Monologues for Grades 9/10

Peter from “Goin’ Down the Road”:

Those guys are three dummies.  I don’t get you.  When we were leaving, you couldn’t get out of the place fast enough.  Now you go on about some job in the cannery.  Oh, listen, Joey, it’s gonna be so different.  There you can get all kinds of jobs.  Not just sweat and dirt all the time . . . And the places to go;  we’re gonna hit some night spots, have us some good times!  No sitting in some restaurant all night or cruising up and down main street, looking for something you know damn well isn’t there . . . Joey, there’s going to be so much there, we won’t know where to begin.

Ruthie from “Distended Ear Lobes”:

Well, it isn’t exactly that he doesn’t interest me anymore.  It’s that I’m not quite sure of the chemistry.  Before it was all chemistry, and I didn’t even think about whether he interested me.  Now the chemistry is deluded and I’ve had time to consider whether or not he interests me, I mean as a person, that is.

Anyhow, whether it’s going anywhere or not, I’m having lunch with him because – now promise me not to get hysterical – he’s been looking into the Peace Corps and I’m thinking about joining up with him.  I hate my job in the office and if you’ll pardon the cliché, I want to do something worthwhile.

Actors in 9/10:  These are your two monologues.  Obviously, Peter is the boys' monologue and Ruthie is the girls'.  I do not expect you to know these on Monday after spring break, but you should have them in mind.  If you have time, you can read them out loud.  That will help you memorize it.  Eventually, you will develop a character that reflects the things you say.  Think of what your character is doing while she talks.  What makes him tell the story?  How will the character move in the piece?