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, Game 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
Author Biography:
Mark Wheeller began writing whilst a student at Marlwood Comprehensive School, Bristol.
After teaching drama for thirty-six years he retired in July 2015 to concentrate on writing and delivering Drama/Theatre workshops to students and teachers across the world.
Mark is one of the most-performed playwrights in Britain. Too Much Punch For Judy has been performed over 6,000 times and Chicken nearly 6,000. Missing Dan Nolan and Hard to Swallow are both set texts for the GSCE Drama 9-1 exams. His work has been a staple part of the Drama curriculum both in the UK and abroad for the past three decades.
Professional productions of Hard to Swallow, I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won't Die and Chicken regularly tour schools and many of Mark's works are available on DVD, with digital formats forthcoming in late 2020.
His study guides include Drama Schemes, The Story Behind Too Much Punch For Judy, Drama Club & Hard to Swallow Easy to Digest.
He has three children and lives just outside the New Forest, with his wife Rachael, and Labrador, Dusty.
