Clippers by Tara Meddaugh: A dramatic monologue from the one-act play, Seventeen Stitches
If you’re looking for a 2-minute dramatic monologue from a play, check out my newly released monologue, Clippers, from my one-act play, Seventeen Stitches. Clippers is appropriate for tweens, teens and young adults; it is suitable for actors of any gender. In this monologue, Peter struggles to make sense of his father’s actions and intentions. When Peter was attacked by a bully who wanted his bike, Peter’s father rescues his son, but lets the bully take the precious bike. Peter doesn’t understand why his loving father would not punish the bully, and from that moment on, feels abandoned by his father.
In the dark comedy/thriller play, Seventeen Stitches, from which this monologue comes, Peter must choose between following his father in his arduous line, or joining the line Rachel (a new mysterious friend) follows. Rachel exudes confidence about her ominous line, and Peter’s bitterness and struggle to understand leave him anxious and uncertain. As the lines close in on the duo who left in a kind of vortex-like abyss, Peter must make his decision before it is too late.
Please note that this monologue has a reference to some violence (the mentioned violence is in the free excerpt below. There is no additional violence in the complete digital copy).
EXCERPT
______________________
PETER
One summer my father gave me a bike for my birthday. I rode it everywhere—for five days. I was so happy to be able to finally get away from things and people and… A bike is fast for a kid, y’know? (pause) Then this kid down the street, Jeff Oakland, saw me with it and said he wanted it. He was a lot bigger than me, maybe 2 years older. He had garden clippers from his mom’s greenhouse and that day, he came at me with them. I put the kickstand down and told him to leave me alone. I was right outside my parents’ house, so I figured nothing could happen to me. I was safe, right? But he kept coming closer with the garden clippers and telling me to get off the bike. When I didn’t, he grabbed my right leg and held it while he dug the clippers into my leg. The blood got all over the right pedal and on the lightning decals my dad put on it. But I wouldn’t get off the bike. When he went to my left leg with the clippers, I started screaming. I yelled that my dad was gonna come out, so he better leave me alone. But when my dad did come out, when he finally came out… He—END OF EXCERPT
Click below for the complete digital 2-minute monologue, Clippers, from the one-act play Seventeen Stitches.
Click below to learn more about Peter and to read the complete one-act play, Seventeen Stitches, from which this monologue comes:
Rachel and Peter meet in a vortex-like space between opposing lines of people. While Rachel is simply passing the time before she returns to her place in line, Peter has stepped out of his line in protest. As the lines begin to close in on them, he must make a life-altering decision by choosing to continue forging his path in his father’s line, or join the haunting allure of Rachel’s line, the “line of diamonds.”
-A dark comedy/thriller, one-act play. approximately 20-25 minutes, for 2 actors (1 female, 1 male), teen or young adult.