Free Monologues - Artful Dodger

From Run Like the Dickens


Artful Dodger is late teens, fallen on hard times. He's missing a toe on either foot and wears a plastic bag on either foot. He's got a cough he can't rid of. He's just made an inept attempt to kill Oliver Twist in a misguided attempt to help him achieve "martyr" status and talks to Oliver. In the play, the Artful Dodger is male, but for audition/classroom purposes, this monologue could be played by an actor of either gender.  Run Like the Dickens (aka Tiny Tim Runs the Marathon) is published by Playscripts.  Click here to order a copy.

(Warning: Using this monologue without permission is illegal, as is reproducing it on a website or in print in any way.)

ARTFUL DODGER

I says to myself, Dodger, what Oliver needs to lift his spirits is a picnic with a view. So I go and get me this frying pan, only I see it’s dented, so I think, how do you fix a dented frying pan? With a bat to bang it back into place. And if that don’t work, get yourself a hammer and a wrench and...I can’t do this. I can’t lie anymore.
(beat)
It’s the only way, they said. Tiny Tim’s got him beat and he’s closin’ in for the kill. But you take Oliver martyr, and Twist goes out on top and stays there, ‘cause martyr’s at the top of the pecking line, and don’t matter how inspirational Tiny Tim gets, he can’t touch you.
(He has a coughing fit.)
I just wanted to see you get what you deserve, but I ain’t no good at anything. I’m lower than dirt. Lower than a cockroach. Lower than--something really, really low.
(beat)
Now you’re finished, and it’s all my fault.

 
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Upcoming Productions
Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Clay High School Limelighters (Toledo, OH), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Circle Arts Theatre (New Braunfels, TX), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Paris Community Theatre Teen Theatre (Paris, TX), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
East High School (Cheyenne, WY), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Hutchinson High School (Hutchinson, KS), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Fremont High School (Sunnyvale, CA), May 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Bay Theatrix: Dover Bay Secondary (Nanaimo, BC, Canada), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Fernley High School (Fernley, NV), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Kellam High School (Virginia Beach, VA), May 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Sequoia Middle School (Pleasant Hill, CA), June 2012

Pepperoni Apocalypse
University of Tasmania (Launceston, TAS, Australia)

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Tuckahoe Middle School (Richmond, VA), June 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Jane Addams K8 (Seattle, WA), June 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Luton Players (Rochester, United Kingdom), June 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy (Topeka, KS), June 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
St. Mary's Anglican Girls' School (Perth, WA, Australia), July 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Fort Myers High School (Ft. Myers, FL), August 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Lyndale Secondary College (Dandenong North, VIC, Australia), August 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight (one-act version)
Yokohama International School (Yokohama, Japan), October 2012

Harry's Hotter at Twilight
Drama With a Difference (Melbourne, VIC, Australia), December 2012

Thank You for Flushing My Head in the Toilet and other rarely used expressions
Westwood High School (Palestine, TX), January 2013

 
Rumors of Polar Bears: 

Though the one-act version, available from Playscripts, stands on its own (and is perfect for competition!), this play was always intended to be a full-length composed of three acts:  Rumors of Polar Bears, Ursa Major and Northern Lights.  Look for the other two plays in the cycle sometime in 2012.


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