The Reason I'm Single: Included in "10 Female Monologues from Love Sick Characters" Theatre Nerds

We’re less than a month away from Valentine’s Day and I know y’all have seen all that pink-heart stuff in CVS the moment the Christmas stuff went on sale! On this “love note”, I’m happy my piece, The Reason I’m Single, was included in this collection from Theatre Nerds of 10 Female Monologues From Love Sick Characters (Ashleigh Gardner). About the collection, Gardner writes:

Competition and audition season is quickly approaching! Have you found your monologue yet? If not, we have you covered. Below are 10 monologues (5 dramatic and 5 comedic) from love-sick female characters who have a bone to pick with love.

In my comedic/dramatic monologue, The Reason I’m Single, Rebecca finally admits to her friend, Kelly, why she doesn’t have a boyfriend. And it’s not why Kelly thinks… As of this post, PerformerStuff is the only place you can get the monologue too (you can read an excerpt and more info there).

Hope you’re not lovesick for real, but it’s good theater playing someone who is!

February Newsletter: Love-centered theater abounds!

Enjoy this Valentine newsletter packed full of love-centered theater! Quirky, desperate, funny, longing, jealous or hopeful--these pieces are layered and memorable, and approach love from all sorts of unique angles (fingernail hearts anyone?). Then watch Barbara Rene Moore’s captivating and chilling performance of my monologue, Dinner at Canale's.

13 Monologues about Love for Men

In this compilation, I’ve chosen ten (10) unique monologues of male characters who really dig into the idea of love from one angle or another. From a drugstore clerk smitten with a customer to a man begging his ex to forgive him of his criminal charges to a Klingon hoping his love can be a plotline, enjoy these ten (10) unique and memorable monologues about love!

You can browse each monologue individually below, or you can check out the monologue compilation packet: 10 Monologues About Love for Men, containing all ten (10) unique, compelling and memorable monologues for male characters (a great value at only $9.99 for all 10 monologues!). Monologues range in length from 1 minute to 5 minutes, or more, depending on performance, and are suitable for adult, or older teen, actors. Please note: while roles in these monologues are written for gender-specific characters, actors of any gender may feel free to play any role they connect with.

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11 Short Plays About Love

As Valentine’s Day is rounding the corner, I’ve compiled a collection of eleven (11) short plays, all centering around the idea of love, from various angles. Whether marrying out of spite, longing for romance in another world, or sacrificing for your life partner, these plays showcase high stakes drama about love. The roles and worlds created in these plays are unique and memorable, making for fun theatrical challenges for actors, directors, designers and production teams. Enjoy!

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14 Monologues about Love for Women

How many plays, movies or books center around the main character looking for love? If you reflect back on hit movies, favorite books, or well-known plays (even taking all the Hallmark Christmas rom-coms out of the mix!), you will probably come up with a list that shows at least half (dare I say 3/4?) of popular stories center around the idea of finding or chasing love. There’s a reason for this. Besides the fact that we all need and want some form of love in our lives, pursuing love is dramatic. Characters put a lot on the line hoping for love. Intense emotions make their way to the surface—extreme jealousy, pitiful desperation, raging anger, divine passion. So if you’re looking to make an impact performing a short piece of drama (while showcasing some memorable acting or directing chops), using a monologue about love can be a great option.

A week before Valentine’s Day, I’ve compiled nine (9) unique monologues of female characters who really dig into the idea of love from one angle or another. The love in these monologues is not clean or perfect; these experiences with love are complicated, layered, sometimes funny, sometimes dark, sometimes desperate, hurt, or empowered. But that’s another reason they make for interesting and challenging drama. From a heart made out of fingernails to a jealous iphone to a pregnant newlywed whose husband is fighting in a war, enjoy these unique and memorable monologues about love!

