Five More Minutes (A Masterclass)
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A pajama-clad tactical genius walks us through the ancient art of not going to bed: water, one more story, and a mysterious noise.
The monologue library · Browse by length
Very short monologues
34 free monologues in this slice of the library — read, print, and perform at no cost. Attribution is the only requirement.
Under 2 minutes, 2–4 minutes (audition-standard), 4–7 minutes (full), or 7+. Estimated at roughly 150 words per minute from the source text — actual performance time varies with pace and blocking.
About this facet
The library's shortest cuts, under roughly 2 minutes at the estimated 150-words-per-minute pace -- the majority of the catalog, and a natural first pick for a quick classroom read, a warm-up, or an audition slot with a tight time cap. Always confirm the exact limit against your own call or event's published rules.
Length is an honest estimate, not a stopwatch reading: roughly 150 words per minute over the actual spoken text (the same section an audition-cut packet slices from), so actual performance time will vary with an actor's pace and blocking. Use it to shortlist, then time a real read-through before you commit to a cut.
34 very short monologues
The People Versus Broccoli
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid rises at the dinner table to deliver a full courtroom closing argument prosecuting the broccoli on their plate.
Pick Me For The Hamster
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid makes a full, impassioned campaign speech to the teacher for the right to take the class hamster home for the weekend.
Backpack Buddy
- Elementary (K–5)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
On the morning of the first day of school, a nervous kid whispers a pep talk down into their backpack -- to the stuffed animal they smuggled in, and really to themselves.
This Is Gary
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid proudly introduces their imaginary friend Gary to a skeptical grown-up -- and defends him with total conviction and increasingly specific details.
It Is Just A Game
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid who just lost the board game tries, out loud and against all odds, to be a good sport about it.
The Ballad Of The Missing Mitten
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid narrates the epic, tragic, heroic quest to find one lost mitten as if it were the greatest adventure ever undertaken.
The Negotiation
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid with a very wiggly tooth is thrilled, terrified, and ready to make a deal -- with the Tooth Fairy, tonight, on their terms.
The New One
- Elementary (K–5)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
A big sibling sorts through the tangled-up feelings about a new baby who gets held all day while nobody claps for THEM anymore.
The Presentation
- Elementary (K–5)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid delivers a fully-prepared, airtight, slightly desperate presentation to a parent explaining why the family NEEDS a puppy immediately.
The Bench
- Middle school (6–8)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
A starter who got benched for the biggest game of the season fights the urge to sulk and figures out what kind of teammate to be.
The Map
- Middle school (6–8)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A middle schooler gives a brand-new kid a deadly-serious guided tour of the entire unwritten social geography of the cafeteria before they sit in the wrong place.
Vote For Me
- Middle school (6–8)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A middle schooler delivers a wildly over-the-top class-president campaign speech built entirely on promises they have no power to keep.
Chaperone
- Middle school (6–8)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A middle schooler recaps, in horror, the school dance their parent volunteered to chaperone -- and then treated like a personal concert.
The Group Project
- Middle school (6–8)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A kid who did the entire group project alone presents to the class while smiling so hard it hurts, refusing to throw their teammates under the bus out loud.
The Negotiation
- Middle school (6–8)
- Comedy
- Very short
- Humorous Interpretation
A middle schooler whose phone was confiscated conducts a full hostage negotiation with the teacher who is holding it in a desk drawer.
Thirty Seconds to Places
- Middle school (6–8)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
Frozen in the wings and shaking, a kid about to go on stage for the first time argues themselves out of running and into the light.
Saved You a Seat
- Middle school (6–8)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
A kid whose best friend has drifted into a cooler new group works up the nerve to say the friendship still matters, even if it is ending.
Table Twelve
- Middle school (6–8)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
A student who has switched schools too many times stands with a lunch tray, deciding whether it is worth trying to make friends one more time.
The Kitchen Voices
- Middle school (6–8)
- Drama
- Very short
- Dramatic Interpretation
A kid who has been quietly overhearing tense grown-up conversations at home tries to sort out worry from hope, and decides to stop pretending everything is fine.
All the World's a Stage
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Jaques, a melancholy nobleman in the Forest of Arden, sizes up the whole of human life as a play in seven acts -- from squalling infant to toothless old age.
Bottom's Dream
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Bottom the weaver wakes from a very strange night, still half-asleep, and tries -- hilariously -- to describe a dream too wonderful for words.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
At Caesar's funeral, Mark Antony works a hostile crowd with cunning, turning them against the assassins while pretending to praise them.
How Happy Some O'er Other Some Can Be
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Helena, left alone and heartsick, puzzles over why the boy she loves prefers her friend -- and decides love is blind.
If Music Be the Food of Love
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Duke Orsino, lovesick and dramatic, calls for more music -- then tires of it in the same breath, showing how quickly a mood can change.
Once More Unto the Breach
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
King Henry rallies his exhausted soldiers at the broken wall of a besieged town, calling on them to charge one more time.
Our Revels Now Are Ended
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Prospero stops a magic show mid-scene and, shaken, reflects that all the world -- towers, temples, life itself -- is as fleeting as a dream.
If We Shadows Have Offended (Puck's Epilogue)
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Left alone on the empty stage, the mischievous sprite Puck asks the audience to forgive the play and think of it as nothing more than a dream.
The Quality of Mercy
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Disguised as a young lawyer, Portia stands in a Venice courtroom and pleads with a man to choose mercy over the harsh letter of the law.
Rosalind's Epilogue
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Rosalind steps out of the play to charm the audience directly, teasing them into loving the show and sending them home with a smile.
We Few, We Happy Few (St. Crispin's Day)
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Badly outnumbered on the morning of battle, King Henry turns fear into pride, promising his soldiers they will be remembered forever as a band of brothers.
To Be, or Not to Be
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Hamlet, alone and weighed down, thinks aloud about why people endure hard times instead of giving up -- and why fear of the unknown keeps us going.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Told his wife is dead, Macbeth answers not with grief but with a bleak, exhausted vision of life as a brief, meaningless candle.
I Left No Ring With Her
- All ages
- Verse / Poetic
- Very short
- Poetry Interpretation
Viola, disguised as a boy, realizes the lady she was sent to woo has fallen for her instead -- and untangles the impossible knot she is caught in.
Forensics eligibility classifications are illustrative only -- not official NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certifications. Always verify with your event's published rules before competing. Length is estimated at roughly 150 words per minute from the source text; actual performance time varies with pace and blocking.