean? Is it five or 52 and what is that? Someone told me that was eight minutes to six, and I told them, then.... why not say eight minutes to six.....they shook their head, not understanding, so I shook my head too.....

My son is an engineer......he's big now, he's married, has three children, I think......and when he was little......he loved Einstein and would tell me all about the theories about time and space.......I didn't understand them then, so I don't feel bad not understanding them now......but one thing has stuck.....time is not a constant, it changes......and so now, as I head to the final times...... I know that to be true......

(She turns to leave, stops, looks back)

It was nice talking with you, I have to go now....my son will be coming home from school, and he just loves my cookies with some milk......I guess all boys do.....

(She exits to another time in her head)

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

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

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #966 Squeezed (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 5, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!

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 #966 Squeezed (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 5, 2016

Caregivers Anonymous is-

-the recipient of a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Program Fellowship grant

-sponsored by Playwrights Project and

-has a website now - CaregiversAnon.org

For other monologues from Caregivers Anonymous, please see Days # 268, 270, 271, 273, 284, 285, 286, 314, 317, 380, 412, 444, 454, 455, 456, 473, 474, 475, 476, 483, 484, 513, 514, 566, 569, 666, 692, 702, 714, 777, 778, 782, 783, 797, 802, 812, 813, 820, 869, 874, 881, 889, 903, 917, 927, 961 and today's 966

Squeezed

by Janet S. Tiger

tigerteam1@gmail.com

(A woman, in her 80s, looks younger, stands, tilts her head, listens)

(Educated English accent) What do I feel?

Let me think......I feel.......squeezed.

You see, it takes two minutes to heat the water for the tea for my husband. And in that two minutes, I can put the sausages and eggs and pancakes up in the pan, so that when the tea is done, the others are almost ready.....and I can sometimes squeeze in a few more things before the eggs are finished.....of course, if he drops a fork, and I have to pick it up, that takes a few precious seconds....

And if he drops some of the 32 pills, well, that fills up a whole five minutes or so looking and trying to figure out what pills are missing and where they went, and now I have to call the chemist to re-order, and I have to put on the telephone machine that makes it possible for me to hear what they are saying......

All of that living squeezed into just a few minutes.....every second accounted for, so it all fits.....and then of course, there are the horrible wasted minutes in the doctors offices.....some might suggest a nice chat while we wait, but by the time I've parked the car, he\s dozed off....he does that a lot, especially now that the congestive heart failure has ramped up....and he's too old for a transplant.....and in just a few months, we'll have to start with hospice.....

Just a few weeks, actually, a few days, in a few minutes they'll be here.....and it is all over in just seconds.....

(She looks around, takes a deep breath)

I no longer have to squeeze in so much into every second of time, but when I go to get him a cuppa tea, I sometimes start the eggs before I realize, it was just in my head.....'honey can you please get me a cuppa .....'

(She turns to leave, stops, looks back)

I may not see him so much around the house, but I still hear him.......squeezed into the spaces in my head.....

(Lights down)
----------------------------------------------------------
For Derek......lights down, may you rest in peace

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence

Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

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

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #965 Getting Help (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 4, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!

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 #965 Getting Help (for Caregivers Anonymous) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 4, 2016

Caregivers Anonymous is-

-the recipient of a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst Program Fellowship grant

-sponsored by Playwrights Project and

-has a website now - CaregiversAnon.org

Getting Help

(for Caregivers Anonymous)
A monologue
by Janet S. Tiger

tigerteam1@gmail.com

(The older woman rises to speak, she is shaking a bit, but steadies by holding the table)

Just thought of something I hadn't thought of in awhile.....

I was eight years old, and I would get home from school, and the first thing I would do is I would take my grandma out of her wheelchair, so she could go to the bathroom and all.

With no one at home, she was stuck in there all day, My mom worked, and my dad was long gone, and we were all at school all day.....

So I couldn't stop and play with my friends after school, I had to go right home.

(She sits down heavily)

We take so many things for granted. Little things, like standing up from a chair. I have trouble now, but I can still do it. So I don't need anyone to come in to help......not yet.....

It's funny, sometimes my friends would say to me, 'that's tough that you have to go home right away, and you can't play'.....but I never thought of it like that, I thought of it like it was something really important, because I knew it was. My grandma was sweet, the only person who smiled at me whenever she saw me.

