Thursday, April 30, 2015

"Demons" popular dramatic monologue for male or female from a published play

"Demons" is a dramatic piece for one actor (or two if you have non-speaking second person) about someone tormented by evil spirits trapped inside. 

DEMONS BY D. M. LARSON (DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE ADAPTED FROM A PUBLISHED PLAY "HOLY GROUND" ISBN-13: 978-1502875990)

DEMONS BY D. M. LARSON (DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE ADAPTED FROM A PUBLISHED PLAY "HOLY GROUND" ISBN-13: 978-1502875990)

Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved

Please do NOT repost the text of this play online in any way.

TURK

Don't get any closer.  I don't want to hurt you.  

I've been trying to hide them.  I wanted to protect you.  I hid the truth from you.  I wanted to keep you safe.  But there's no place where we can hide.  

Look into my eyes.  Can you see them?  Can you see them looking out at you?  Can you see the darkness in me?   I want them out of me.  I want to rip them out of my soul.  But they cling to me. Holding on so tight... so tight that I can't breathe.

Can you show me how to get rid of them?  Can you help me?

You're getting too close.  I don't want them to hurt you.  

Please don't hurt her too.  Please leave her alone.  You have me... you don't need her too.  

See what you've done.  You've made them angry.  They are punishing me.  They always punish me.  They want to punish you too.

I can't let you!  No!  But I have to... it's the only way to make the pain inside me go away.  

Lift me up... I feel like I am falling... I'm drowning inside.  You feel so far away.  I feel like nothing can reach me.  I'm lost.  I'm so weak.  Please... I can't take this much longer.  I can't do this anymore.  How can I live with this pain inside me?  

There's no place we can hide.  We'll never escape them.  

Run!  Run before they find you!  I am hell bound. They are burned in my soul.  They are a part of me. But there is still hope for you.

Hope... there's no hope anymore... I'm too far gone... buried... buried deep inside this tomb... lost and undone.  My kingdom has come, his will was done... I am beyond heaven and earth... there is no deliverance from this evil.

Why are you still here?  Save yourself.  Please... you can't.  You're not strong enough. You can't stop them.  

You can never take them from me.

END OF SCRIPT



This monologue is adapted from the following scene:


PROLOGUE TO HOLY GROUND - NO DELIVERANCE FROM THIS EVIL


(In near darkness, Molly approaches Turk who is on the floor in pain. Molly wants to help him but is afraid)


MOLLY
Turk, what’s wrong?


TURK
Don’t get any closer. I don’t want to hurt you.


MOLLY
Why would you hurt me?


TURK
I’ve been trying to hide them. I wanted to protect you. I hid the truth from you. I wanted to keep you safe.


MOLLY
Safe? Safe from what?


TURK
Look into my eyes. Can you see them? Can you see them looking out at you? Can you see the darkness in me? I want them out of me. I want to rip them out of my soul. But they cling to me. Holding on so tight... so tight that I can’t breathe.


(Turk grabs her. She is scared but doesn’t pull away)


TURK
Can you show me how to get rid of them? Can you help me?


MOLLY
I want to help. What can I do?


(Turk pushes her away)


TURK
You’re getting too close. I don’t want them to hurt you.


(Turk pleads with something invisible that Molly can’t see)


TURK (CONT.)
Please don’t hurt her too. Please leave her alone. You have me... you don’t need her too.


(Molly grabs Turk and shakes him)


MOLLY
Who are you talking to? Turk, there’s nothing there.


TURK
See what you’ve done. You’ve made them angry. They are punishing me. They always punish me. They want to punish you too.


(Turk turns to Molly with an angry look in his eye and moves toward her with his fists clenched)


MOLLY
Stop. You’re scaring me. What are you doing?!


TURK
I can’t let you! No! But I have to... it’s the only way to make the pain inside me go away.


(Turk moves to attack her and Molly screams. Turk falls to the floor before he can touch her and lays still a moment)


MOLLY
What happened to you? What’s going on?


TURK
Lift me up... I feel like I am falling... I’m drowning inside. You feel so far away. I feel like nothing can reach me. I’m lost. I’m so weak. Please... I can’t take this much longer. I can’t do this anymore. How can I live with this pain inside me?


MOLLY
Then let me help you. Let me share the pain. Open up to me. Let me inside and I will fight this with you.


(Turk jumps up and looks for a way out of the room)


TURK
There’s no place we can hide. We’ll never escape them. Run! Run before they find you! I am hell bound. They are burned in my soul. They are a part of me. But there is still hope for you.


