PMD1/2 Monologues

In a session from which I was absent, the group set out to write a monologue for each character to give an insight to the attendees of the masquerade ball, written in the style of Beckett. My character was a pirate:

"Cannons perfectly aligned... do they know they're about to die? ... Ahh, I can... can taste the gold... urgh... smell it.. *deep inhale* wealth... money... power....victory is mine.... *vigorous coughing* Captain Morgan... richest pirate to ever *about to sneeze* ever *again* sail the Atlantic.. so much money.. wealth... power...beautiful ship... now mine...*painful cough*"

I was not entirely convinced as to whether this character was relevant to the performance, as other monologues were much more generalised and could be linked to both the Victorian period (during which our stimulus was set) and also modern day, whereas a pirate less so. I decided to create a new monologue which may be deemed more relevant, using the starting point of the author of the Mask of the Red Death (Edgar Allan Poe)'s life. I also developed the idea of disease in the monologue.

Poe's mother died and later his father disappeared leaving him to live with a family friend. He became addicted to gambling and withdrew from university to later join the army, where he became Sargent Major. He married his 13 year old cousin Virginia, who later became ill with a disease which eventually lead to her death. He died mysteriously, with multiple theories as to how, some claiming it was in a drunken accident, others by contracting rabies.

To create this monologue I used gambling terminology, alongside quotations from his poems "Raven" and "Tell Tale Heart"

"Ah, I remember it... November... what? No?December...All in... mother...*gasp* father... each separate dying... nobody left.. just me... *scream?* ghosts upon the floor.... Add on... 

True!-- nervous--very, very nervous.. that November.. what? No? December... Add on... Only this and nothing more... *coughing* Attention! Add on.... Her dress- white... Skin-white... weak and weary... *gasp* Chills, sweats *coughing*... blood... each separate dying... just me... then the bird said never more... a groan of pain.. grief -oh no! darkness there and nothing more... *yelp of pain* nobody left... each separate dying... ghosts upon the floor....nobody left..."