AP3 The Monodrama

AP3 THE MONODRAMA
FROM INTERPRETIVE READING MANUAL

Time: 5-7 minutes
Objectives:
(1) To understand the concept and nature of the monodrama.
(2) To assume the identity of a character and to portray the physical and emotional aspects of this character to an audience.

Script read by toastmaster Constance Ng from Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club(reproduced with permission):

Title: Unrequited Love
"I have always wanted to believe everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by love’s sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for a moment, just for the night.

And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The kind that almost kills its victims. It is called unrequited love. Of that I am an unwilling victim. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other, who live happily ever after. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, what about those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a reserved parking space! Yes, I am one such individual. How pathetic! And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst 3 Christmases, the worst 3 Birthdays, and the worst 3 New Years Eves, which were brought in by tears and followed by sedatives. Those years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who can not, does not, and will not love me back. Oh god, but I love him! Just the sight of him will render my heart pounding! My throat thickening! My knees weakening! I absolutely can't breathe! I absolutely cant’ move! And how such feelings can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. No matter how hard you try to escape, no matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night depressed and empty, going over every detail of your meeting with him. You keep on wondering what you did wrong, or what you did not do right. And you keep on wondering how, for those brief stolen moments of seeing him, you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll want to see you, and show up at your door. And of course you are disappointed!

And after all that, however deep the disappointment is, you'll somewhat recover. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And slowly, the little pieces of your disjointed soul will come back. And all the awful memories of those wasted years, all the painful memories of your unrequited love, will eventually begin to fade, before you then experience another round of unrequited love."

- a monologue by Iris Simpkins (portrayed by Kate Winslet) in the movie 'The Holiday' (2006)