The Bench
- Performer
- Audition / event
- Title
- The Bench
- Attribution
- by FreeSchoolPlays.com
- Source
- Original work
- Length
- ~2 min (256 words, whole piece)
- Cut
- Full monologue (5 beats).
"The Bench", by FreeSchoolPlays.com, via FreeSchoolPlays.com. Free to perform; attribution required.
Coach said Reyes starts today. Reyes. I've started every game since October. I ran the extra laps. I stayed after when everybody else went home. And the one game that actually matters, the one with the college-looking guy in the stands, I'm on the bench holding a clipboard I don't even need.
(watching the court) There's a mean little voice in my head right now, and it wants Reyes to mess up. It really does. It wants him to miss, so everybody turns and looks at me like, we should've played the other one. (quiet) And I hate that that voice is mine. I don't want to be the kid who wants his own team to lose so he can feel better.
Reyes is nervous. I can see it from here -- he keeps wiping his hands on his shorts. I know that move. I do that move. (a beat) Two weeks ago he'd have told me his defense read. I could stand up right now and yell it. Slide your feet, watch the left hand, you've got this. I could do that.
Or I could sit here being right about how unfair it is. I can be right, on the bench, all by myself. (deciding) Man. Being right is so lonely.
(standing, cupping hands) REYES. Left hand -- watch his left hand! (to himself, sitting back down) There. Okay. My minute's gonna come. And when it does, the whole team's still gonna be mine to walk back onto. I'm not throwing that away for one clipboard.
"The Bench", by FreeSchoolPlays.com, via FreeSchoolPlays.com. Free to perform; attribution required.
Audition prep notes
Full piece: 5 beats, ~256 words -- very short (Under 2 minutes), about 2 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 5 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 -- Drama
Build from a real stake: name what happens if the character does NOT get what they want in this moment, and let that cost show in your body, not only your voice.
Framing for Middle school (6–8)
You are ready to work two things at once: an outer action and an inner feeling that does not fully match it. Look for one moment where the character says one thing but means something else, and let your face -- not your voice -- carry the gap.
Forensics eligibility -- Dramatic Interpretation
This piece reads as Dramatic 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.
Free to read, print, and perform. No royalty, no performance fee. The credit line above is required and is placed automatically on this packet; keep it in your program and audition materials.