Auditions for HI/DI/Duo will be on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, beginning immediately after school in the speech/debate room. You must perform a 1 minute cutting from the dramatic monologue and a 1 minute cutting from the comedic monologue. You may cut as you see fit. You may also interweave a balanced cutting of the dramatic/comedic monologues to make a full 2 minute uninterrupted monologue. Selected script/s may be presented to you at auditions for you to perform a cold reading. Final cast list for the HI/DI/Duo will be posted on Friday, September 6, 2019, at the conclusion of school.
Audition - Male
Dramatic
The Darker Side of Me
Author - Joseph Arnone
In the drama monologue, The Darker Side of Me, Lucky talks about how he crossed over to his darkest self and almost did something horrific.
Lucky: I went there…I kept looking for it, someone, anything…I wanted to release the feelings exploding inside of me because I couldn’t cope with anyone ever making you feel afraid. I couldn’t take it. I had to make those idiots feel what fear was all about.
I waited, outside for hours and hours…no one would come in or out of the house. I took it up with the streets of the neighborhood. I walked determined to find someone who would give me a wrong look, someone who could start in on me, I was begging for it.
…I remember passing a group of men and I stared directly into all of them and they weren’t the kind of men you want to stare directly into but I didn’t care, I didn’t care about my own life, I felt too much and I wanted it so bad, I wanted them to make a move so bad I could taste the blood in my mouth…but they didn’t, they wouldn’t even look at me and when I walked passed them, I felt a sudden sadness because what I was feeling, all this anger I felt, had nothing to do with any of them. They were all innocent men who had absolutely nothing to do with what I had going on inside myself.
It was then that I realized how foolish I’d been. I was willing to throw it all away and for what? For what? I was willing to hurt innocent people for no good reason other than the fact that I was blaming them for something they had nothing to do with.
Slowly, I was able to bring myself back to reality. God knows how close I almost came to destroying everything. I’ve regretted my actions ever since.
I was lucky.
*Posted with edits to the original monologue*
Comedic
The Quality of My Work Life
Author: Joseph Arnone
In The Quality of My Work Life, Albert is forced to confront his boss about how his bad breath is affecting his work life happiness.
ALBERT: Excuse me? Hi Maxwell, hi, hi…umm…can I ask you a personal question? (beat) Okay, thanks, I do feel a bit awkward asking you this but I’m, I really, really need to know, so…okay…are you ill? Ill as in, sickly?
(beat)
No? Okay, no digestive problems of any sort? How’s your stool, is your stool a normal color after you go? Hmm. You eat healthy? …I’m sorry, I know it’s a bit forward of me but I’m trying to make sense out of it. It is the darndest thing, the darndest thing.
I’m trying to make some kind of sense as to why I am always feeling faint when you speak in my face…like, I’m just sitting down in my cubicle all by myself, working hard cause I’m diligent and there you are, standing over me like a breathing dragon…my face goes numb, my arm, I get dizzy and I sweat…a lot and it’s not cause I’m nervous…and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
It’s your breath.
Now that may come as a shock to you but I promise you that the quality of my work life has decreased by a margin of half. That’s fifty-precent less joy in my spirit while I’m here.
Sometimes I scratch my cheek and sniff my finger and I can still smell you from your visit. I have to shower as soon as I get home. It’s wrong. You are so wrong.
I spoke to Elaine cause one day she came into my cubicle just after you left and she asked me what that terrible odor was and I told her that you had come into my cubicle and spoke for a very long period of time and she just nodded and ran out…later that same day I asked her if she was okay and she did in fact hurl in the ladies room. Mark broke out into a rash on his neck this one time and it wasn’t cause his tie was too tight and Sam, well, we all know Sam don’t work here no more and I very much liked Sam.
Please don’t talk.
Now I like working here, been here for fifteen precious years but you are hurting your tribe, Maxwell. You need to figure out the issue and stay out of my cubicle until you do because I may go rogue up in here.
Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m too much of a wimp to go rogue but I would if I could but I can’t so I won’t but you can and you should cause you must…figure out your problem.
Author: Joseph Arnone
In The Quality of My Work Life, Albert is forced to confront his boss about how his bad breath is affecting his work life happiness.
ALBERT: Excuse me? Hi Maxwell, hi, hi…umm…can I ask you a personal question? (beat) Okay, thanks, I do feel a bit awkward asking you this but I’m, I really, really need to know, so…okay…are you ill? Ill as in, sickly?
(beat)
No? Okay, no digestive problems of any sort? How’s your stool, is your stool a normal color after you go? Hmm. You eat healthy? …I’m sorry, I know it’s a bit forward of me but I’m trying to make sense out of it. It is the darndest thing, the darndest thing.
I’m trying to make some kind of sense as to why I am always feeling faint when you speak in my face…like, I’m just sitting down in my cubicle all by myself, working hard cause I’m diligent and there you are, standing over me like a breathing dragon…my face goes numb, my arm, I get dizzy and I sweat…a lot and it’s not cause I’m nervous…and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
It’s your breath.
Now that may come as a shock to you but I promise you that the quality of my work life has decreased by a margin of half. That’s fifty-precent less joy in my spirit while I’m here.
Sometimes I scratch my cheek and sniff my finger and I can still smell you from your visit. I have to shower as soon as I get home. It’s wrong. You are so wrong.
I spoke to Elaine cause one day she came into my cubicle just after you left and she asked me what that terrible odor was and I told her that you had come into my cubicle and spoke for a very long period of time and she just nodded and ran out…later that same day I asked her if she was okay and she did in fact hurl in the ladies room. Mark broke out into a rash on his neck this one time and it wasn’t cause his tie was too tight and Sam, well, we all know Sam don’t work here no more and I very much liked Sam.
Please don’t talk.
Now I like working here, been here for fifteen precious years but you are hurting your tribe, Maxwell. You need to figure out the issue and stay out of my cubicle until you do because I may go rogue up in here.
Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m too much of a wimp to go rogue but I would if I could but I can’t so I won’t but you can and you should cause you must…figure out your problem.