Monologues for Male Teens
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge
SAMMY: I always worry that maybe people aren't going to like me, when I go to a
party. Isn't that crazy? Do you ever get kind of a sick feeling in the pit of your
stomach when you dread things? Gee, I wouldn't want to miss a party for
anything. But every time I go to one, I have to reason with myself to keep from
feeling that the whole world's against me. See, I've spent almost my whole life in
the military academies. My mother doesn't have a place for me, where she lives.
She...she just doesn't know what else to do with me. But you mustn't
misunderstand about my mother. She's really a very lovely person. I guess every
boy thinks his mother is beautiful, but my mother really is. she tells me in every
letter she writes how sorry she is that we can't be together more, but she has to
think of her work. One time we were together, though. she met me in San
Francisco once, and we were together for two whole days. She let me take her to
dinner and to a show and to dance. Just like we were sweethearts. It was the
most wonderful time I ever had. And then I had to go back to the old military
academy. Every time I walk into the baracks, I get kind of a depressed feeling. It's
got hard stone walls. Pictures of generals hanging all over...oh, they're very fine
gentlemen, but they all look so kind of hard-boiled and stern...you know what I
mean. Well, gee! I guess I've bored you enough, telling you about myself.
You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown: I think lunchtime is about the worst time of day for me. Always
having to sit here alone. Of course, sometimes, mornings aren't so pleasant
either. Waking up and wondering if anyone would really miss me if I never got out
of bed. Then there's the night, too. Lying there and thinking about all the stupid
things I've done during the day. And all those hours in between when I do all
those stupid things. Well, lunchtime is among the worst times of the day for me.
Well, I guess I'd better see what I've got. Peanut butter. Some psychiatrists say
that people who eat peanut butter sandwiches are lonely...I guess they're right.
And when you're really lonely, the peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth.
There's that cute little red-headed girl eating her lunch over there. I wonder what
she would do if I went over and asked her if I could sit and have lunch with
her?...She'd probably laugh right in my face...it's hard on a face when it gets
laughed in. There's an empty place next to her on the bench. There's no reason
why I couldn't just go over and sit there. I could do that right now. All I have to do
is stand up...I'm standing up!...I'm sitting down. I'm a coward. I'm so much of a
coward, she wouldn't even think of looking at me. She hardly ever does look at
me. In fact, I can't remember her ever looking at me. Why shouldn't she look at
me? Is there any reason in the world why she shouldn't look at me? Is she so
great, and I'm so small, that she can't spare one little moment?...SHE'S
LOOKING AT ME!! SHE'S LOOKING AT ME!! (he puts his lunchbag over his
head.) ...Lunchtime is among the worst times of the day for me. If that little redheaded girl is looking at me with this stupid bag over my head she must think I'm
the biggest fool alive. But, if she isn't looking at me, then maybe I could take it off
quickly and she'd never notice it. On the other hand...I can't tell if she's looking,
until I take it off! Then again, if I never take it off I'll never have to know if she was
looking or not. On the other hand...it's very hard to breathe in here. (he removes
his sack) Whew! She's not looking at me! I wonder why she never looks at me?
Oh well, another lunch hour over with...only 2,863 to go.
Snoopy: (on top of doghouse, speaking over music) Here's the World One I
flying ace high over France in his Sopwith Camel, searching for the infamous
Red Baron! I must bring him down! Suddenly, anti-aircraft fire, 'archie' we used to
called it, begins to burst beneath my plane. The Red Baron has spotted me.
Nyahh, Nyahh, Nyahh! You can't hit me! (aside) Actually, tough flying aces never
say 'Nyahh, Nyahh, Nyahh'. I just, ah...Drat this fog! It's bad enough having to
fight the Red Baron without having to fly in weather like this! All right, Red Baron!
Where are you? You can't hide forever! Ah, the sun has broken through...I can
see the woods of Montsec below...and what's that? It's a Fokker triplane! Ha! I've
got you this time, Red Baron (SFX: machine gun fire) Aaugh! He's diving down
out of the sun! He's tricked me again! I've got to run! Come on Sopwith Camel,
let's go! Go, Camel, go! I can't shake him! He's riddling my plane with bullets!
