Teen/Tween Monologue about Confronting a Bully from "What Happened at the Mud Puddle"
Have you heard the phrase, “hurt people hurt people?” It’s been used enough to sound a little cliche, but there’s truth to it. In my one-act play, What Happened at the Mud Puddle, our main tween antagonist is Taylor. She makes fun of others, steals boyfriends, hogs the spotlight, and acts out of spite in true “mean girl” fashion. She has a lot of learning and growing to do, well beyond this play. But even though she’s left a lot of people hurt in her wake, she has her own hurt and insecurity too.
This monologue takes place toward the end of the play, after Taylor has alienated all the guests at her extravagant yacht soiree and they’ve left to come to Chloe’s simple backyard birthday party. Taylor arrives at Chloe’s house—very angry and humiliated. Someone gets pushed in a mud puddle…And Taylor walks away, defeated. Chloe’s monologue recounts her final private confrontation with Taylor, where she realizes why this whole feud even started...and how Chloe is perhaps not entirely innocent either…
What Happened at the Mud Puddle is a comedy that runs around 25 minutes, with a nice ensemble cast of 12 roles (8 female, 4 male). It has a lot of great monologues, so while it’s good in-person theater, it also transitions easily to zoom or virtual productions.
Chloe’s monologue runs about 2-3 minutes. You can read an excerpt of Chloe’s Monologue below, get the entire monologue here, and you can read the whole play, published by YouthPLAYS here.
________________________
CHLOE
Taylor walks away, back to the limo down the street. My mom puts her arm around me and says she’s sorry the party is ruined. But it’s not. I mean, we’re covered in mud, but…people came, and they played the games and did the ice cream bar, so…we had a good time.
(pause)
But Taylor is…defeated. Even Grace is a little stunned and not following her.
(pause)
Taylor’s alone. I know how that feels.
(pause)
So I catch up to her and touch her shoulder. She flinches for a second, like there’s a bee on her shoulder or something. Her parents get out of the limo and it looks like they’re gonna freak out about her dress, but she tells them it’s fine and to give her a minute. And I’m like…
(pause)
“Why did you do this, Taylor?”
(pause)
And she’s like…“How can you not know?” And I’m like, “I can’t read minds. I didn’t steal your boyfriend or kill your cat or something. Why’d you try to take away my birthday party?”
(pause)
And then…she looks like…Taylor. Like, the girl who used to French braid my hair on the bus and the girl who went ice skating with me and gave me money to buy hot chocolate and wouldn’t let me pay her back. She’s like, she’s like, my friend again. She’s real. But…she’s sad. And she tells me—END OF EXCERPT. Click here for the complete monologue, Chloe’s Monologue from What Happened at the Mud Puddle.