Scene Detail
"Every now and again I like to get out the old robes and put them on. They still fit remarkably well. Too well. Too easy to fall back, to miss it."
| From: Love's Prick |
| Gender |
Age |
Character Name |
| Female |
40's |
The DUCHESS |
Setup:
The Duchess makes her first appearance in the play with this speech.
Her secret, referred to here and revealed later, is that she began life as a man, before her gender reassignment surgery. This is the reason she lost her church, and her position as a pastor.
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Monologuecopyright 2007 by Matthew A. Everett
The DUCHESS - a woman in her late 40s/early 50s - appears, standing alone, wearing a minister’s white ceremonial robes, a rainbow-colored stole around her neck.
The DUCHESS might be speaking to the audience, but it’s just as likely she’s talking to God.
DUCHESS
I don’t miss my old life.
Not all of it.
Parts of it.
I miss my church.
Not the building.
The community.
The day to day.
The weekly gathering together.
That mystic, sweet communion.
The births.
The sickness.
The joy.
The funerals.
The arguments.
The food.
I felt like I had a family again.
As she continues, the DUCHESS removes the rainbow-colored stole, removes the robes, to reveal the civilian clothes beneath.
DUCHESS (cont’d)
I don’t blame my congregation. It’s not easy to understand why I did what I did. What I had to do.
There are days even I don’t fully understand it.
But I’m better off.
I like to think the world is better off, too.
Every now and again I like to get out the old robes and put them on.
They still fit remarkably well.
Too well.
Too easy to fall back, to miss it.
But it’s good to check, to be ready.
A guest sermon or special occasion might come my way.
Infrequent, but it happens.
She prepares to go.
DUCHESS (cont’d)
I miss the weddings.
And the possibility of one of my own.
When they find out.
And sooner or later, they all find out.
They have to.
The DUCHESS, carrying her minister’s vestments, walks off into the dark.
copyright 2007 by Matthew A. Everett
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