(SFX: machine gun fire) Curse you, Red Baron! Curse you and your kind!
Curse the evil that causes all this unhappiness! (SFX: plane engine sputtering
towards silence) Here's the World War I flying ace back at the aerodrome in
France, he is exhausted and yet he does not sleep, for one thought continues to
burn in his mind...Someday, someday I'll get you, Red Baron!
Schroeder: I'm sorry to have to say it to your face, Lucy, but it's true. You're a
very crabby person. I know your crabbiness has probably become so natural to
you now that you're not even aware when you're being crabby, but it's true just
the same. You're a very crabby person and you're crabby to just about everyone
you meet. Now I hope you don't mind my saying this, Lucy, and I hope you're
take it in the spirit that it's meant. I think we should be very open to any
opportunity to learn more about ourselves. I think Socrates was very right when
he said that one of the first rules for anyone in life is 'Know Thyself'. Well, I guess
I've said about enough. I hope I haven't offended you or anything.
PROMEDY
This comedic monologue is taken from "Promedy," a teen-age comedy about
Senior Prom by Wade Bradford. Dante is a rather goofy, overly dramatic vice-
president of the Student Body. After getting dumped by the Kay, the popular
cheerleader captain, Dante has decided that if he can't have his dream date, then
nobody can! In this funny monolgue, Dante tries to convince the rest of the
students that the Prom should be canceled.
Dante:
Think about it. Prom is evil, in every shape and form. We should be spending our
last year of high school studying for college or preparing ourselves for the
turbulence of the adult world. Instead, we shroud ourselves in rental tuxedos and
sequined gowns. Every summer and weekend we’ve been bagging groceries or
hustling French fries and do we invest that hard earned money? No, we fritter it
away on one special night when we blow all our cash on a limo driver, an ugly
corsage, and an overpriced photo featuring a hairstyle you’ll be ashamed of five
years from now. We behave as if the institution of the Prom is the quintessential
experience of our teenage years, when in truth it is an evening of bad songs,
buffalo wings, and an unspoken dissatisfaction. Generations have tried to hide
their disappointment while they awkwardly dance. Whether it has been the fox
trot, the jitterbug, the twist, or the funky chicken, the dance has always been the
same. But the music is over, people. Which is why I’m calling a vote to put the
Prom out of its misery. Now who's with me?!
ONLY HEAVEN KNOWS by Alex Harding
Set in post world war II Kings cross, Sydney, Summer,1944. Tim is a young writer
and has moved away from his unsupportive family in Melbourne to ‘try his luck’ in
Sydney. In this speech he is refereeing to his uncle and auntie – his adoptive
parents. PETER is his older cousin. GUINEA is a female jazz singer in a
cabaret club where TIM is working – his first job in Sydney.
TIM:
Its not their fault – they didn’t ask for me – I didn’t ask for them – I felt I had no
right to be there, not any more. Peter went off to the war, and at first things
seemed easier, but then auntie Maureen got a telegram – Peter was on his way
home, he’d trodden on a land mine and lost both is legs. From that day on I felt I
was a constant reminder of their son, but it was me running around on two legs,
not him. Auntie Maurine was alright, we’d talk. We’d listen to the wireless. I
loved the plays best – I’d like to do that one day – write plays. Could I listen to
your wireless sometimes Guinea? I miss it. Do you think that I could get a job in
the theatre – or on the wireless?
I’d go with Auntie Maurine to the army hospital to see Peter. I hated it. Other
blokes there – the same age as me – half dead, screaming. Peter would be
crying all the time – he wouldn’t say anything. Everywhere was pain and I was
terrified – that they’d make me stay there, that I would never get out – I feel guilty
because I wasn’t in those beds, I was free – I was – free. And my uncle would
look at me and behind his eyes would be the word ‘coward’ … I’ll never go back,
never.
THE RED COAT : John Patrick Shanley
JOHN is a teenage boy waiting outside a party for a girl he hardly knows. His
mission, which he accomplishes with touching if halting effectiveness, is to tell
her that he loves her.
