Monologue Monday* - Hurrah at Last by Richard Greenberg

* From now on...I'll try to do these on a Monday. I just couldn't turn down the alliteration.

I've made a vow with fellow actor, Dennis Frymire to post a monologue that I like once every two weeks. Granted, these will probably tend toward monologues that I could do, but who KNOWS what will show up here. Maybe I'll be able to dig up 24 monologues that I like, maybe not. At the very least, it'll give me some food for though and hopefully expand my repertoire as I see what Dennis puts up there.

Also, naturally, if you like the monologue, I strongly encourage you to hunt down the play. The more stuff like this is seen and passed around, the better it is for all involved. And, I feel weird saying this, but if you happen to be a copyright holder for any material I use on here and you take offense, just let me know and I'll take it down. Weird.

The first one I'm going to use is from a play I recently discovered, called Hurrah at Last by Richard Greenberg. In this, Oliver (a playwright and occasional screen writer) is telling his friend, Laurie (a novelist) why it is going to be difficult to adapt his novel for the screen.

Oh darling - of course there's nothing wrong with the way you write. For a leisurely paced chronicle of rumination your style can't be beat. It's just that...well...your book is like the novels those English ladies write- where two hundred pages later they've poured the tea. I mean, it's virtually adaptable. You see, it comes down to the differences between the media. You've got Theatre, where I toil, which is totally irrelevant. Then you've got novels, which you do so magnificently, which are totally irrelevant as well as completely archaic. Then there are movies which, for the time being, people are still going to and, therefore, unlike those other media have to have some vitality. And I'm thinking that if I can just trump up a really strong opening shot, it'll trick people into thinking something is going to happen in the story. Which, of course, it does not.

I'm going to try and keep it around the minute / minute and a half line. If anyone else wants to join in, help yourself! I'd love to see your monologues on Monologue Monday, which won't always be on a Friday!