New Thriller Fairy Tale Monologue - White as Death, Red as Blood: Snow White's Cursed Sleep
Just in time for Halloween theater, check out my new monologue, White as Death, Red as Blood: Snow White’s Cursed Sleep. It premiered this past weekend in a super cool outdoor Halloween Festival in Ossining, NY and you can get the spooky-fun 2-3-minute thriller/dramatic (with a touch of comedy) monologue here.
Benna Strober as Snow White.
In the monologue, Snow White has recently awoken from the Evil Queen’s spell of cursed sleep, but Snow White is…well…let’s just say she doesn’t quite have the normal “Disney Princess” disposition anymore. She still sings to the birds, but her songs are a little, um…less cheery? And her relationship to the birds is a little, um… less friendly? And the 7 dwarves and that prince who kissed her are a little, um… less…around? But, don’t worry—I’m sure Snow White will be really really happy to see YOU, dear audience! My advice? Keep your running shoes on! (Click here for more info about the monologue.)
The monologue runs around 2-3 minutes and is great for actors who want to dig into the juxtaposition of a sickly sweet princess and an unhinged borderline-zombie! But in addition to those extremes, it also touches on Snow White’s loneliness—being the only one to have died, in a sense, experienced the terror of that cursed sleep, and come back to life. She is conflicted between her old self (pre-cursed-sleep) and her new self (post-cursed-sleep), which gives actors the opportunity to bring depth and nuance to the role. She’s not just “Crazy Snow White.” She’s more complicated than that.
White as Death, Red as Blood begins with Snow White speaking to a bird, so the audience can invest as an innocent bystander in the forest. But things take a more personal note when Snow White turns her attention on, yup, the audience! It’s a blast if you’re looking for something with just a bit of audience interaction—perfect to leave them with a touch of those giddy nerves that fit so well into the Halloween Season!
The spooky display of The 7 Dwarves, The Prince and the Evil Queen, leading up to the in the gorge leading up to Snow White’s monologue, White as Death, Red as Blood.
For its premiere at Ossining’s Haunted Kill Event, a guide took groups of 10-15 people down a bridge path and through a gorge, over a river and through waterfalls, decorated in spooky fairy tales gone awry. (Check out the 7 Dwarves, Prince and Evil Queen display leading to Snow White’s monologue!) The guide would stop at four unhinged fairy tale characters, each alternating between 2 actors in the same role. Let me tell you, these actors were STELLAR to perform almost continuously for hundreds of people over 3 hours on a chilly October night in a gorge! I was fortunate to have fabulous actors, Rachel Luciani and Benna Strober, performing as Snow White, directed by Mario Giacalone, produced by Westchester Collaborative Theater, with the Village of Ossining.
While this production was set outside, and it lends itself well to outdoor theater, this monologue works well inside, as well, of course.
Thanks to all these amazing people (Rachel, Benna, Mario) as well as Executive Director Alan Lutwin from WCT, Mike Bouteneff, Luke B. and Kevin Christopher Snipes for their feedback on the piece, the Village of Ossining Parks and Recreation and the terrific audiences who attended and became part of the story!
Check out an excerpt of the beginning of the monologue below and get the whole monologue, White as Death, Red as Blood: Snow White Cursed Sleep, here.
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The setting is a fairy tale forest, near the house of the Seven Dwarves. SNOW WHITE enters, dancing dreamily and singing a song which should be cheery, but ends up sounding a bit off, sinister, dark [suggested melody below]. She wears clothing which was once beautiful, but now ragged. She appears bruised and bloodied. Having endured a torturous time in a deep cursed sleep given to her by the Evil Queen, she is awake, but not in her right mind. She waffles between sickly sweet, smiling, soft, dreamy—and ferocious, sinister, evil, murderous. She talks to a typically friendly, but now frightened, forest creature, Little Bird.
SNOW WHITE
(singing)
“White as snow. Red as apple.”
(speaking to Little Bird)
Sing with me, Little Bird!
(singing)
“White as snow. Red as apple.”
No. No. These words aren’t right. I hate snow. (pause) And apples.
(She thinks, then smiles as she has found new lyrics, pleased with herself)
“White as Death. Red as Blood.” Mmmm. Much more soothing. “White as Death. Red as Blood.”
(She notices Little Bird is moving away from her.)
Why are you moving away from me, Little Bird? You don’t like my song anymore? Before The Great Sleep, you loved all my songs, and my voice. “The voice of an angel,” you used to tweet.
But now you stare at me with death in your eyes.
But I conquered Death, didn’t I, Little Bird? The Evil Queen thought that placing me in a glass coffin, casting The Great Sleep upon me for what should have been an eternity—where I walked with torturous demons, where I swam in black clouds of cursed souls—she thought this would be my end. But…no… Because—END OF EXCERPT.
CLICK BELOW FOR THE COMPLETE 2-3 minute monologue, White as Death, Red as Blood: Snow White’s Cursed Sleep.
[Suggested melody below]