JOHN: I left the party 'cause I felt like everything I wanted was outside the
party... out here. There's a breeze out here, and the moon... look at the way the
moon is... and I knew you were outside somewhere, too! So I came out and sat
on the steps here and I thought that maybe you'd come and I would be here...
outside the party, on the steps, in the moonlight... and those other people... the
ones at the party... wouldn't be here ... but the night would be here... and you and
me would be talking on the steps in the night in the moonlight and I could tell
you...
I don't know. I was looking out the window at the party... and I was looking out the
window at the moon and... Mary I love you!
[Silence] I shouldn't've said it. I shouldn't've said it. My heart's breaking. You
must think I'm so stupid... but I can feel it breaking. I wish I could stop talking. I
can't. I can't.
The House of Blue Leaves
Ronnie: “I was twelve years old and all the newspapers had headlines on my
twelfth birthday that Billy was coming to town. And Life was doing stories on him
and Look and the newsreels because Billy was searching America to find the
Ideal American Boy to play Huckleberry Finn. And Billy came to New York and
called my father and asked him if he could stay here – Billy needed a hideout. All
America wants to meet Billy and he’ll be hiding out in your house. I came home –
went in there – into my room and packed my bag… I knew Billy would see me
and take me back to California with him that very day.
The doorbell rang. And then my father calls out: ‘Ronnie, guess who? Billy, we
named him after your father. Ronnie, guess who?’I picked up my bag and said
goodbye to myself in the mirror. Came out. Billy there. Smiling.
It suddenly dawned on me. You had to do things to get parts. I began dancing.
Immediately. Things I have never done in my life – before or since. I stood on my
head and skipped and whirled (He does a cartwheel.) spectacular leaps into the
air so I could see veins in the ceiling and began laughing and crying soft and loud
to show all my emotions. And I heard music and drums that I couldn’t keep up
with. And then cut off my emotions just like that. Instantly. And took a deep bow
like the Dying Swan I saw on Ed Sullivan. I picked up my suitcase and waited at
the door.
Billy turned to my parents, whose jaws were down to about there, and Billy said,
‘You never told me I had an idiot for a godchild,’ and I picked up my bag and went
to my room and shut the door and never came out the whole time he was here.
My only triumph was he could never find a Huckleberry Finn. Another company
made the picture a few years later, but it flopped.”
FENCES, by August Wilson
Cory is the son of Troy and Rose Maxson. He is an African American teenager
living in the late 1950’s, who aspires to become a professional football player. He
and his father are constantly at odds, because of his father’s resentment over the
possibility of Cory’s success. Troy was also a star athlete in his youth, having
played baseball in the Negro League, but never rose to the status he’d hoped
because he was too old to play by the time the major league teams started
accepting black athletes. Troy is a trash collector and spends much of his time
drinking with friends and cheating on his wife. His son is aware of his exploits
and finds the courage to stand up to his father in this moment.
Cory: I live here too! I ain’t scared of you. I was walking by you to go into the
house cause you sitting on the steps drunk, singing to yourself. I ain’t got to say
excuse me to you. You don’t count around here any more.
Now why don’t you just get out my way.
You talking about what you did for me... what’d you ever give me? You ain’t never
gave me nothing. You ain’t never done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was
gonna be better than you. All you ever did was try and make me scared of you. I
used to tremble every time you called my name. Every time I heard your
footsteps in the house. Wondering all the time... what’s Papa gonna say if I do
this?... What’s he gonna say if I do that?... What’s he gonna say if I turn on the
radio? And Mama, too... she tries... but she’s scared of you. I don’t know how she
stand you... after what you did to her.
What you gonna do... give me a whupping? You can’t whup me no more. You’re
too old. You’re just an old man.
You crazy. You know that? You just a crazy old man... talking about I got the devil
in me. Come on... put me out. I ain’t scare of you. Come on! Come on, put me
out. What’s the matter? You so bad... put me out! Come on! Come on!