MOLLY
I’m not leaving you. I’m here to stay. I will stay by your side and we can stop this together. Let me give you strength. Let me give you hope.


TURK
Hope... there’s no hope anymore... I’m too far gone... buried... buried deep inside this tomb... lost and undone. My kingdom has come, his will was done... I am beyond heaven and earth... there is no deliverance from this evil.


(Turk turns on her again. He is crying now. She tries to touch him but he pushes her away and falls to his knees)


TURK (CONT.)
Why are you still here? Save yourself. Please... you can’t. You’re not strong enough. You can’t stop them.


(He hisses his last line quietly like he is possessed)


TURK (CONT.)
You can never take them from me.


END OF PROLOGUE



Low cost PDF of scene: https://sellfy.com/p/yz6Z/

from
“Holy Ground” 
ISBN-13: 978-1502875990
Book: 
PDF:




This monologue is adapted from the published play "Holy Ground" available on Amazon.com:

popular dramatic monologue for male or female from a published play




Shadows of the Past - mega monologue mashup mix - longer version of popular solo script Much Madness

I seem to be creating a lot of these mashup monologues that are a mix of other monologues for actors who need longer versions.  It's a fun challenge and it seems to work since some of my characters have a similar voice and perspective. This one is created from:

Much Madness
Ghosts I've Known
Staying Power 
Wishing

Purchase a low cost PDF of this script at https://sellfy.com/p/5yIH/


"Shadows of the Past" 
by D. M. Larson 

(Janey is in a garden watching the stars in the sky.  She becomes upset when someone approaches)

JANEY
I was hoping I could be alone out here in the garden. No one ever comes here in the evening. I wanted to be here for the stars. 

(Angrily)

I don't want anything - and I don't want to talk anymore - can I please be by myself? That's all you've done here - poke, prop, and pry - I've never felt so violated before - I just want to be left alone.

(Pause)

I don't like being around anyone. I get upset when I'm in a room full of people. 

(Pause. afraid)

I get really scared - I almost feel like I can't breathe - I just need to be alone, Doctor - I know you don't really care - you're simply doing your job - once I'm "better" you'll be though with me - then it's on to another patient - you're just like anyone else -

(Almost shouting)

You probably haven't cared about any patient in years - that would be unprofessional - an unnecessary burden on your conscience - Please, just go - I know what I need better than you -

You're not God, you know - you don't have the powers to cure everything - I know what you can and can't do -Go on - get out of here!

(Pause - she gets an evil smile)

Relax? 

(Laughs)

How can I relax with you bothering me all the time? If there's another way, I'd like to know how -

(Pause. Turns away)

Is there anything else you wish to pry out of me?  No?  Good - then goodnight -

(JANEY starts weeding the flower bed)

I thought you were leaving -  Sorry but I'm busy - I'm killing weeds - Cultivating beauty by killing the ugly - it's an odd practice - in reality its weeds on which the soil feeds -

(Stops)

But few people find the truth as fulfilling - If only you had planted something more useful - beans, or tomatoes, then the sacrifice might be worthwhile - but flowers, they're more difficult to justify - Frail beauty - that's all they are - cultivated for weakness - and has very little nutritional value - in the end they never can satisfy - always a disappointment as they wither and die - Frail and weak - a light frost would snap its neck -

(JANEY breaks the head off a flower)

So easily smitten by one little insect -

(JANEY holds up broken bud to a weed)

The choice is so easy for most - Yet it's not - I suppose most people don't give it much thought -

(Looks up at sky)

I know a story of a man who had a plant which most called a useless weed - it turned out the weed was a cure for cancer - but the weed was nearly extinct so no one got the cure - do you believe in such a thing? Do you believe in anything? 

(Pause)

Oh, never mind - I guess to you most beliefs are only fables -

(Throws both plants down - upset)

No one really cares, do they? They pay you to care - everywhere it's the same way - People should only fix what's broken - Why couldn't you all just leave me alone? Nothing was wrong with me before you found me - I was happy at home - alone - shut out from then world - protected -

(Pause. Calms a moment. Grows sadder)

I had to be alone - I - I needed to hide - I had no choice - I had to get away - I couldn't live like the others anymore -

(Angry)

Why do you want to know all this?

(Furious)

I said I don't want to talk anymore! Leave me alone! I don't have to tell you anything! I'm not a little kid.

(Bends over and buries her face in her hands)

There's so much you don't know - I just need to be alone - Why can't they leave me alone? 

