Act Normal includes 31 contemporary monologues from Too Much Punch For Judy , Hard To Swallow , Missing Dan Nolan , I Love You , Mum - I Promise I Won’t Die , G ame Over … and many more of Mark’s plays and musicals.
Written with young performers in mind and available for classroom or audition use, they offer a range of characters and topics – both comic and serious - along with acting notes for each monologue. Many of the monologues are verbatim, providing a unique opportunity for actors and directors to explore this exciting form. Act Normal is the first exclusive collection of Mark’s monologue work.
‘ Surprise your teacher, your friends, your family, your audience and last but not least, yourselves! ’
– Mark Wheeller
Monologue topics:
True stories and verbatim pieces
British World War II evacuee experience
Testimony of world champion blind athlete Graham Salmon
Account of sisters involved in a drink-driving accident
Story of a woman’s battle with anorexia
A young woman’s struggles breaking into the football world
Two pieces on the life-changing consequences of a car accident
Recounting of a prison assault
Dan Nolan ’s 2002 disappearance
Grooming and human trafficking
Students excluded from the mainstream education system
Accidental drug overdose
Young people and self-harm
Online predators
Fiction
Absurdist, allegorical tale about a fantasy King
Unplanned teenage pregnancy
Fandom and mourning an idol (reference to David Bowie )
Theatre in Education piece on road safety
Featured plays, with character options and ages
(NB: all are suitable for performers of any age and gender)
Blackout - Operation Pied Piper - Jean, aged 9
Graham – World’s Fastest Blind Runner – Junie, pre-teen/ Graham, adult
Too Much Punch For Judy – Judy, young adult/ Duncan, adult
Hard to Swallow – Anna, young adult/ John, adult
Sweet (W)FA / Lethal In The Box – Miss Vallas, adult/ Spanner, adult
Chicken! – Nut-Job, teenager/ Chris, teenager
Legal Weapon 2 – Andy, young adult
Wacky Soap – Storyteller, adult
Missing Dan Nolan – Pauline, adult / Sarah, young teenager/ Andy, adult
One Million to Stop The Traffik – Mary, adult
Kids Who Look Out of the Window – Tonisha, teenager
Chequered Flags to Chequered Futures – Jane, adult/ Driver, adult
I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die – Jack, teenager
Scratching the Surface – Louise, adult
This Is For You – Susan, adult
Can You Hear Me Major Tom? – Mark, adult/ Jasmine, adult
Game Over – Lorin, adult