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9 Memorable Monologues about Scorned Love: Monologue Compilation Packet

Some people are lucky enough to hold onto beautiful romantic love all their adult lives, but if you’re looking for a dramatic piece more on the “sadder but wiser” side of love, check out these nine (9) monologues about “scorned love.” That’s right—all of these characters have had their loved one betray them, leave them or never love them back to begin with. ☹ Of course, their responses to a love lost are varied: we have hopeful or pleading, to angry or downright criminal. But in each case, these monologues make for a fun acting challenge. Whether you’re playing a man bleeding out at a hospital, a betrayed woman by a chopped down tree, or a teen whose truck-jumping-stunt did not quite win him the love of his dreams, enjoy these nine unique monologues about “scorned love!”

You can check out each monologue individually below, or you can purchase a monologue compilation packet containing all nine (9) unique, compelling and memorable monologues about “scorned love” (a great value at only $9 for all 9 monologues). Monologues range in length from 1 minute to 5 minutes, or more, depending on performance, and are suitable for adult, or older teen, actors.

Click “READ MORE” below for the 9 monologues about scorned love.

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Fingernail Heart by Tara Meddaugh: a dark comedy monologue about love

Well, folks. It’s that time of year again! With just over 2 weeks away from Valentine’s Day, I’ll be spending the next few blog posts giving you some loved-based theater! (Can you hear the “love” sound effects in your mind? Birds? “Aws?” A glorious harpsichord? ) No guarantee it will be requited love, however. In fact, many of my “love-based” monologues tend to lean more on the side of yearning love, desperate love, unhappy love, a little…weird love… Which brings me to…

My brand new monologue, Fingernail Heart. Um, yes. You read that right. Fingernail heart. What the…??? Okay, I can explain. Well… Maybe it’s better if I let our protagonist, Emily (below), explain. After all, she’s put in the hard work to craft this fingernail heart. But I will say, if you’re a fan of Ferret Envy, then I think you’ll enjoy the quirky desperation of Fingernail Heart. Emily is confronting her ex-boyfriend (who clearly does NOT want to see her), and offering, yes, that’s right, her gift of a fingernail heart. This monologue is a blast for actors who are okay with slightly off-beat roles, because you can really lean into the absurdity, the humor, but at the same time, the gravity, emotional instability and darkness—all with that underlying feeling of “she is reaching a breaking point…she is reaching a breaking point…”. You’ll enjoy finding all those delightful moments to shift the tone, the tactic, while keeping the same basic intention (“will girl get boy?”).

This monologue runs around 1.5-2 minutes, and while written for a female character, as with most of my monologues, it can be suitable for inclusive casting, as long as the actor connects with it.

Enjoy an excerpt below!…

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Fourteen (14) Romantic Monologues About Hopeful Love

Love is complex, and the beginning phases, when there is doubt mixed with infatuation, it’s that hope of a romance that keeps you going. Check out these 8 romantic monologues where characters experience their own ranges of that spectrum. Whether the character is after brand new love or reconciling a love that has withered, join them on their quest for romance!
(Click the title for excerpts and the complete monologue)

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29 Unique Monologues About Love...

With Valentine’s Day a couple weeks away, enjoy this collection of unique monologues all about love…Some characters are hopeful, wistful, romantic; some characters are jealous, scorned, lonely; and…one thinks he’s a klingon. So… Wherever you are at in the love-spectrum, I hope the season brings you joy, hope, theatrical creativity—and you can kick it all off with these memorable monologues!…

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Poorly Wrapped, a One-Act Play for 2 actors about Desire, Obsession, Power

We’re less than a month away from Valentine’s Day, so check out the one-act play, Poorly Wrapped, on the topic of Love…or at least, lust, obsession, greed, power, and desire! It has 2 great roles for 1 male and 1 female actor and runs around 25 minutes long. It’s a dark comedy/drama, a bit eerie, a bit funny, some elements of the absurd mixed in with some potential creepiness…

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8 Dark Monologues About Love

If rainbows and heart emojis are not your thing around Valentine’s Day, sink your acting teeth into some of the darker places love can take you in these 5 darkly “romantic” monologues. From that smoking gun on the table to obsession to restraining orders, jealousies and a car wreck, love can lead you to strange places! Enjoy these monologues showcasing a not-so-rosy side of love. (If these monologues are not quite what you’re looking for, you can also check out my comedic or hopeful romantic monologues about love!)…

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