Play: The Vampire Monologues
Writer: Wade Bradford
Character: MORGENROTH
Thanks, Mangle, keep up the good work. William, as always, I appreciate your groveling - you've outdone yourself this evening. Slinking backwards, nice touch. Remind the others that I will be inspecting the coffins at 4am. You, the new blood. Let's have a seat, I want to take a good look at you. Grab a chair, go on, grab a chair. Let's form a semi-circle. You can get a better look at each other. Don't make eye contact with me, just yet. It's not a good idea at this time. It will just make you uncomfortable, or you might implode, one of the two. So, I suppose the first thing to do is introduce ourselves and talk about why we are here. I am Morgenroth, the owner of this mortuary. I'm also a part time florist. These orchids around you, all of the flowers on the estate, I did all of those. And I'm a full time vampire, of course. The oldest one in North America, actually. If you are wondering why I'm not gloomy and dark, or scary and over dramatic like our friend William just now, it's simply because I don't have to be. It goes without saying that I could kill each of you with the snap of a finger. I can afford to be polite. I like politeness. And if you stay on with us, you might feel that this is a school for manners rather than a breeding ground for blood suckers. And that's how it should be. I was turned thousands of years ago, in ancient Germania, around the time Rome was falling. It took me centuries to understand the value of politeness. Humility. Self-awareness of my own fraility. You see, the mythos that surrounds vampires leaves you with the impression that we are immortal. But that of course is not the case. We may not grow old. But we die. Wooden stakes through the heart. Exposure to sunlight. Beheaded, drawn, quartered, your limbs thrown into a bonfire. That doesn't sound like immortality to me. Immortality is only possible if one is invulnerable. And since I can't go for a stroll in the park on a sunny day, you'll understand why I laugh when the storybooks use the word immortal. And don't get me started on the word "sparkle." When a beam of direct sunlight shines upon your skin, believe me, you will not be sparkling. I have known, I have seen, many vampires die. True, some I have killed myself. But many... Many were friends.
I did really enjoy reading this monologue but I have decided not to use it as it isn't really "me". I have decided against it, I would say that it would be better for a male part but would be fun to do. It is very different to anything I have ever done so far and would be a challenge so however it could still be an option to take a risk which could end positive or a bad thing. I need to think about this option a lot more and research other monologues to see if any fit me any more. The pros and cons for this speech would be:
Pro's
* Its a challenge.
* I have never done anything like this before, it could actually work for me if I tried it.
* It's a risk.
* It seems very smooth and confident throughout the whole approach.
* It's quite "weird and wonderful", it's a very captivating and interesting speech.
Cons
* Could be a negative risk, I might not fit the character.
* If not spoke confidently and so smoothly it would change the whole emotion and feelings from it.
* If lines are missed out it might not make sense.
I will research some more then make a final decision but for now I won't be using this monologue.
Play: Our town
Character: Emily Webb
Writer: Unknown
(softly, more in wonder than in grief)I can't bear it. They're so young and beautiful. Why did they ever have to get old? Mama, I'm here. I'm grown up. I love you all, everything. - I cant look at everything hard enough. (pause, talking to her mother who does not hear her. She speaks with mounting urgency) Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me. Mama, fourteen years have gone by. I'm dead. You're a grandmother, Mama. I married George Gibbs, Mama. Wally's dead, too. Mama, his appendix burst on a camping trip to North Conway. We felt just terrible about it - don't you remember? But, just for a moment now we're all together. Mama, just for a moment we're happy. Let's look at one another. (pause, looking desperate because she has received no answer. She speaks in a loud voice, forcing herself to not look at her mother) I can't. I can't go on. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another. (she breaks down sobbing, she looks around) I didn't realize. All that was going on in life and we never noticed. Take me back - up the hill - to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look. Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners? Mama and Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking? and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths? and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. (she asks abruptly through her tears) Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? - every, every minute? (she sighs) I'm ready to go back. I should have listened to you. That's all human beings are! Just blind people.
This is one of my favourite speeches that I have read throughout my research so far. The emotion makes it for me and how much it can be played on. It is also so different to the other contemporary piece that I want to perform, showing variety in my performance. It ends so dramatically and has so many pauses that adds to the emphasis of the seriousness of this speech. The stage directions will also help so it's not boring just standing in hysterics, I like the movement when delivering a speech because I think there is so much you can do whilst talking even in day to day it's more natural to move your hands when describing things, etc. However I would change "mama" to mum because this makes more sense to me and would allow it to flow more naturally too. This will make it a lot easier for me to read it out by changing this one small thing and I know that it will sound a lot bette. Obviously to use this speech and perform it I will really need to commit myself to the monologue, it needs a lot of energy and emotion to pull it off. It can't just be read in a sad voice, if I am doing this speech I will go for it. I think it will be a challenge but if I get it right it could sound great! I believe that I can deliver this speech as well as I possibly can and I won't speed through it, it will take a lot of time and effort but should be moving to watch and give a connection to the audience in some way by its feeling and even just some of the words. It should be simply captivating and grab the audiences attention from the start, it's a bold speech.
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