(She sees something)

But I'm never alone - There's always someone - Or something - Around me - Following me -  They're always near - Spirits - Ghosts - Shadows of the past - Ghosts have always been with me. Not by choice. At least not on my part. It just happens. I don't want to believe... but they've forced themselves on me. 

(Thoughtful) 

Perhaps the old Indian woman did it to me. I lived in her house too long as a child.

(Looks at ceiling)

At night, footsteps paced the ceiling. Over and over, an impatient march, forever in step to a silent drum. If only this had been my only encounter, I could dismiss it. "The house is settling," my mother said... but this wasn't all the house did. Lights dimmed and glowed. Her ghostly will stronger than the new world magic conjured by GE. I slept in my room. Well, not really slept. Sleep was never something I did much of, especially early on. My worries at seven far outweighed my need for sleep. Awake. Forever awake. My father had left me. My mother... I was always worried mother would leave me too. I wish the ghosts would go. But they linger. Always lingering. Never really gone. The old Indian woman was my first. She rocked at my beside, all in white. My eyes met hers. Her eyes giving me a worried look as if I were the one who had expired. Fear making my head sink deeply into covers. My eyes entombed by my lids. How long she waited, I'll never know. By dawn I ventured a look. She was gone... or perhaps she was never there. Thinking the apparition a dream, I told my family and their eyes betrayed them. Others had known her too. Mother had a vision. She did not go questing for it though. The old Indian, young to most who saw her, once lived on this land. A servant. A girl died here, she at her side... at her side rocking... and the girl died. I wish I could have been there for her too... Spirits dog me. Just when I no longer believe, they appear. Flashing white lights. A cold touch. They return. Even now. But this time it was too much. Another place. Another spirit. This time it was someone I knew.

(Slowly turns to panic during following)

It started with the call. The news that she had gone away. Finding myself in tears. Tears sapping me dry. Would the tears ever stop? Pain like a thick metal pole shoved up your ass.

(Tries to calm herself but panics again)

I had lost everything. An emptiness replaced love, anxious to find, nothing there... no body anyway, but something. Something that opens doors, something leaving tissue by the bed. The dog barking at nothing... but something. Finding things in new places, things missing. The locked door... open.

(Tries to calm herself)

Explanations fly. Knowledge our protection.

(Thinks a moment. Frowns and shivers)

It began with the cold. Spots of cold. A moment of normal then cold, as if the heat were sucked into another dimension. These don't bother me as much as the touch. A handless touch of nothing. Something grabbed by arm but no one was there.

(Pulls back in fear and runs. She falls to the ground)

I ran for bed, buried myself in covers and waited for dawn.

(She curls up in a ball. Pause)

You're never too old to hide under the covers. Wrapping yourself up into a cocoon. Hoping that when you emerge life will be butterflies again.

(She sighs and sits up)

But only children believe in butterflies.

(She rises again)

Adults know... or learn... that life is full of moths, caterpillars, and worms.

(Pause)

But when I'm alone... fear sets in. I wonder... do I really want to be alone? Maybe their visits comfort me.

(She seems to see someone else)

Was it you that touched me that day?

(Sadly)

And if you are still here, why do I feel so alone?

(Sees Doctor again and gets upset, almost in a panic)

Please, stay away. She won't visit me if you're here. Please. Go!

(Turns back to the new person she sees)

Mother? Mother is that you?

(Sits up quickly - startled)

Mother!

(Breathing hard - cries - the person is gone - she calms down) 

I'm sorry - I'm so sorry - There's usually no one to listen - at least no one who's willing to bend - Why are you still here? What's the use of talking if it doesn't do anyone any good?  

(sighs - doctor won't leave)

Do you believe in an afterlife? Like heaven and angels and pearly gates - free of all Earthly strife - I think it's a lot less defined than that - I think maybe we all end up a part of greater whole - a tiny molecule in a bigger being or a little star in a vast universe - we'll return to where we came from - whether it's God, the Great Spirit, or something else - but I know that's where we will be - Everything around me seems to point to the same conclusion - "ashes to ashes - dust to dust" - where we begin is where we end - the Earth gives us life through what we eat and we give her life when we die - the source is the finish - rain that feeds the river comes from the sea - to each beginning there is a definable end - 

(she looks at the sky and smiles)

I know it's getting dark but I don't want to go back inside anymore - I don't like my room - this is where I want to stay -

(Looks at doctor)

You can't keep me caged any longer - The locked doors won't hold me anymore - Did you know I can fly?

