These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich Female Audition Monologue

Transcription

1 Female Audition Monologue SCENE 20 There is a God. And he s made of time. There s a devil, and he s made of time. There are angels, miracles, and sins, and they re all made of hours. On the shore of the lake with my friends that last time. I watched the kids play and thought of my boy and girl. I watched the husbands and wives and thought of the man I love. I walked to the water. I walked in. I stood there. Small waves and grace all around. Faith at the edge of the world. And I think, lucky me, that I still believe in it all. After all of this. And then a gift. A million clocks stopped in the city. Watches closed their eyes. Their hands folded. Their faces slept. The earth stopped turning. And time stood still for just a minute, just for us. The moon came out. The stars came out. Time was kind, after all.

2 Male Audition Monologue SCENE 19 I did. I signed up. Seems like a million years ago. I saw things that no human being should ever have to see. A guy comes back from something like that, and he can t believe in God. It s impossible. That s what anyone ll tell you. I was raised to believe in God and the saints and in miracles. But then there was this war and after it, I couldn t believe in anything good. But when I first saw Katie, the first thing, the only thing I thought when I saw her face was that there had to be a God, because he made her. That was the only explanation. And I was a praying man again. Talk about a miracle. Do you know they pulled bones out of her body while she was still alive. Lifted them right out. I was going to grow old with this woman. I was going to die with her. Maybe I have. Could you tell me how to live my life now? Could you tell me what I m going to do with all this goddamn time?

3 Male/Female Audition Scene SCENE 7 We make a good team, don t we? Yeah, we do. I m beat. Maybe you need a bedtime story. Maybe I do. Well, once upon a time, there was a guy. A handsome guy. Dashing, even. A dashing guy named Tom. He wasn t only dashing, he was funny and smart and swell in general. An all-around amazing kind of dashing guy. That part gets better every time you tell it. Don t interrupt. And this amazing, dashing guy made his living welding steel in the sky. Hundreds of feet in the air. He was that kind of guy. A not-afraid-of-heights kind of guy? A loves-the-heights kind of guy. Ah. And one day, this guy, in a rare moment with his feet actually on the ground, sees a girl. He just spots her? Not just. Because there is no just with this girl. Because this girl is special. This girl is like no other girl this guy has ever known.

4 Is that the truth? The truth. Because this girl, this magnificent creature, walks like she s in the clouds, looks like she s made of gold and silver and silk And this girl, did she notice this guy? Hell, no. Which didn t stop this guy. Because, as I may have mentioned, he was amazing. And this guy, he walks up to the girl while she s waiting for the trolley and says Amazing guy that he is Hey, you want a stick of gum? To which the girl replied Get away from me. To which the guy said, Come on Just a stick. To which she said, Go away or I ll scream. To which he said, It s Wrigley s gum. Which means it s locally grown. Come on. Be a peach. Support your local gum farmers. Which made her laugh. And when she laughed, she accidentally saw his eyes, which she was trying to avoid. But what happened then? Oh, you know. Mm I forgot. She saw his eyes, and in them, between the blue and green flecks of light, she saw her past, present and everything to come all swirled together, like a crystal ball. His eyes were like that. They held her world. They told the future.

5 Female Audition Scene SCENE 8 Nice of your brother to lend you his car, Pearl. Yeah, well, just don t tell him he did, okay? You stole his car? Technically, I borrowed it. You didn t ask? I m a little fuzzy on the specifics. Borrowed without asking equals stolen, last time I checked. You can t get bogged down in those details right now, Katie. This is easy street, I tell you. I m impressed. I didn t even know you knew how to drive. Yeah. When did you learn? (proudly.) My first lesson s next week. Queens for a day. Nothing to do but pretend we re ladies of leisure. What are you talking about, Char? All this. It s a kick in the pants, ain t it, girls?

6 The lake? It s a Great Lake, Frannie. Show some respect. A Great Lake a great day. I think it must be one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the world. Not that I ve seen many, but (Noticing something down the beach with a gasp.) There are some girls down there showing a little leg. And a lot of chest. Don t look. (They all look) Try pretending its Monte Carlo. Wherever that is. You hang a left out of Peoria. Let s try pretending we re the kind of ladies who would go to Monte Carlo. First car theft Now excessive flesh Who here invited Grandma anyway? You did. Matter of fact, I was the first one you called. (Catherine and Pearl feign being insulted.) Heeeeeey! I thought I was your favorite!

7 Male/Female Audition Scene SCENE 13 Mr. Reed? Ah, Mrs. Donohue. Come in, come in. Pearl said you wanted to see me. Sit. You wanna sit down? Have a seat. I m fine, thank you. I don t want This isn t What, Mr. Reed? I m sorry. I have to do this. Do what? (no response.) Do what, Mr. Reed? I m sorry. For? I have to let you go. What? I m letting you Please. You can t.

8 You re missing too much work, Mrs. Donohue. No! Only a few days. Not that many. More than a few. No more, I promise, no more. Just let me We run a certain kind of business, Mrs. Donohue. We work a certain way. This is a good place for girls. For healthy girls. I m sorry. I didn t have to explain this much. You didn t explain You re really firing me? You ve been a great asset to For being sick? A truly wonderful worker until these past few months It s this job! There s something that s making us all You have to leave now. What about Pearl? Charlotte? Frances? What about them? What about all the other girls? Whoever can t do their job will be asked to leave. Mr. Reed I m sorry. You can t. They said I could offer you a week s pay. You should take it. If I hear of any other jobs somewhere else, I ll let you know.

9 Female Audition Scene SCENE 14 Well. Knock me over with a feather. I m almost sorry we saw him. I feel like Maybe it still wouldn t be real if he didn t name it, you know? Maybe Maybe what he said Maybe some other doctor would know what to do and wouldn t be so Maybe Dr. Dalitsch is wrong, Charlotte. There s still a chance that STOP IT, KATIE! Jesus Christ! Just shut up! You can t make it better, okay?! So stop trying with your silly optimism. It s ridiculous. God. Grow up. They did this to us! They did this and they knew it! They threw us away for a few watches! That s what we re worth! That s what you re worth! So spare me the maybe this and maybe that, okay?! It does me no good! We re on the same side, Charlotte. I m I m so sorry. I just don t I don t have anyone else to (A shift to her real heartbreak.) Who s gonna take care of my mom, Katie? Who s gonna take care of her? (Pulling herself together.) Okay. That s that, then. I better get home. You, too. Big day today, huh? I ll see you later.