It Is Just A Game
by FreeSchoolPlays.com
Monologue · original · free to perform · attribution required
It Is Just A Game
A monologue for elementary (K-5), comedy. By FreeSchoolPlays.com.
THE CHARACTER
THE SPEAKER -- a kid who just lost at Chutes and Ladders to their little brother, talking to themselves (and to us) while trying very hard not to flip the board.
THE MONOLOGUE
Okay. Okay. It is just a game. That is what Grandma says. "It is just a game." She says it in the nice voice. The voice you use for dogs.
I was on square ninety-eight. Ninety-eight! You can practically see the finish line from ninety-eight. And then I got the ladder that is actually a slide, the sneaky one, the one that looks like a ladder from the top and then it is NOT, and I went all the way back to square six. Square six is basically the beginning of time.
(deep breath, hands out, very calm, way too calm)
And my brother is four. He does not even know he won. He is not celebrating a strategy. He just kept landing on ladders because the universe LOVES him. He is over there eating a cracker. He does not respect the game.
(the smile is starting to crack)
Good game, Marcus. Good -- game. See, I said it. I shook his hand and everything. My hand is being a good sport. My hand is a hero.
The rest of me needs a minute.
PERFORMANCE NOTE
The whole engine is the gap between what the kid is SAYING (very calm, very mature) and what they are FEELING (betrayed by a four-year-old and a piece of cardboard). Let the calm be almost scary, then let one true crack of frustration slip through before they catch it. The laugh lands on the honesty of "the rest of me needs a minute" -- don't wink at the audience, mean it.
An original work by FreeSchoolPlays.com, free to perform -- attribution the only requirement.
Audition prep notes
Full piece: 7 beats, ~186 words -- very short (Under 2 minutes), about 1 min at a natural pace.
Start with the objective
Before you run it, name your character's objective in one sentence: what do they want in this moment, and what is in the way of getting it easily? Pace, volume, and movement all follow from that one sentence, not the other way around.
Map the beats
The current text breaks into 7 spoken beats. Use those breaks as a starting map, but test each one: a beat ends where the character's tactic changes, not merely where the paragraph does -- two paragraph-breaks may play as a single acting beat, or one may split into two.
Pacing for this length -- very short
Economy is everything at this length: cut any preparatory movement before your first line, and land the final beat cleanly rather than adding a button. Under 2 minutes, this often plays as one unbroken thought.
Delivery approach -- Comedy
Comic timing lives in the pause before the turn, not the punchline itself. Find the setup-and-turn shape in each beat and hold a beat longer than feels natural before you land it.
Framing for Elementary (K–5)
Keep the objective simple and concrete: one sentence a classmate could repeat back, about what the character wants right now. One fully committed feeling reads better at this age than several half-formed ones -- prioritize clear diction and steady focus over emotional range.
Forensics eligibility -- Humorous Interpretation
This piece reads as Humorous Interpretation. That classification is illustrative only -- not official, not an NSDA, NCFL, or UIL certification. Always verify current eligibility with your event's own published rules before entering it in competition.
Generic coaching guidance for actors preparing this piece -- not a substitute for your director's or coach's notes.
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