One day, I got home, and she wasn't in the wheelchair! I was scared, but then I looked around and I saw her holding onto furniture coming down the hall, and I went to help her, and she said she didn't need any help, she could do it.....and she could! I was almost crying, and I asked her if that meant ....she didn't need me anymore....and she just held me tight, and then she sat down in the wheelchair, and she said, 'I been practicing gettin up and goin to the bathroom all by myself, so's you can play with your friends after school some days.....don't you wanna play with your friends?

And I just held onto her and hugged her, because I knew how hard it had been for her to get up. It's ok. grandma, I can play after I help you. And she smiled.....and I knew then, that's what I wanted to do - help people who couldn't help themselves.

Now, I'm almost to the point where I need that help myself, and I was feeling bad about asking my grandchildren, but maybe.....helping isn't such a bad thing for children.....maybe it teaches them....what's coming.....

(She stands to leave, stops, looks back)

Gotta go, have to make a phone call....a very important phone call....

(She exits. End of scene)

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence

Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

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

Monday, October 3, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #964 It Socks! by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 3, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!

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 950!

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 #964 It Socks! by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 3, 2016

It Socks!

A monologue
by Janet S. Tiger

tigerteam1@gmail.com

(Actor comes out with bag)

Do you know what real loneliness is? I thought I did, but then.....it was laundry day, and I had an uncontrollable urge to gather my loose, unpaired socks.

(Opens the bag, dumps the socks onto the stage)

It was enough to make me cry! Look at them, jumbled up....yet all alone in the world.....and then I thought of all the socks in all the places in every part of this universe and it made me into an activist!
Which is why I am here tonight - this issue cuts across all ages and sexes and races and well, everyone's got feet and those feet got socks! And when socks are lonely they make us miserable! we can't sleep wondering where the mate went?

And ....why?

Was it just fate and the washing machine? Did they get eaten by a wild animal? Or was it.....just irreconcilable differences....

Whatever the reason....there is no longer a reason to have lonely socks! Sign up now for Sammy's Sock Dating Service for lonely single socks!

And if you go to our special online site.....you can find out how your socks can get to meet other socks in your neighborhood! For fun, for getting together....for more serious socks.....a potential mating if the match is made!

Call now and never let your socks be lonely again!

(Turns to leave, stops, looks back)

I can't resist....Come on now ...sock it to me!

(Runs out....in stocking feet!)

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence

Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

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

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #963 Apples and Honey (for Rosh Hoshanah) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 2, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!

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 #963 Apples and Honey (for Rosh Hoshanah) by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 2, 2016

First posted Day # 224 by Janet S. Tiger Apples and Honey Sept. 24, 2014

                                        Apples and Honey
                                A monologue by Janet S. Tiger   © all rights reserved 2014 tigerteam1@gmail.com

              (An older man enters pushing a walker. He slowly goes to a table where he sits down. He is dressed nicely, tie, suit, but has on no shoes. As he sits he looks down at his feet.)

I knew I forgot something.

   (He tries to stand, it's hard for him, so he gives up)

Maybe no one will notice.

(He looks at his watch, then shakes his arm, looks again, shakes his head)

Amazing, fifty thousand different kinds of electric things, and they still can't get here on time.

   (He looks up at the ceiling.)

Well, God, I guess I can talk to you until they get here.   I'm not gonna call anyone because everyone I know is either at the synagogue already, or dead. So, that leaves you and me.

(Laughs) I have to say, God, you're a very good listener. And, unlike my daughter-in-law, you never interrupt. Whew, I guess I shouldn't complain about them being late. When they're late, they can't find parking near the temple, so they drop me off and I get to talk with that nice security guard, Brian. And it's cooler outside than inside, so, forget about my complaint. Of course, now that I've rescinded my complaint, they'll probably show up in two minutes and find a place in front, and I will be inside, boiling, before I can say, 'apples and honey.'

I kind of feel sorry for you, God, I mean, it's not as if you don't have a lot of troubles anyhow, but this time of year, I imagine, it gets worse. All the people who don't pay attention to you for most of the year start calling in, and I have never heard that you have a call waiting system, so it's gotta be hectic.

   (He picks up a calendar)

What year is it? 5-7-7-7.......that's a lot of years.......almost sounds like my number.

   (Looks up again)

You know, we've been talking for a lot of years......it seems like just a minute ago......I was 19, I was still in Montreal, you remember? Look who I'm talking to, of course YOU remember. It was not a good Rosh Hashanah that year. My Uncle Sol, he had just gone into the hospital. He was in bad shape, a heart attack, and they didn't know if he was gonna pull through. I loved Sollie, he had raised me after my Daddy had died, so he was the only father I knew.

