The Divorce

This is a short monologue that I wrote and performed three years ago for my grade 12 drama class. It's from the view point of 17-year old Tiffany Knott who has just learned of her parent's divorce.

(sitting on bed) Have you ever met someone who you thought was the nicest, kindest, just overall most down to earth person, then realized that they're actually a lying disgusting, low-life human being? (pause) No? Well then you haven't met my father. 

(stands, sounding a little guilty) Yeah I know, I'm a horrible daughter and I'll probably go to hell for saying things like that about my dad, but what would you do if you just discovered that your dad wants to divorce your mom? And I'm not talking about the (mimicking parental lecture) "you're mom and I are not in love any more, this is a mutual agreement and neither of us is hurt by it," because it's not.

You see, today when I came home from school I found my mom sitting on our living room chair crying while my dad sat on the couch opposite of her with some woman. So I go over to my mom and ask her what's going on, and before she gets the chance to tell me, my dad says, "Tiffany, your mother and I are getting a divorce." (becoming angry) So I start freaking out and ask why and find out that my dad has been having an affair for two years and decided that now would be a good time to tell my mom about it. Oh and did I mention that the woman sitting beside my dad was Lola, his secret lover. Yeah so apparently breaking my mom's heart wasn't good enough, he had to introduce his girlfriend too. 

So anyway, I start screaming at my dad, telling him that I hate him and even throwing in some colourful words that would have gotten me grounded yesterday. But today? Today my dad just takes it and lets me yell at him. Then, when I do stop yelling at him, he proceeds to tell me that (mimicking parental voice) "I didn't mean what I had said to him, and that I was just angry and was unable to control what I was saying." (rudely) As if. 

Then he tells me that he's moving in with Lola because she wants to start a life with him and it would mean a lot to him if I could get to know here better. Yeah, because that's the first thing on my list.

(sitting back down on bed) So for now I'll be living at home with my mom while my dad goes to Lola's house and starts to get my room ready, because he thinks that I want to be a part of his new family. Well what he's forgetting is that I'm turning 18 in about 8 months, so even if he forces me into staying at his house every other week, it will be only a matter of time until I'm old enough to choose who I live with and trust me...it's not going to be my dad. 

Author's Note

Thanks for taking the time to read this monologue and I hope that you enjoyed it because I definitely enjoyed performing it! Reviews and suggestions are always welcome! :D

Reviews

[InkedLance]

To Amanda Grace,

This is a very dynamic piece which was a pleasure to read. However, there are a couple of things I would like to bring to your attention.

- More white space would make this piece easier to read

- After the "(stands, sounding a little guilty)" I think it should be "... what would you do if you just discovered that your dad wantED to divorce your mom?" It should all be in past tense.

- I feel that the "mimicking parental lecture" tone might make this part seem a bit trivial.

- In the recount of the shocking event, there is a little too much being denoted. I feel that less would be more. The amount of description seems a little tedious at times.

- The "So anyway" could be deleted as it implies a rambling tone.

- "Then he tells me that...... I could get to know HER better"

There are many good points about this piece too. For example, I think the idea has a lot of potential for drama, especially if performed. I also really liked the ending.

Hope you keep writing. I hope to see more wonderful works from you.

Thank you

^_*

[Amanda Grace]

Thanks so much for the review and for a bit of feedback. I agree that the amount of description was a little too much...when I first wrote it, the character was younger and it made more sense for her to ramble, but when I changed her age I didn't cut out enough of it. And I'll definitely be checking over my future work with all of your points in mind, because I have a bad habit of changing tenses and misspelling words and not noticing :) Thanks again!!

[InkedLance]

To Amanda Grace,

You're welcome. You've definitely got a lot of potential. This was certainly a pleasure to read.

About technical errors, don't worry. I've posted up SO MANY works with tiny errors like that everywhere. It's annoying to pick them all out. The notion of posting it up for the world to see is so exciting but once you've done it, it looks a whole lot more professional and that is satisfying.

Keep writing lots of stuff.

^_*

[Lonnie Paul Johnson]

I like the stage play, I think it was well written. I would encourage you to keep writing more stories.

[Amanda Grace]

Thank you so much!! :D

[JustSomeGirl]

Woah, strangely I enjoyed reading this. I don't mean because of your writing, I just never thought to read a play write because I didn't know whether I would like it or not. I did though! It was very well written, and I would love to hear more of your work. JustSomeGirl :)

[Amanda Grace]

Thanks so much, I'm really glad that you liked it, especially since you don't read many play writes! Unfortunately this is the only good piece of writing I have, so it might take me a while to get more up here. Thanks again!! :D