10 Monologues from Characters Struggling With Memories

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

March 20, 2017

Whether it’s coping with a loss or trying to erase a memory from years past, these characters are actively struggling to overcome painful memories. If you’re looking for a strong monologue for an audition or competition or a classroom project, we’ve got ten for men and women from our collection that are sure to strike a chord.

A monologue from What Happened at the Mud Puddle by Tara Meddaugh

(Female, Dramatic, Juniors – Teens)
Chloe recounts the final moments that happened that day at the “Mud Puddle.” The girls all ended up fighting outside after it had rained and ended covered in mud. Chloe’s mom apologizes because Taylor ruined the party, but Chloe is a glass-half-full type of girl—everyone came, everyone had fun! Chloe finally confronts Taylor as to why she had to come and ransack her party. It turns out that Taylor was upset because she was one of the only people who did not get an invitation to Chloe’s soiree. Chloe thinks “Maybe I’m a mean girl too.”

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A monologue from The RTS Monologue Collection by Angela Cerrito

(Female, Dramatic, Teens – 30s)
Sabrina is suffering from PTSD after having been raped.  In this monologue, she finally decided to buy a journal for herself to help cope with her trauma.  However, upon roaming the aisles for a journal, an employee asks if there is anything he can help her with, and Sabrina is triggered again, feeling like a spectacle in the bookstore.  She brushes off his flirting and is able to take a deep breath and finally buy herself a journal, taking control of her life again.

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A monologue from If They Come Tonight by Angela Cerrito

(Female, Dramatic, 20s – 30s)
A short play made up of multiple monologues; this monologue is the Epilogue of the story.  Irena speaks to the audience after her arrest and imprisonment in Pawiak prison.  She had saved the lives of thousands of children during WWII, but she refuses to be called a hero. She only did as her contemporaries did, helping rescue children; the real heroes are the parents who were willing to let their children go.  She regrets her actions, she saved so many children, but so many perished as well; Irena only wishes she could have saved more.

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A monologue from Property by Rosary O’Neill

(Female, Dramatic, 20s)
Greed permeates this contemporary romantic comedy set in a Garden District mansion in New Orleans. A young man is caught between his dedication to his family’s past (and “property”) and his own very different future. Should he follow his heart and marry a New-Age nurse or succumb to his imperious society-driven mother Irene Dubonnet and drop her? The satire intensifies because it’s carnival in New Orleans when old and new traditions and masked traditions consume the family. Monica is reflecting on the last months of her husband’s life.

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A monologue from Burying Miss America by Brian Golden

(Female, Dramatic, College – 20s)
A funeral home in Nebraska. While her mother lays dead nearby, Jean recounts a childhood memory of watching her brother, Boxer, play outside in the rain. She remembers sitting in the kitchen watching the boy play in a storm, and her lack of desire to run outside the play with him. As she speaks, she tries to connect the behavior she remembers from childhood with a grownup understanding of why Boxer is the way he is — and why she can not be like him.

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A monologue from Side Effects Include… By DT Arcieri

(Male, Serio-Comic, 20s)
Billy, a frantic 20-something with foul language and irrational behavior is a self-proclaimed sufferer of arachnophobia, Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD all at the same time. In this monologue, he is seeing a psychiatrist for his apparent fear of clowns. The doctor is of questionable merit, which prompts Billy to challenge him in this dark, comedic monologue.

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A monologue from Norman! By DT Arcieri

(Male, Dramatic, 20s – 40s)
Norman has sought out a variety of methods to get a hold of his severe anxiety. After losing his wife and job he is willing to try anything. From conventional to new age he is on a journey to find the root of his mental illness. The following speech takes place inside of Norman’s mind. He is speaking to his dead mother who abandoned him at a young age. The memory has carried into his adult life and been the main source of his anxiety and depression. This is the first time he has could reach out to his mother. Even though it is in his mind the whole experience is very therapeutic.

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A monologue from The Sleeping World by Crystal Skillman

(Male, Dramatic, 20s – 40s)
Evening, the light is fading. The falling snow is a steady stream of white outside the window. The coldest it’s been. The scripts are scattered about on the floor. Music still plays softly, most likely Green Day now.  Various plates of half devoured frozen meals are lying about, beer bottles. Sam, Angie, Luke and Tom piled in various sweaters, jackets and blankets are huddled together in a circle drinking beer. Tom tells the other three about his time with Peter the day before Peter died.

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A monologue from Burning the Old Man by Kelly McCallister

(Male, Dramatic, 20s)
Two brothers, Marty and Bobby, are on their way to the Burning Man Festival, an annual desert gathering based on radical self expression, to bury their father’s ashes. Bobby, the younger, smokes some weed in the back seat and sets his mother’s car on fire. It then blows up. Now the two are stuck in the desert, and they are forced to confront their own worst enemies: themselves. Earth, a new age hippie type, is telling Bobby about who he used to be and who he is now.

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A monologue from Funeral Party by A. A. Gardner

(Male, Dramatic, 20s – 30s)
Trip and Gwen are sitting on the floor of the crematorium. Clay, their dead friend, lies on a metal table behind them. Clay has committed suicide, something both Trip and Gwen didn’t see coming. As the two share drinks, Trip tries to figure out what went wrong between the time Gwen last spoke to Clay and when Trip last spoke to Clay. Trip admits he heard the pleading and unhappiness in Clay’s voice when he spoke to him on the phone, but that he didn’t have a chance to leave town to see Clay — a four-hour drive north. His guilt is overpowering and he’s bewildered beyond consolation.

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Looking for other monologue collections? Check out the ones below!

Ashleigh Gardner received her AA in Theatre/Drama/Dramatic Arts from Valencia College and her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright and an actor.