Act Normal (paperback) by Mark Wheeller

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.

“Our students had great fun exploring the array of monologues in this book – there is an excellent mix of age ranges, characters and themes, so there is something to suit everyone. Many of our students have gone on to use this book as a go to for audition pieces and I would highly recommend it as a staple to have in any drama teacher’s collection.”

Ffion, Director at Chippenham Youth Theatre

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

Additional resources:

• YouTube – insight from playwright Mark Wheeller
• A number of Mark’s plays are available on DVD from Salamander Street including: Missing Dan Nolan, Chicken!, Game Over, Hard to Swallow, I love you mum, I promise I won’t die and Chequered Flags to Chequered Futures