Over the next few days several of last year's Finalist Winners will share their process of getting from the festival prompt to a monologue they felt excited to submit to Hear Me Out Monologue Competition.
Today, we hear from: Lucy Avery Brooke & Fran Handman
Fran Handman, author of "The Sticking Point" (winner of the 2020 August van der Becq Special Prize for Daring)
I don't think, in writing The Sticking Point, that I set out to show that Angie used the mask of the jokester to keep herself from seeing the bleakness of her existence. It was only when I read the theme of the Me & My Masks Monologue Competition that I realized that that was who Angie was and that was what she was unconsciously doing. Her mask kept her on an even, impassive keel, protected from panic, until the final moment when she realized that she was disappearing.
Lucy Avery Brooke, author of "What Scene is This?" (2020 Hear Me Out Finalist Winner)
I have always thought that masks or characters, if you will, were a perfect way to reveal hidden truths. Like Romeo and Juliet at the ball, essential truths are often revealed when the veneer of our ordinary face is disguised by the mask. The lie of the mask reveals the truth of the wearer. My monologue was based on the real event of an old actress wandering on stage during a black out and whispering frantically “ What Scene is this? Am I in this scene?” I immediately decided that I wanted to write about this woman. As often happens I had little idea about why I wanted to write about her. A character appears from whatever source. It’s my job to let them speak and see where they take me. In this case she took me to my future. She was answering the questions that few thirty somethings ask-“ What happens when I’m old? Will I become old and dotty and will I care?” I am happy to report I will be fine.