15 I’m Not Okay Monologues for Drama Auditions

Discover 15 emotional monologues for drama auditions that capture sadness, breakdowns, and intense vulnerability. Perfect for acting auditions and stage performance.

If you haven’t noticed our Monologue Hub, definitely give it a go as there are countless monologues from plays you will find there.

We’ve all had moments and days where we were not feeling or thinking our best. Those are areas and times worth exploring in our creative work with characters we wish to experiment with.

MB has brought together some new play scripts with monologues that support characters in turmoil and difficult circumstances.

Variations of an Emotional Monologue

What exactly does it mean when we say emotional monologue?

An emotional monologue doesn’t necessarily have to mean that your character is flying off the handle with sadness and rage. It could also mean that their emotional cup is full and the expression of such can lead to multiple paths of behavior and truth.

Emotion can also be expressed with the utmost subtly, but the character is filled to the brim with feeling and restraint.

The key point is that the monologues shared here have characters experiencing something from the gut, but how your own heart expresses it will be solely up to your own sensibility and creative choices.

Snowdrift

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Trudy
• 1-minute monologue
• Trudy speaks to Barney about the closeness she wishes she had with her father.
• Monologue Insight: Trudy’s monologue is driven by a near-death experience, which provides a reflection on her past and the emotion she feels when thinking about her father.

Sliced Thin

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Marci
• 1-minute monologue
• Marci is charged up by the fact that a family member is back home from prison and she worries for her son’s life, let alone his future.
• Monologue Insight: Marci’s monologue is driven between fear and deep love.

What Never Was

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Serena
• 2-minute monologue
• Serena can’t believe that her music band is breaking up.
• Monologue Insight: The key here is how much “investment” does Serena have with her music band will determine the level of expressiveness in the monologue piece.

Checking In

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Rob
• 2-minute monologue
• Rob finds out where his biological father lives in order to tell him that his mother has died and to release all the years of never seeing him.
• Monologue Insight: There’s a lot that has been weighing on Rob before seeing his real father. Years of anguish, disappointment, and hope all come crashing down at the start of the monologue. Keep in mind there needs to be a need to still be loved by his father, despite what he says verbally.

The Last Words I Heard Her Say

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Heath
• 2-minute monologue
• Heath has arrived at his mother’s hospital beside to unwillingly be there for her passing.
• Monologue Insight: This is a monologue where the character is caught between ego and love, doubt and hope, weakness and courage.

Rupert’s Reverie

• Genre: Drama
• Character: Rupert
• 2 minute monologue
• Rupert fesses up to his aunt about the truth of his life. He shatters the myth she has created for him about being a ‘good kid’ and ‘smart boy’ with a. bright future by admitting the stone cold reality of who he has grown up to become.
• Monologue Insight: Rupert needs to balance his anger at himself, his mother and his aunt, while also being challenged by his empathy to explain himself.

The Ever-Turning Wheel

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Ben
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Ben has to convince his brother as to the reasons why he can no longer ride the ferris wheel.
• Monologue Insight: This is a monologues that showcases the love between two brothers, and the difficulty one has taking care of the other. Ben isn’t happy about always having to lie to his brother, but it makes sense in order to calm down difficult situations. This is Ben’s ultimate struggle.

To The Lake

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Barb
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Barb talks about her understanding of believing she was a crocodile in her past life.
• Monologue Insight: Barb is talking serious about her crocodile belief and it screams out how unhappy she is in her life.

I Saw Two Clouds in the Sky Kiss Once

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Luna
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Luna targets the caretaker in order to avoid the discomfort she secretly has living within herself.
• Monologue Insight: Luna is clearing taking her frustration out on someone who is there to help her rather than work harder to reflect on her own issues.

Contents Flammable

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Nora
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Nora speaks to a group session sharing her story of what happened to her daughter while she was looking after her.
• Monologue Insight: This could very well be the first time that Nora has ever opened up and spoken about the events that took place regarding her daughter’s accident.

Beautiful Day

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Linda
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Linda talks to a stranger about how she views her “looks” as a woman.
• Monologue Insight: It is quite daring for Linda to be so forthcoming about something deeply personal to her with a stranger. It’s worth noting that the actor playing Linda should explore the reasons as to why.

Moment’s Notice

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Barbra
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Barbra is an actress who vents and rants to her longtime assistant about how she doesn’t know if she is able to play the role she is about to perform on stage within minutes.
• Monologue Insight: The actors should question the validity of Barbra’s rant and investigate if she is actually feeling what she claims or if it is all part of her creative process to get on stage as her character.

Don’t Leave Me Without Muffin

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Ginger
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Ginger is running away and escaping the pain she feels living with her mother.
• Monologue Insight: The actor playing Ginger must recognize that this is a no turning back decision.

A Shade or Two Darker

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Lyon
• 1-2 minute monologue
• Lyon overhears his parents talking and confronts them with an ultimatum.
• Monologue Insight: The character has already made their plans and arrangements, which gives them the confidence to confront a deeply major issue they have been living with for quite some time.

Extra Garlic

• Genre: Drama
• Characters: Mario
• 1-2 minute monologue
• While having a disagreement over cooking, Mario admits to his friend why he cooks the way he cooks.
• Monologue Insight: This is a character who not only has the most wonderful passion and love for cooking but also secretly fighting a disease that he keeps hidden from the world.

Final Thoughts

Emotional monologues can be some of the most powerful and creatively rewarding audition pieces because they allow actors to show depth, range, and truth.

The monologue on MB have bee carefully crafted and curated to help provide you with a strong foundation when starting a new monologue. Ultimately, you will get to make your own acting choices and character research, which is what Monologue Blogger wishes to serve.

Want more? Explore our full Monologue Hub for hundreds of professionally curated monologues, ready to perform and elevate your acting.