ORPHANS, by Lyle Kessler
Two orphan brothers live in a run down house in Philadelphia. Treat, the elder
brother, has chosen to keep Phillip, the younger, closed off from the world,
convincing him that he has a condition that will kill him if he’s exposed to the
outdoors. Meanwhile, Treat comes and goes from the home, making his way
through the world as a violent pickpocket and thief. One day, Treat kidnaps a
middle-aged business man named Harold, who manages to turn Treat’s life on
end by enlightening young Phillip, thus threatening the relationship between the
two brothers. In this moment, Phillip finally rebels against the tyrannical rule Treat
has had over him for so long.
Phillip: I took a walk tonight. I walked over to Broad and Olney. I was breathing
okay, Treat. I didn’t have no allergic reaction like you said I would. I took the
subway, Treat. Harold told me the secret. You can stand all day at the turnstile
putting in nickels and dimes, you can say Open Assasime and all kinds of words,
but it won’t do any good unless you have one of these magical coins. If Harold
hadn’t given me one I never would have been able to take that ride. You never
told me about them token booths! You never told me nothing! You told me I would
die if I went outside. I can breathe, Treat. Look! My tongue ain’t hanging out. My
face ain’t swollen! (Pause) I walked over to Broad and Olney tonight, Treat. I
seen people walking, and I heard children laughing. I wasn’t scared no more
‘cause Harold gave me something. (Takes out a map) He gave me this! You
never gave me no map, Treat. You never told me I could find my way! Nothing’s
gonna happen to me, Treat, ‘cause I know where I am now. I know where I am,
and you ain’t never gonna take that away from me. I’M AT SIXTY-FORTY
NORTH CAMAC STREET, IN PHILADELPHIA, TREAT! I’M ON THE EASTERN
EDGE OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA! I’M ON THE NORTHERN AMERICAN CONTINENT ON THE
PLANET EARTH, IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY, SWIMMING IN A GREAT
OCEAN OF SPACE! I’M SAFE AND SOUND AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE
MILKY WAY! THAT’S WHERE I AM, TREAT! And you’re it, Treat.
BRIGHTON BEACH MEMIORS, by Neil Simon
Eugene Jerome is a fifteen year old boy growing up in Brooklyn during the
Depression. When he’s not fantasizing about girls and baseball, he is an astute
observer, secretly documenting his family’s life story. In this moment, Eugene is
heartbroken as his older brother Stanley decides to leave the home for good after
admitting to their parents that he’s gambled his salary away.
Eugene: What are you putting on all those things for? You’re leaving home? I
have eight cents worth of stamps if you want that too. The medal you won for the
hundred yard dash two years ago. You gave it to me. You can have it back if you
want it. (Beat) I’ll probably have to stay home and work if you leave. We’ll need
the money. (On the verge of tears) What do you have to leave for? They’ll get
over it. They won’t stay mad at you forever. I was mad at you and I got over it. I
don’t see what’s so bad about you. (Eugene sits there in silence for a while, then
turns to the audience.) I guess there comes a time in everybody’s life when you
say, “This very moment is the end of my childhood.” When Stanley closed that
door, I knew that moment had come to me... I was scared. I was lonely. And I
hated my mother and father for making him so unhappy... I even hated Stanley a
little because he left me there to grow up all by myself. And I hated [my mother]
for leaving Stanley’s name out when she called us for dinner. I don’t think parents
really know how cruel they can be sometimes... (A beat) At dinner I tried to tell
them about Stanley, but I just couldn’t get the words out... I left the table without
even eating my ice cream... If it was suffering I was after, I was beginning to learn
about it.
RABBIT HOLE, by David Lindsay-Abaire
A tragic accident affects an entire family and leaves a married couple
inconsolable and confused as to how to deal with each other’s grief. When a
teenage boy from the neighborhood loses control of his car, Becca and Howie
lose their five year old son. As the parents struggle to make sense of a senseless
act, Jason, the young man at the wheel, also tries to come to terms with the
accident. When Jason reaches out in an effort to speak to the family, Becca
invites him by when Howie isn’t home, knowing that her husband would be
furious to see him in the house.
Jason: So, I don’t see any photos anywhere. The one in the article was nice.