(She looks up at the night sky)

I'm leaving all the Earthly matters to you - I belong near a different sun -

(Points to a star)

I wish I were that star over there - The little one next to Orion - that way I'd never be lonely - It's so free  out there - no one can touch you or hurt you - you can simply shine - People don't like it when you shine - that's why stars are up there and not down here - humans think the brightness is offensive -

(Pause - looks and smiles at the stars)

My mother is a star now - She always seemed like one to me - but stars don't like it very well where they can't be stars anymore -

(Pause - grows sad)

I want to be a star - stars having meaning - stars I understand - Now those stars up there in the sky have staying power. I can always count on them. I can always look up and know they'll be there for me. The stars on Earth burn out too quickly. They have a moment where they shine so bright but then poof. They're gone. A memory. Sometimes not even that. But with the stars in the sky, I know they'll be there night after night, always there for me to make a wish. 

I make wishes all the time. I watch for the first star each night and say... 

"Star light star bright, first star I see tonight... I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight..." I always make the same wish, but I can't tell you what it is. Then it might not come true. I really want it too. It would change my life.

I would always go to wishing wells with lucky pennies... Those pennies you find that people have lost... Unlucky for them... Lucky for me... Then I toss them in the wishing well in front of the old museum. And I toss them in the fountain at the park... Each time making my wish.

Have you ever wanted anything that badly in your life? So badly that you can't imagine your future without it?

I would be so sad if my life wasn't different... If things didn't change... If I was still stuck here... In this life. But I won't stop wishing... I can't...

I don't want to be left with nothing... I want some meaning... A reason things my life turned out this way.  I want this suffering to be worth while.

END

Purchase a low cost PDF of this script at https://sellfy.com/p/5yIH/

Adapted originally from the short play "Much Madness" http://freedrama.net/madness.html

Find more free monologues at http://www.freedrama.net/small1.html

mega monologue mashup mix - longer version of popular solo script Much Madness


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

"Fear and Love" by Shiela Larson - monologue for male or female - romantic and emotion solo stage script for woman or man

This is my wife's second monologue she has contributed to Freedrama (her first was "Mama" which has been popular). This is a very powerful and emotional monologue about the challenges of love.

For permission to use this monologue, contact doug@freedrama.net (please include the title "Fear and Love" in your request).

"Fear and Love" 
By Shiela Larson

NELL
When I first saw you it wasn't love at first sight, it was more like "Hey how's it going?".  We became friends and had our own lives, never did I think we had so much in common.  One day I began to notice you more and more, I started to see how you really were.  You wanted people to think you were one thing but I saw through it.  You were very kind, misunderstood, and was in need of love.  It occurred to me you were in danger, holding on by a thread and needed to be sewed back together.  Going against what my brain was thinking and going with my heart and soul I decided to pursue you.  People judged, gossiped, and outright hated us.  Trying to pull us apart, they were almost successful.  The fear in us, the "What if's?" and "Why are we doing this?" swarmed our minds.  No matter where we went it followed.  Finally we broke, pieces of us were scattered around us.  Trying to put myself back together I felt it was unsuccessful, I needed one last part to my life, you.  Starting to think about being with you made me scared, the biggest thought was the idea of breaking apart again.  Love is a scary part of life, the best and the worst is brought out of love.  I felt that I would rather be scared than broken for the rest of my life.  Now I feel whole, being held together by glue, most likely there will be cracks in this love, but the glue will put it back together again.  Fear will never go away, it will always rear it's ugly face around.  The fear is different now.  I've come to accept it but at the same time dread the idea.  The idea that I know one day you will be gone.  This fear makes me feel weak, to know there is nothing I can do to stop it.  The only thing I can do is make the most of what we have now and prepare myself for the future.

END
***


From the play "When Mel Fell for Nell" by D. M. Larson available on Amazon.com







Dramatic monologue for male - Falling Away from You - solo stage play script



Saturday, April 25, 2015

"Find Yourself a Nice Girl" short play script for two actors - duologue for man and woman - Historical fiction musical romance - Billie Holiday

