SRYT Teen Repertory – Monologues
GIRLS
“The Babysitters” by Laurie Woodward
Setting: A girl is asked to babysit in a house without ever having seen the
children put to bed. She invites her friends over to keep her company
because the mood in the house is unsettling—there’s someone or something
watching their every move.
PAM
You know what I hate—really hate—about watching kids? Everything’s fine,
till you get them in bed. Oh, you may have your hands full, but the time goes
fast because you’re busy. But, once you get those kids in bed, its seems so unearthly
quiet. Even with the T.V. on, you can hear the floorboards creak in a strange house,
and the wind whistles in the walls. Sometimes, I can hardly concentrate on homework,
or a movie, ‘cause of all the little noises creeping into that dead silence. I swear the
clock moves backwards, and then it seems like no pay on earth is worth being
alone like that. I look out the windows and see all those houses—tiny islands of light—
and they seem so far away. Sometimes, I get so scared, I feel like going over and
picking up the phone and asking, “Is there anybody, anybody at all, out there?”
BOYS
“Sleuth” by Anthony Shaffer
A cat and mouse game is played out in an old, English country house between
an older man, Andrew, and his younger rival, Milo, over the hand of his wife. This classic thrillerpits two devious minds against each other in a game of survival of the
most ruthless. In this scene, Milo alerts Andrew that a real police detective is coming
to arrest him (after Milo disguises himself as one in the previous scene in order
for Milo to get Andrew to confess to murder-for-hire).
MILO
Yes, you see, about an hour ago I phoned them up and asked them to meet me here
at ten o’clock tonight. They should be here in ten minutes. It’ll be a real
policeman this time, have no fear of that. Detective Sergeant Tarrant, that’s his
name. I told him a lot about you, Andrew. I told him I know you to be a man
obsessed with games-playing and murder considered as fine art. Your life’s
ambition, of which you had spoken often, was an actual real life murder, hide the body somewhere where it couldn’t be traced to you and then leave clues linking you with the crime, strewn about the house in the certain knowledge that the pedestrian and simple minded police wouldn’t recognize them for what they were. You’re done for
Andrew. As they say in tennis-- Game…set…match.