Him at the beach. I used to have a shirt just like that one. The one he’s wearing
in the picture. (Beat) I might’ve been going too fast. That day. I’m not sure, but I
might’ve been. So... that’s one of the things I wanted to tell you. (Beat) It’s a thirty
zone. And I might’ve been going thirty-three. Or thirty-two. I would usually look
down, to check, and if I was a little over, then I’d slow down obviously. But I don’t
remember checking on your block, so it’s possible I was going a little too fast.
And then the dog came out, really quick, and so I swerved a little to avoid him,
not knowing, obviously... (Beat) So that’s something I thought you should know. I
might’ve been going a little over the limit. I can’t be positive either way though.
The Outsiders-by Christopher Sergel
This monologue starts off when Dally takes the fugitives Ponyboy and Johnny to
Dairy Queen. Johnny makes a dramatic scene, by telling Dally that he will turn
himself in. Then Dally has an outburst, and talks about how he can’t, in the end,
Dally reveals is true feelings for Johnny.
DALLY: (gags) what was that (rubs ears)? You’re gonna turn himself in? BLAST
Johnny how could you turn yourself in, you’re just gonna make it worse for me,
nd the rest of us! By Golly who would think him, of all people my only pride and
joy Johnny’s gonna turn himself in. Johnny’s gonna come out hardened from jail;
blast it I don’t want him to be like me. It ain’t fair that this had to happen to us, it’s
always the greasers that get picked on, it just ain’t fair!
Everyone thinks I don’t give a dime a nickel for anyone, but he’s different! If only
we could get some dirt back on the Socs, that’ll teach’em a lesson not to mess
with us. I saw his scared eyes, and listened to his small voice, he’d never last a
day in prison; the in-laws will chew him up then spit him out! There’s no way he
could go to jail. He might he might, no never, I gotta push that thought out a my
mind, there’s no way he could become like me. Johnny’s talking bout getting off
easy, he just can’t accept the fact that there’s no such thing as getting of easy for
a greasers. We’re poor, we’re picked on, we’re un-favored, (pauses) we’re the
bad guys (dramatic voice), he just can’t get that through his head!
But I knew, I could never convince Johnny not to do it, (breaks down into a half
sob) I would never see Johnny again, my only pride, my only joy, gone taken,
and yet to be destroyed. I knew this would be one of the last times I’d see the
Johnny I knew well, the whole gang knew well. This is the last straw Socs, YOU
HERE ME, THIS MEANS WAR.
Sammy Carducci’s Guide to Women By Ronald Kidd
In the play Sammy Carduuci’s Guide to Women, an eleven-year-old expert on
women discovers that girls are people too. Samuel Lorenzo Carducci (better
known as Sammy) is a smooth talker and a sharp dresser, he always wears a
suit and red high-top sneakers when he goes to school.
The monologues are from the same scene in which Sammy enlists his side-kick,
Gus, to help him conduct a survey of the “women” in the cafeteria at school. In
the first monologue Sammy cooly explains how women work to Gus, but during
the second monologue, and before lunch-time is over, Sammy is transformed
from a calm, cool expert on women—into a hapless victim of love. Thus his
survey is finished forever.
Sammy:
I can see we’re starting at a pretty basic level. Okay, I’m going to give you some
background information on women. You might want to take notes. Okay, first off,
women tend to cry a lot. Most of the time, all they think about is mushy romantic
stuff. They do things like write letters to Mel Gibson and memorize words of their
favorite song. Women always go on diets. But they have this uncontrollable urge
to bake chocolate chip cookies. It’s one of the mysteries of modern science. They
go around in groups, so they’ve got somebody to listen when they think of
something to say. Which is all the time. When they’re not together, they use the
phone. Basically, they’re weak. And they’re looking for somebody strong. That’s
where the two of us come in. Okay, got that so far?
---------Sammy:
Okay, let’s get to the survey. Just take notes. We’re going to check out women
and look for things that might be important. I’ll tell you, and you write it down. For
instance, stuff that would drive you crazy. Like Marsha Brennamen looks fine but
has a habit of picking her ear with a paper clip. Debbie Waters seems great until
she laughs, then she snorts like a pig. Or that one over there. She’s way too
skinny. And the woman she’s with. She’s......she’s beautiful. She’s looking at us.