This is a duologue for two actors - 1 teen male and 1 older female in her 30's. 
For permission to use this script, contact doug@freedrama.net (please include the title "Find Yourself a Nice Girl" in the request.
"Find Yourself a Nice Girl"
by D. M. Larson
(The year is 1940. Billie Holiday is a singer in her dressing room after a show. She is getting freshened up. She sprays on some perfume. There is a knock at door)
Billie
There he is. Let's see who the fine gentleman is 
who has been sending me gifts?
(She laughs when she sees Grant, who is a young teenager - He was trying to look very grown up so he is embarrassed by her laughter)
Billie
You're just a kid!
Grant
I'm not a kid. I'm nearly 16... in a  year or two.
Billie
You look like you've hardly lived. All clean cut in those dandy clothes. 
You look like you've never seen a sad day in your life. Let me see those hands. 
Clean as can be. Not even an honest days work on those hands. 
Those are little boy hands. And here you are waltzing in here like a man, 
giving me grown up gifts like flowers and candy and perfume. 
You know where I was at your age? Prison. I was locked up for being too stupid... 
Or too greedy... To say no. I wish I could have said no. 
Sometimes I wonder how it all got so bad.
Grant
But everything got better. Look at you now.
Billie
Yes, look at me.
(She does a sexy pose and he gets flustered)
Grant
You're successful. You're a star. 
Billie 
I know I've got at least one fan. Where'd you get the money to buy 
all those presents you sent me? You a bit crooked too? Did you steal some of it?
Grant
No, ma'am.
Billie
Ma'am? Ha! I ain't some old lady - Call me Billie.
Grant
Ok Billie.
Billie 
So out with it. What's with all the gifts? Did you beg, borrow or steal?
Grant 
I'm from a wealthy family. I used my allowance.
Billie
That's quite an allowance you get.
Grant
Do you not like what I got you? I heard these were your favorite flowers... 
and the guy at the store said these are the chocolates you'd buy there.
Billie
Oh my goodness gracious! I have myself a genuine stalker!
Grant 
No ma'am. I mean, no Billie. It's not like that.
Billie
You come to all my shows, you sneak around to all the places I go and find out what I buy... 
who knows where else you've followed me. You're a stalker.
Grant
Please don't say that. I'm sorry. I meant to be a gentleman. I wanted to impress you.
Billie 
Oh don't worry. I don't mid stalkers, especially cute ones like you. 
Grant
Oh Billie... could I...
(He moves toward her but he gets shy and stops- she moves closer to him)
Billie 
Could you what?

(He pulls a pen and paper from his pocket)
Grant
Get your autograph?

(Billie laughs)
Billie 
That's the least I could do. 

(She signs his autograph book and blows on it sexually)
Billie (Cont.)
That all you want?
Grant
I don't know. I never thought I'd get to meet you like this. I always wanted to.  
I always fantasize about it. I mean dream... I mean... this is so hard.
Billie
Just relax. I'm not gonna bite.
Grant
I was so much smoother when I imagined this.
Billie 
What were you going to do?
Grant
I was going to waltz in here and walk up behind you as you were doing your hair 
and look at you through the mirror and smile and say, "Did you like the flowers?" 
I take one a put it in your hair. And you smile and say, "They're my favorite." 
Then I'd take your hand and kiss it and say "my name is Humphrey Grant." 
And you'd blush... for some reason you were the shy one in my fantasy. 
(She pretends to be shy and holds out her hand. He takes it and kisses it)
Billie
See that wasn't so difficult.
Grant 
Thank you for seeing me. You're very kind.
Billie 
Not really. I'm not a very good person but you're a very nice boy 
and I respect that and want to treat you kindly for some reason. 
Maybe it's all the flowers and perfume but I just want to be nice to you. 
Just this once though.
Grant
I understand.
Billie 
Don't be sad. I just don't think this would work out for us. 
We're from two different worlds and mine ain't fit for a nice young man like you. 
I'm not the good person you fantasized about.  Go find yourself a nice girl.
Grant
I doubt there's any girl as great as you.
Billie
The only girl who's great is that fantasy one in your head. Even I can't live up to her. 
(She gives him a little kiss. He is in heaven)
Billie (Cont.)
That's all you're getting. Now get out of here before I call security you little stalker.
Grant
Yes, ma'am. 
Billie
Watch it.
Grant
Ok Billie.


(He gives her a little wave and she blows him a kiss. He catches the kiss and puts it in his pocket and goes)
(Billie turns back to her mirror and sings her song "You can't take that away from me")
Billie
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No, no they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No, no they can't take that away from me
We may never, never meet again
On the bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No, no they can't take that away from me
No, they can't take that away from me
We may never, never meet again
On that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of
The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you change my life
No, no they can't take that away from me
No, they can't take that away from me
END
***
Find more free duologues (scenes for 2 actors) at http://www.freedrama.net/small2.html

short play script for two actors - duologue for man and woman - Historical fiction musical romance - Billie Holiday



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