So All Alone
a chorus piece .
. by Jeff Goode
(This is a piece for nine players and a disembodied voice--voice from the grid or offstage. Each of the players will speak a variation of the following monologue, with the only major difference being the replacement of the word "room".)
The MONOLOGUE:
Sometimes I feel so alone. I sit in my room and stare at the walls because there isn't anything else. And there isn't anyone to talk to. Because I'm all by myself.
So I just sit in my room and stare at the walls. And I think about all the other people in the world. Four billion people and no two of them alike. And I'm sitting in my room all by myself, because not one of them wants to talk to me. Each and every one of them has something better to do. I've been rejected by four billion people.
And all on the same day.
I sit in my room and stare at the walls because there isn't anything else. And there isn't anyone to talk to. Because I'm all by myself. And I feel so all alone.
(the monologue continues, repeating the final paragraph over and over ad infinitum.)
The SCRIPT:
Wherever a cut-off is indicated (with a double dash [—]), the new speaker takes their cue from that point, but the previous speaker continues to speak the monologue, so that by the end of the piece, there are nine people all speaking the same monologue in dis-unison.
The locations mentioned by each player (in place of "room") are as follows:
ONE - room
TWO - house
THREE - office
FOUR - car
FIVE - yard
SIX - underwear
SEVEN - LazyBoy recliner
EIGHT - Learjet
NINE - favorite restaurant
(The nine players should be of all different physical types, ages, sexes and styles of dress.)
NOTE: The monologues are not all identical. They are edited slightly differently for the sake of timing. Hence the need for 10 different sides for the actors performing the piece:
"So All Alone" debuted January 23, 1987, performed by Greg Jackson, Dede Reznick, Julie Stiner, Craig Chesler, Jeri Schulke, Fred Norberg, Cheryl Snodgrass, and Kirk GriffithPerformed September 4, 1987 by Julie Stiner, Jennifer Rives, Ty Lee, Frank Ensenberger, Erin Purcell, Dan Layne, Karen Moeller, Colleen Coover, Dan Gurler, and Mark Gentsch
Performed as part of the No Shame Preview in Department Theatre lab on September 9, 1988, performed by Greg Jackson, Amy Pigott, Karen Moeller, Craig Chesler, Heather McCutcheon, Dai Parker-Gwilliam, Stuart Hoyle, Jewels Peter, Jeff Parsons, and Erich Heinz
Performed at No Shame Los Angeles on October 25, 2002, with the following cast: Chris Clarke, Toni Loppnow, Anthony Backman, Shyla Fernandes, Brett Webster, Brooks Peck, Brian Anderson, Curt Bouril, Sky Palkowitz, and Jared McClurg.
Library]