Just nod and smile. Pretend we’re, like, student architects checking out the
building. She looked away. We’re clear. Come on, let’s go get a candy bar. The
survey’s finished.
Befriending Bertha By Kerry Muir
Befriending Bertha is a play about a very shy girls who is befriended by a rather
unusual boy one day at school during lunch time. The following monologue is
taken from the opening scene in the play, which depicts their first meeting. Bertha
(a girl of eleven or twelve) is sitting alone on the playground. Charlie (a boy of
eleven or twelve with a wild energy) approaches her.
Charlie: Sip of soda? Bertha says nothing.
Pickle? Again, Bertha says nothing.
I seem to have frightened you. Bertha shakes her head “no.”
No? Again, Bertha shakes her head “no.”
Oh. Okay. Silent type. Good, we’ll be great friends. You can listen, and I’ll do all
the talking. You know, for a girl of I would say, 11, or 12 years old you are
abnormally quiet. I mean unusually quiet....I haven’t said anything wrong have I?
I mean, nothing to offend you in any way, shape, form, or size?
Bertha shakes her head no.
Or color? Or texture? Or luminosity? Bertha looks pleasantly interested.
Yes, luminosity. You know...(he gives her the Webster’s Dictionary definition)
Containing a certain quantity of light, illumination or iridescence...the quality of
glowing...sparkling, or shimmering...radiant, shining, aflame, afire. It’s a good
word...a very good word. There’s others, many others you might like as
well...maybe you’d like to hear some more tomorrow at lunch...at lunch
again...that is, if you’re not previously engaged. Bertha smiles and nod’s yes.
Okay...good. Um...Bertha...I gotta go back to class in a little bit...um...if my Mom
or Dad asks me if I made any new friends today, can I just say that I made one
real nice one...and her name is Bertha? Just so they don’t think I bombed out on
my first day, or anything, and spent it al alone...Could you do me that one favor?
Night Train to Bolina By Nilo Cruz
The play Night Train to Bolina by Nilo Cruz, tells the story of two friends,
Clara(age 12) and Mateo (age 11), who run away from home in order to escape
their difficult lives in a rural Latin American village.
Clara and Mateo’s close friendship is based on many shared painful
experiences...the absence of love at home, extreme hunger, and deprivation as a
result of a series of natural disasters in their farming community, and the
oppressive presence of warfare in Latin America.
Mateo convinces Clara the only way to survive is to run away from home.
According to his plan, they will stow away in boxes on the Night Train, and
secretly leave home forever. The following monologues are from a scene just
before they leave on their long journey. Just before this scene opens the two
children write a letter to God asking for protection, go to a cemetery where Mateo
has hidden a kite, attach the letter to the kite and fly it as high as it will go. At the
scene’s opening the two children cut the string and watch their wish float into the
sky.
Mateo:
Look at it fly...That’s how we’re going to be,...free. Free....We’re going to be free
when we escape.
You can’t go back, and neither can I. I can’t go back. I told you my sister Flora
heard me talk in my sleep last night. She heard me talk about our escape. That’s
why Mama tied my leg to the kitchen table, ‘cause Flora told Ma I was talking in
my sleep about going to the city. You can’t go home anymore. You can’t go
home, Clara. You can’t go home. If you go to your house, they’ll tie your leg to a
table, then you won’t be able to escape.
_________
As the scene progresses Clara begins to back out of their plan. She is afraid to
leave and insisting on going home to her family. Mateo desperately tries to
convince her to go with him. He feels he cannot go alone. She is necessary for
his freedom.
Mateo:
Nothing’s going to happen. When the Night train comes, we jump on it. We get
on and nothing will happen. I know which wagon to get on. The one with the
luggage. We hide in boxes...Come on...In the city we can sell cigarettes. Five
cents each. We’ll make money. And you can sell fruit and nuts on the sidewalk.
We could live on the church steps. I’ve seen people living there. If you don’t
come with me I’ll die. All of me will break into a million pieces. And I’ll be dead.
Dead.