And I was walking, and it was a late Rosh Hashanah, end of September, already getting cold and I didn't have my coat, so I was shivering on my way to that shul I went to....what was the name? (Struggles to remember) Bet Moshe, that was it! (Happy to remember) They had a rabbi who could talk forever, but the kiddush after the service had the most amazing kugel! Mmm, I can still taste it......

But that night, I wasn't thinking about the kugel, I was walking.....the wind was blowing through my sweater......I was cold and miserable, I didn't even have a cigarette to warm my hands..... and I had lost faith in you, God. I remember thinking, is there really a God? Why should I believe in something I'm not sure exists? And then, I had a brilliant idea.

           (He gets up, reliving the moment)

I was walking down the street, Hutchison, and I was about to get to the corner, and I said, 'if there is a God, if you exist, when I turn this corner, I will see a pack of Craven 'A'cigarettes.......and I held my breath....

          (He takes a deep breath and starts coughing)

Okay, I was younger then......

          (He turns the corner and stares)

And there it was........on the ground.....

          (He leans over, almost falls, but gets the pack and looks at it.)

Amazing! There is a God! And he just gave me a free pack of Craven 'A's........and I said those words out loud, and, coming onto the street from the other direction, a woman saw me, a beautiful woman and she looked at me holding those cigarettes and said, 'you know, it's not good to smoke those, my father's a doctor, and he says it's better to smoke Pall Mall'

And that was it, I fell in love right then. But you know that, God! In case you forgot, she was going to the same shul - and her mother was the woman baking the delicious kugel. Unfortunately, her mother was sick that night, so she was bringing the kugel which she had wrapped up - but I could still smell it!

What a remarkable night!

           (He sits down, smiling and very happy, then suddenly sits up straight)

You know, God, I just realized something......maybe you made Hava's mother get sick that night, so I could meet her daughter.

            (He slaps his hand to his forehead)

My aunt couldn't come because she was in the hospital with Sollie, so she sent me with apples, I never thought of it! We have apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah for a sweet year, and I always called Hava, 'my honey'

Apples and my honey.....all because I wasn't sure you existed!  You do work in mysterious ways!

(He hears something)

They're here......I have to go put on some shoes and socks, see you in the synagogue.....

   (He turns to go, stops)

And, God, thank you for a good year.....I hope you have another good one.....for the whole world.....L'shanah Tovah........

   (He shuffles off. The end of a good year, and my best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, Successful Year for all in this upcoming year. L'shanah Tovah Tikatavu)

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence

Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

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

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Monologue Mania Day #962 Rememberies by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 1, 2016

Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!

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 #962 Rememberies by Janet S. Tiger (c) Oct. 1, 2016

Rememberies

(Not) a monologue
by Janet S. Tiger

tigerteam1@gmail.com

WIFE - Wasn't he going with what's her name?

HUSBAND -He might have been.

WIFE - Do you know which what's her name I'm talking about?

HUSBAND -Of course, it was you know who's daughter, right?

WIFE - -The same you know who from the library?

HUSBAND -That's the one....I think

WIFE - -I think you're confused!

HUSBAND -How could that be possible? I never forget a face!

WIFE - You couldn't identify our daughter's face!

HUSBAND -That was last year, now I remember. And it was far away....

WIFE - Ten feet!

HUSBAND - Maybe I do need glasses....

WIFE - Maybe you need a new head.....

HUSBAND - Now there's a store for you.....the new head store....

WIFE - Sounds like pornography...

HUSBAND -They don't have those anymore, I think it's all CDs now....

WIFE - Not with that interest!

HUSBAND -So was she interested or did she drop him like a hot potato?

WIFE - Who?

HUSBAND -Who's on first?

WIFE - No, his name was Durst.....I think......

HUSBAND - I think I'm getting hungry, how about something to eat.....

WIFE - Sounds good, I remember better when my stomach is full...

HUSBAND -Remember what?

WIFE - What?

HUSBAND -I'll take that sandwich.....

(They turn to leave, stop, look back)

HUSBAND -Was that the last line?

WIFE - I hope so.....

HUSBAND -Who can remember......

(As they leave, we hear)

WIFE - Remember what?

HUSBAND - I think we forgot something...

WIFE - What?

HUSBAND - The plot!

WIFE - Maybe next time......

(They exit, for now.)

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

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

JanetSTigerMonologueMania.blogspot.com

www.JanetSTiger.weebly.com

Member Dramatists Guild since 1983

Playwright-in-Residence

Swedenborg Hall 2006-8

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