About the play, THE VISITOR IN THE DOORWAY:
Clare has experienced more deep loss than anyone should have to go through, and she knows Grief all too well. After an unimaginable death in her family, Clare runs off to her family cabin in the woods, isolating herself from everyone who might reach out to her. The only visitor she has is the lingering, hovering, persistent, annoying Being outside her cabin who just. won’t. leave: Grief himself, personified. Clare allows him one foot in her doorway, and he works hard to convince her to let him all the way in. The play is a dark comedy, as Grief struggles to do his job; and it’s a drama, as Clare begins to process her pain and loss. The humor and gravity are a necessary team—to relieve and relax us, and then to hit us with the poignancy of tragic reality, as well. For the complete play, THE VISITOR IN THE DOORWAY, click here.
About the monologue, Much Less Room:
Personified Grief has been allowed one foot in Clare’s family cabin doorway, but she is not happy he’s there. After Grief and Clare confront each about other the recent loss of her child, Grief lays out the hard truths that Clare needs to start eating and accepting help and letting people (and him) into her life again or she will die also. Clare retorts, “So?”, and shaken by this, Grief, implores Clare not to die. Feeling great empathy for her, in this monologue, Grief tries to give Clare a bit of Hope that the intensity that he brings will not last forever, that Hope will come again, and that he will eventually, take up much less space in her life.
DETAILS:
Genre: Dramatic
Running time: Approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute (depending on performance)
Cast: Male (or any gender)
Age range: young adult through mature/senior adult
Setting: A cabin in the woods
Time period: contemporary
EXCERPT BELOW
GRIEF
I know you don’t want to let me inside because you think that once I’m here, I’ll never leave and I’ll choke the little bit of life that’s left in you. And I’ll never let Hope back in. But…
(pause)
What I want you to know is that…
(pause)
After this season—where I won’t leave your side and which will seem like a lifetime, but will eventually end—
(pause)
I will do as you ask…. I’ll—I mean…Clare, I can never entirely leave you because the love you had, the love you have…is so strong that it keeps me with you. But…END OF EXCERPT
Click here to download the free monologue, MUCH LESS ROOM. This monologue is free to download, but if you would like to support the playwright and her craft, you may do so below:
This monologue is extracted from the play, THE VISITOR IN THE DOORWAY, omitting minor pieces of Clare’s dialogue. For the complete play and to learn more about the character of Grief, visit: