New dark monologue: "My Motherhood," from the play, Knocking Louder

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As Halloween rolls around, we’re all looking to add some more dark, creepy monologues to the roster. Here’s a newly released monologue, My Motherhood, from my absurdist dark comedy, Knocking Louder, that fits the chilling bill. In this 1-2 minute long monologue, Carol recalls the early stages of betrayal her younger sister displayed toward her… And how it’s all led to this moment: when Carol perceives Lilah is trying to take away the baby placed in Carol’s care. But there is no way Carol would ever let that happen. Nope. Nothing will stand in her way of motherhood.

My Motherhood is creepily fun and dramatic. A little weird, a little funny, a little sinister, a lot mean—while also tinged with hurt, bitterness and defensiveness - but also strength and resolve. Carol’s not the “good guy” of this play, but her intentions are not necessarily bad. Knocking Louder is a 3-person play which is absurdly funny, but also dark and tragic (also a good choice for some thrilling Halloween theater!). While absurd, it still touches on important political and social themes, which allow for discussion and reflection.

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What Happened at the Mud Puddle Included in “9 Streamable Plays (plus a Musical) for Middle School Audiences”

While hopefully most performances are able to be in-person these days, sometimes it’s nice to have a few streamable options for performers. Thanks to On the Stage (OTS) for including my tween/teen play, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE, in their list of 9 Streamable Plays (plus a Musical!) for Middle School Audiences.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE MUD PUDDLE includes a good number of monologues, which translate well to streaming, but also are great for actors looking to practice in classes, with coaches or for self-study, as well as to use for auditions, showcases or even to perform, as some of these monologues can work standing alone. Check out a free excerpt and the play here, published by YouthPLAYS.

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"There Once Were Two Clouds in the Sky" wins Bradford Gromelski Jury Award

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I’m so honored and happy to share that my new one-act play, THERE ONCE WERE TWO CLOUDS IN THE SKY, recently received the Bradford Gromelski Jury Award from Fusion Theatre, landing the highest score out of 700+ plays submitted from 40 states and 9 countries!

THERE ONCE WERE TWO CLOUDS IN THE SKY is a 2-person comedy/drama about two clouds trying to find meaning in their brief lives before they dissipate forever. When one proposes a risky way to solve their dilemma, they have to decide, together, if it’s worth it. It is suitable for any gender and any age. You can find the play and an excerpt here.

Fusion Theatre, in Albuquerque, NM has grown to establish one of the premier ten-minute play festivals in the country, called THE SEVEN…(click below to read more)

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Plays for Shark Week!

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Yes, it’s Shark Week, everyone! That means we’re going to celebrate those often-feared (tiger sharks are not very choosy with their prey!), sometimes cute (those adorable baby hammerheads??) creatures of the sea! And of course, why not pair your documentary-watching, shark-drink sipping experience with some theater, right?

Here are two shark-friendly theater pieces for you to enjoy this Shark Week (or really, any week of the year!), I am a Shark (a monologue) and The Shipwreck Solution (a one-act play).

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Into the Violet: New one-act absurdist dark comedy for 2 actors - now available!

Lola and Nadine had lived a blessed and carefree fairy life, until a child trapped them in a glass jar in the woods and never returned. While Lola gives in to this life of despondency, Nadine tries to give her hope that they might, someday, fly outside their glass prison once again. But as the gravity of their situation becomes unbearable, and the line between reality and fantasy becomes malleable, they must find some way to create the escape they desperately need. INTO THE VIOLET is a dark comedy about hope and despair, deception and reality, and how connection to others may be the only way to survive the unthinkable.

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Ten (10) Great Plays with Animals as Characters

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Have you ever wanted to play a rabbit? Or a raven? Or a bear? Here’s your chance because in these ten (10) plays, all animal characters not only talk, but they have strong, interesting, fun acting roles to boot! The plays may feature animals but don’t assume they’re written for children (although younger audiences may enjoy too); they are complex, often with dark humor, high stakes, and poignant connections to each other. The plays range from absurd to dark comedy to drama-comedy (and yes, there are a couple for young performers/audiences!). There is so much room for creativity in directing, designing and acting and they’re enjoyable for audiences to watch and discuss. From a grieving raccoon to ostracized seagulls to frogs stuck in a tank, check out these ten (10) humanly relatable plays all featuring animals as the leading characters!

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Pit Trap Meredith: New monologue and upcoming publication

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Wouldn’t you be mad if you were an injured rabbit and you thought your sister abandoned you in a tree stump to fend for yourself against vicious dogs? That’s what has happened to Selena, but there’s actually a really good reason why her sister, Meredith, never came back for her. And it has to do with some really mean rabbits…

In this monologue, Pit Trap Meredith, Meredith defends Selena’s accusations of abandonment, and in the end, even turns the tables on her sister. This is a 30-second to 1-minute monologue from the play, The Moon River Raft. The play follows these two rabbits as they wait at a creepy riverbank, in the middle of the night, hoping a mystical raft will take them across the river to a practically-perfect land. Of course, what awaits them is not exactly as they had dreamed…

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Into The Violet: New dark comedy

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NADINE: And she left us with the gnomes and never came back.
LOLA: Now I hate her.
NADINE: Me too. (pause) Unless she’s dead because that’s not her fault.

That’s part of the dialogue two fairies have about the little girl who caught them in a jar and stuck them behind a waterfall! If you’re local to the tri-state area, you can check out my new dark comedy/absurdist play, INTO THE VIOLET, where Nadine and Lola struggle through hope and despair, reality and fantasy—to create the escape they desperately need. (Script will be available in June).

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New Rom-Com Monologue: Head to Toe

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Sydney is on a first date. A blind date. And a zoom date during the covid-19 lockdown. Needless to say, she’s nervous—but she’s also excited to possibly form a new human connection. And during this date…her cat pees on the floor. Is her cat seeking attention, since he’s been the only one to get her affection for 8 weeks? And will her date wait for her while she cleans up the mess?

I wrote this monologue, Head to Toe, a couple of years ago, but for some reason, held onto it in the “laptop cave files” until today. Do any single folk remember what it was like to be isolated in a living quarters with literally no one else, except maybe a pet? Thank God for pets, right? Humans need affection, they need interaction, they need comfort and cuddles and touch. And while I ask “does anyone remember”—honestly, three years (or less) really isn’t that long ago…

This idea is forefront in my monologue, Head to Toe, although it’s sandwiched by a jealous cat who might be peeing to ruin Sydney’s blind date! Sydney is a fun role for an actor to play, or director to direct, as she has a lot of action (especially for someone on Zoom), coupled with humor, first-date nerves and excitement, as well as the poignancy of striving for connection amidst isolation.

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Mabel and the Talking Cat: A new one-act quirky comedy/drama

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“If I had opposable thumbs like you, I should rule the land!” ~Patches, the Talking Cat

How far are we willing to go to get the things that we want? How can doing a good thing enable a bad thing? How much would you sacrifice for a loved one? How long do you hold onto a far-fetched hope? How do you connect with those in the dark once you’ve been brought into a new light? Does guilt ever go away?

For a one-act play, Mabel and the Talking Cat sure brings up a lot of questions! On top of all that, we have a bit of magic, a witch in the neighborhood, an ogre, a missing husband and a talking cat! And you won’t find out until the end of the play which well-known fairy tale this play launches into…

Mabel and the Talking Cat is the story of a lonely baker, Mabel, who finally has the opportunity to adopt a child of her own. But her best friend, Patches, a talking cat, has grave hesitations about the questionable method she’s using to secure this precious child…

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March 2023 Newsletter

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Hello, Theater Friends!

It has been a while! Happy "all those holidays" I missed! The past few months, in addition to teaching theater, attending theater, and keeping up on my own theater, I visited a wolf sanctuary, immersed myself in a Harry Potter forest, and even squeezed in a family getaway to ski and snow tube! And now, our Blink-and-Miss-It Winter in the NYC area is basically over (that's fake snow in the photo!).

If you like updates more often, please follow my my FACEBOOK PAGE as I frequently share new plays, monologues and videos there. You can also connect with me on Instagram where you'll get some theater updates, but also updates of my cat, our fig tree and random videos of things like laser tag or a polar bear cocoa bomb!

Now, let me catch you up theatrically! Check out this issue filled with 6 new one-act plays, 5 new monologues, 4 new compilations, 3 publication announcements, 2 photos of Kiwi (our family cat), and 1 monologue video.

Here's to wishing you all good, creative, joyful things in 2023 and beyond! 

 Warmly,

Tara

Click here for the complete newsletter.

"The Prettiest Duckling" - To Be Published by YouthPLAYS

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Happy to share that YouthPLAYS will be publishing my one-act play, The Prettiest Duckling. In this dark comedy, two “mean-girl style” ducklings plot the ousting of their gray-feathered sibling… But they’re always—only—always, thinking of her. Because they, you know, “love her so so much.”

Right?

This play was first performed as part of the production, When Fairy Tales Falter. Buchanan Highhouse and Jessica Caputo fabulously brought to life Gorgeous and Cutesy (yes, those are the names of the ducklings! What do you think Mama will name the gray-feathered duckling?), Nate Flower directed, and Georgia Evans did the costume design.

This play was a TON of fun to write. It went through lots of revisions and tweaks to really land it all (thank you, Kevin Christopher Snipes, Gabe Davis, Mike, Dylan, Luke, Nate, and team!). Can’t wait to see it take life beyond my local world soon. Stay tuned for more information when it’s published. But for now, I’l leave you with these empathetic words from Gorgeous:

“Being gorgeous is also, like, kind of a burden…I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

Photos by JCP Images

Teen/Tween Monologue about Confronting a Bully from "What Happened at the Mud Puddle"

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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…

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New Comedic Monologue for Unicorn-Lovers: CloudLily The Unicorn & Zoey

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Did someone say UNICORN??

magical forest with a unicorn horn and ears in bottom left. In blue and pink font, Title Cloudlily The Unicorn And Zoey. Subtitle in brown, A monologue by Tara Meddaugh

Okay, so there just are not enough monologues out there for unicorns! Right?? But here’s your chance to finally play one (I know you have always wanted to). Check out my comedic monologue, CloudLily The Unicorn & Zoey, which runs about 30 seconds to 1 minute long. In it, CloudLily, a unicorn, is talking to her loyal fan, 4-year-old, Zoey. Zoey has been visiting CloudLily in the magical forest and giving her super awesome gifts. You know the kind of gifts some 4-year-olds give you, right? Like…weeds…and clumps of dirt? So CloudLily is grateful. I mean, how could she not be? Zoey is an adorable child who is the definition of “pure of heart.” But…CloudLily also knows humans have access to some pretty cool things besides just, well, dirt. Check out what CloudLily asks Zoey for in the short funny monologue for any age actor (child, tween, teen, or adult!).

Also, gotta give some props to the inspiration for this monologue. One of my followers on Facebook messaged me he got a “Top Fan Badge” for my page. I gave him some virtual props and said, “you win!” He wisely asked me what he won. And I said, “hmmm…you or your kids can give me a topic and I’ll see if I can write a little monologue about it.” He told me his daughter loves rainbow unicorns. Well. Here’s your monologue, Zoey! Hope you enjoy!

Enjoy a little excerpt (and silly floating animated unicorn head video, as well!)!

CLOUDLILY  

(to 4-year-old Zoey)

Zoey. I love the dandelions and clovers and…clumps of dirt you keep bringing me every day. They’re all really cool and special and I know it’s super fun watching my magical unicorn horn turn them into rainbow colors and make them dance and stuff like that. But I hear—CLICK HERE FOR MORE

My silly floating-head-unicorn amateur animation of “CloudLily The Unicorn & Zoey.”

Two One-Act/Ten-Minute Plays About Sisters - for Youth and Mature Adult Actors

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I’ve written about sister-relationships before (in The Bronze Lining and The Moon River Raft to name a few), but the relationship is especially unique in my two Ruby and Millie plays. These plays both feature the same sisters, but at two very different points in their lives.

In Ruby and Millie and the Dying Cucumbers, Ruby is a child around 9 years old and her older sister, Millie, is around 16. It’s 1943 and their father is a Prisoner of War in Europe. He has charged Ruby to lead her apartment building’s rooftop Victory Garden on the homefront in White Plains, NY. With their mother working long hours and their father gone, teenage Millie carries weighty responsibilities of her own. In the play, Millie has been searching for her little sister at night, and finally finds her on the rooftop. While Millie tries to convince Ruby to come inside to bed, Ruby discovers some of her vegetables are dying, and fears this is a harbinger of bad news for her father and the war.

In Ruby and Millie and The Old Chemical Plant, we fast forward 50+ years. The war is a distant memory while Seinfeld blares on the tv at night. Ruby has had a successful career but never married; Millie is a widow with children living all over the globe. The sisters live in the same senior apartments, and are tending to a fig tree in their 1990s community garden together. Ruby and Millie have always been close. Neither one can imagine life without the other by her side. But now they struggle with decisions that may, for the first time in 60+ years, take them very far away from each other.

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Monologue from "When Marshmallows Burn" Published in The Best Men's Stage Monologues Anthology

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I’m honored that my monologue from When Marshmallows Burn has been published in Smith & Kraus’s anthology, The Best Men’s Stage Monologues 2022, edited by Debbie Lamedman. Did you know Smith & Kraus has been publishing anthologies of the best men’s and women’s stage monologues for over 30 years? Very cool! In my dark comedy/drama:

Sammy and his mom are enjoying roasting marshmallows over the fire under the full moon when something very strange starts to happen. Sammy’s arms look a little furry. His teeth look a lot like fangs. And he has a sudden urge to kill squirrels—and eat them raw. What (or who) else will he have an urge to kill? Is there anything his mother can do to stop him, or can she ultimately accept and love her wereson? Read the whole play here.

Missy Flower and Buchanan Highhouse in When Marshmallows Burn, directed by Nate Flower. Photography by @designbyraegan.

This is a play about a werewolf, yes. But moreover, it’s a play about a mom and her son. I recently read Celeste Ng’s new novel Our Missing Hearts and in it, a central mother character says, “But in the end every story I want to tell you is the same. Once upon a time, there was a boy. Once upon a time there was a mother. Once upon a time, there was a boy, and his mother loved him very much.”

This hits me hard.

And when I was telling my 2 sons basically the whole story of Our Missing Hearts, you can bet I was choking up relaying this part of the book (and then hugging them!).

When Marshmallows Burn is not only a dark comedy about a boy becoming a werewolf. It’s a story about familial acceptance and the love of a mom and a son, in the face of changing identity.

The monologue selected for the anthology (What My Fangs are For) takes place the moment Sammy has returned from his first kill in the woods. He is proud he found his late-night snack without troubling his mom for help. As he relays killing the squirrel to her, he realizes his mother is becoming increasingly scared of him and his pride turns to fear that she will no longer love him as a werewolf.

Sammy’s monologue runs about 1 minute long and is great for any gender actor. It gives the performer a significant journey from being proud of something new and exciting to being deeply worried and terrified to lose what matters most. It also lets an actor showcase both dark comedy as well as dramatic skills.

Debbie Lamedman’s foreward

I was so lucky to have an outstanding team bring this play to life for the first time: Missy Flower as the mom, Buchanan Highhouse as the son, and Nate Flower as the director (produced by Free Space Theater, in collaboration with the Harrison Public Library). We performed the play around Halloween, at night in the great outdoors, and this was an absolute amazing backdrop for the play, which takes place at night, in the great outdoors…

Along with Sammy’s monologue, this anthology includes dozens of other wonderful monologues. As Ms. Lademan writes in her foreword, “These pieces present great acting challenges, and actors will have the pleasure of sinking their teeth into this sublime material while continuing to perfect their craft in their online or in-person workshops.”

Click here to get The Best Men’s Stage Monologues on amazon. You can also get Sammy’s monologue, What My Fangs are For, by itself here. Additionally, you can read an excerpt here of When Marshmallows Burn, or click below for the complete digital copy of that play:

When Marshmallows Burn, a 10-minute dark comedy by Tara Meddaugh
When Marshmallows Burn, a 10-minute dark comedy by Tara Meddaugh
$5.99

Sammy and his mom are enjoying roasting marshmallows by the fire when something very strange starts to happen. Sammy’s arms look a little bit different. His teeth look a little bit different. He has a sudden urge to kill squirrels. What else will he have an urge to kill? And is there anything his mother can do to stop this?

This is a 10-minute dark comedy/absurdist thriller for 2 actors (1 female, 1 male or 2 female. Flexible casting: 1 role is gender neutral.) For a free excerpt, click here. If you wish to perform, please complete the performing rights form and email to Tara.

Teen/Tween Monologue about Bullying and Fitting In from “What Happened at the Mud Puddle”

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In my one-act play, What Happened at the Mud Puddle, Taylor, resident mean/popular girl, is creating a whole lot of uncomfortable drama for her entire grade. By the end of the play, we’ll realize, not everyone is quite as straight-forward as they seem (including Taylor), and the line of who is “mean” and who is “nice” sometimes get a little blurred in middle-school… 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.

In this monologue, we learn about Amanda. Amanda is new to this middle school and it doesn’t take long for Taylor to humiliate her in front of the whole cafeteria. So why does Amanda still want to go to Taylor’s party?

Amanda’s monologue runs about 2 minutes. You can read an excerpt of Amanda’s monologue below and you can read the whole play, published by YouthPLAYS here.

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