10 Monologues from Rosary O’Neill

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

June 14, 2017

Are you looking for a monologue for competition or an audition that features a strong character? Performer Stuff playwright Rosary O’Neill has hundreds of monologues on our site to choose from, and these are only ten of them! Take a look at her interview from May for some more info on what she writes about and how she got started!

A monologue from Property

(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. In this monologue, Monica is reflecting on the last months of her husband’s life.

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A monologue from The Wings of Madness

(Female, Comedic, 20s)
You can’t go wrong when you combine the elements of a tacky funeral parlor on a highway outside New Orleans, a murdered beauty who taunts the audience while explaining why she was murdered and a coffin sitting in the audience (optional). Be prepared for a very Gothic evening with Claudia, a beautiful woman of uncertain age, and long shiny hair. Go into her world as she travels forward in time and sees what happened to her family. In this monologue, Claudia tries to endear visitors at the funeral parlor.

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A monologue from Marylin/God

(Female, Dramatic, 30s)
Acclaimed in Norway and work shopped with the Actors Studio, NYC, this comedy captures the effervescent humor of Marilyn Monroe confused and intrigued by the signs she must follow to climb her way into heaven. Marilyn has just died and must audition for heaven. But her judges are her 13 aborted babies. Will she get into heaven? The play explores the multi-levels of complexity of cult goddess Marilyn Monroe – her vulnerability, anger, and how Americans’ worship of beauty and fame fueled her rise to stardom. The action takes place in the mind of Marilyn on an empty stage with a chair. In this monologue, dead Marilyn Monroe (30+) on her deathbed tries to come back to life (August 5, 1962).

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A monologue from Turtle Soup

(Female, Dramatic, Teens – 20s)
Turtle Soup is a short play that builds tension between a ‘dying’ uncle (or aunt) and a young niece who is after the family inheritance. A tirade occurs over Turtle Soup and ends in the spilling of soup and the breaking of the secret as the old invalid guffaws about a joke being played on that day, April first – All Fools Day. The bedroom setting in an old New Orleans mansion creates an evocative sense of place. In this monologue, Lucille, seventeen and pregnant, begs her billionaire aunt at death’s door to leave her money.

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A monologue from Black Jack, a Thief of Possession

(Female, Dramatic, 20s)
Black Jack, the Thief of Possession exposes the greedy machinations of an eccentric Southern family squeezed into the close quarters of a Mississippi paddlewheel cruise ship for the New Year’s holiday. Matriarch Irene Dubonnet is determined to unravel the mystery of why her gorgeous daughter thinks she is a 19th century poet. Kaitlyn is channeling the poet Baudelaire, and hiding a secret. Family members don costumes for New Year’s Eve, casting off their old identities and trying to figure a new way to face Kaitlin’s disturbing news with a buoyant attitude. Blackjack is a sequel to O’Neill’s card plays Wishing Aces, and Solitaire. The selective setting of deck of a paddleboat provides atmospheric staging possibilities for sounds and flashing lights. In this monologue, Kaitlin 20+ just beginning to crack from her broken marriage. Her husband has left the masquerade party with another woman.  She talks to a crystal which she swings in her hand. The deck of the Dixie Queen paddleboat, departing from New Orleans, up the Mississippi River.

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A monologue from Solitaire

(Male, Dramatic, 20s)
The Mississippi Gulf Coast estate of Irene Dubbonet is an unforgettable place to visit, but who would want to live there? All of her relatives, who hope to inherit it! This is a play about manipulation and what happens to family members’ dreams when the odds are stacked against them. A cloud of doom hangs over Serenity Manor, until at last, virtue triumphs. Irene’s son, the artist, Rooster, deeply anxious to prove himself, connives a scheme to help his “down and out” brother-in-law seize the estate. Funny situations sparked by witty lines bring the audience into an intriguing overview of topsy-turvy privileged life today. In this monologue, Rooster defies his mother for humiliating him for being an artist.

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A monologue from Beckett at Greystones Bay

(Male, Dramatic, 20s)
The drama is based on a turning point in the life of the young writer, Samuel Beckett. Set on the exotic rocky coast of Ireland in the 1930’s, Beckett must choose between leaving his country for psychotherapy or abandoning his talent. While facing the sea, he carries on imaginary confrontations with his father, mother, sister and lovers as only Beckett can. A tour de force characterization for a stellar actor, the play exposes the contentious mind of the emerging world famous playwright. Empty space setting of Greystones Bay provides opportunities for sound and visuals. In this monologue, Samuel Beckett – a writer, 27. Sam’s father has recently died and Sam has retreated to the beach near his house. He speaks to his older brother. Greystones Bay, Ireland, winter, 1933. Dusk.

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A monologue from Degas in New Orleans

(Male, Dramatic, 20s)
Heralded by Southern Repertory Theatre as a star of their 25 year season, Degas in New Orleans explores the inner turmoil and conflict of Edgar Degas, the great French Impressionist painter, as he visits his New Orleans family to pursue painting but tumbles into bankruptcy and adultery. Edgar Degas must choose between passion and painting. This riveting play is inspired by true events in the life of Edgar Degas and is set in scandalous post Civil War Louisiana. Parlor/gallery of the old Civil War house provides poetic staging opportunities. In this monologue, René (20+) (explaining to his elder brother the painter Edgar Degas as to why he stole family money and is having an affair with his wife’s best friend) in the Degas/Musson home. New Orleans, 1872.

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A monologue from A Louisiana Gentleman

(Male, Dramatic, 20s)
A Louisiana Gentleman is a comedy that exposes Blaine Ashton, a young medical student desperate to choose among three women: his manic sixteen year-old sister, a seductive middle aged actress, and his alcoholic, duty-driven aunt. A hilarious climax forces Blaine to decide in which world he belongs and bridge the painful gap to adulthood. A Christmas reunion unites eccentric New Orleanians in a miracle of uncanny acceptance. Especially powerful roles for women and a tour de force role for a young man. One interior set in the French Quarter of New Orleans provides opportunities for background music and visuals. In this monologue, Blaine Ashton, 20+ speaks to his newborn baby about his mentally retarded sister Dale. A rainy Christmas Eve in the French Quarter, New Orleans.  Present.

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A monologue from Marie LaVeau and the Vampire

(Male, Dramatic, Teens – 40s)
Mystery/comedy about the voodoo priestess Marie LaVeau and the Vampire that tries to kill her. We’re in the deathtime of the legendary healer. Saints and other ghostly intruders threaten, block, and subvert her return to earth. The daughter of a white planter and a black free woman, Marie uses all means available to snare the Vampire and live again. We’re in her occult parlor, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. In this monologue, the vampire L’Esprit prepares to go to earth for his next victim.

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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.