STUDENT MONOLOGUES

ONE

No

(SHE is 16 years old, more or less. Their clothes, out of the ordinary, do not follow any fashion.)

HER: I don't know why they say I'm a rebel. Totally, because I don't like the word “yes”. (He
expresses his disgust expressively.) It's true, I never say it. I have it totally prohibited. What's more,
when I hear it I get sick. It makes me want to spit on whoever said it. But I restrain myself, because
although rebellious, I am polite. But hey, I myself have recognized that I am a rebel. And I'm not, I
really am not, but of course, they repeat it to me so much that my subconscious seems to fail me
and accept it. But no, I'm not. (Pause.)

What does it mean to be rebellious? Oppose the ideas of others? I think that is having judgment. It
annoys me to be told what I have to do: study, collaborate at home, protect the environment...
And let it be known that I am a good student, a good cook, I iron my entire family's clothes, and
when I go to the countryside I pick up the trash. (Insistently.) But I do it because I feel like it. I don't
need anyone to tell me what to do and if they tell me I refuse to do it. I let a few minutes pass and
I do it because I want to. (Pause.)

The other day, the mathematics teacher, I refrained from giving an opinion about him, not
because I was going to speak badly of him, but because I am opposed to speaking about teachers,
neither good nor bad, I simply do not waste time with those things. We already pay enough
attention to them without talking about them, I won't tell you... As he was going, he asked me if I
had done exercise 24 on page 86. I had it, and I'm also sure it was fine, I'm an expert in
mathematics, really, it's not to be a fool. Since I hate the word “affirmation,” I answered “maybe.”
He thought I was laughing at him and got angry. He insisted that I tell him if I had done it or not.
“Answer yes (disgusted face) or no,” he told me. I couldn't say no because I had done it, but I
couldn't say no either, you know why. So I told him, “Try it, tell me to go to the board.”

That's when I put it together. That if she was insolent, that is not polite. I almost said “yes”, (New
expression of disgust.) I was going to say that, AHEME, she was polite, but I kept quiet. She made a
note in her notebook and asked another classmate, who said no and so on to another, to another,
to another... no one had done it. Just me. I raised my hand and said, “I want out.” He didn't even
look at me. He started doing it on the blackboard. He made a mistake twice, I suppose because of
the tension, which I had inadvertently created, and I had to give him a hand. He looked at me with
a look of hatred, but he corrected himself. When class ended, I could tell he wanted to spit on me,
but since he was polite, he didn't.
14. 14STUDENT MONOLOGUES

FOUR

The theater will save me

(His arms will surround his legs, his head resting on them. He is curled up, hidden between some
boxes. His wallet, lying on the floor. He looks up, elusive, with the fervent desire not to find
anyone. He will speak with anger, perhaps with hatred.)SERGIO: When you come back you are
going to shit yourself. (He makes an aggressive gesture with his fist.) Come one at a time. That's
very easy. Four five. What have I done? Nothing. I will trample you. Do you hear me? No, you can't
hear me anymore. You have taken my nerves like every day and goodbye, until tomorrow.
Tomorrow I won't get a cent. Tomorrow you won't see me. I won't come to school. I will not come
back. Never. I'm not afraid of you anymore. I'm going to disappear from your sight. Or I will
become invisible. (He gets up scared, looks from one side to the other before leaving his hiding
place. He cleans his clothes, with anger and insistence. His clothes are full of dirt, he has
undoubtedly been rolled on the floor). Javid tells me to tell my parents or guardian. But they have
warned me that if I say something, they will kill me. (Screaming.) Damn, I'm scared. Javi is also
afraid, if not, he would help me face them. And Pedro and Juanjo. They are afraid, my friends are
also afraid. They are thugs, a gang. But they won't catch me again. (Silence. He seems to be
thinking. He seems to have had an idea.) Damn, what an idea I'm having.

15. 15happening. I'm the best in theater class. Let's see, let's prepare a plan. (He will speak slowly,
thinking about what he says.) First I will do pills for two days. Since I am never absent, I don't think
the teachers will be alarmed. That is. When I get back, the bullies will ask me for explanations.
They may even ask me for back money. And an egg! I will tell you that I have been admitted to a
hospital. They have discovered a very serious heart disease in me. Well, we'll leave it serious, lest
they see it as too exaggerated. And now comes my big performance. When they approach, stick to
it by telling them that I don't have money. I'll fake a heart attack, including fainting. I'm sure they'll
run away. In case they are accused of murder. Deep down they are probably cowards too.
(Pause.)Let's see, a rehearsal. Let's see, they come closer and I say: "leave me, leave me, I'm sick."
And I take out a box of pills and defend myself with it, as if it were a knife. (The actor will perform
the movements he says.) If they get closer, it is the moment of greatest dramatic tension, the
climax, a strong pain in the chest. (He does it.) Ah, ah, ah. And if they get closer, they faint. (He
does.) And if they try to reach into my pocket, I'll suffocate and kick the bucket. (He does. Silence.
After a few seconds, he gets up. More silence.) What a great performance! The teacher would give
me a ten. What if they come back another day? (Silence, he thinks.) I've got it! More theater. I will
give them the performance of the AIDS patient. (Takes the wallet.) Surely they think, they are
ignorant, that it is contagious by touching them. And why don't I start here? No, I like the role of
sick at heart. But in case it fails, I'm running home to rehearse. (He leaves quickly, much more
animated than at the beginning.)
When I grow up Monologue for a teenager
by Tania Ruiz

Characters:

Valeria

Dark, noises from a teenage party, music, open them up! let him open them!
Applause… silence. The lights turn on, we see Valeria entering the stage, she walks
quickly, she looks angry, she has a gift in her hands. Noises are heard in the
background, as if the party continued without Valeria.

Valeria throws the gift box on her bed.

“A gown, a doctor's gown, what mother would think of giving that to her
daughter? I'm sure I have the craziest mom in the world or at least the only
one who wanted to be a doctor and didn't make it.
What am I supposed to do with a robe? ( puts it on ) I can't even use it as a
dress by painting the fabric and making some cuts... It's horrible ( takes it off
and throws it away ).

And everyone out there is waiting for me to come out with that on, my mom
will surely tell them “look how pretty my Valeria looks, she will be a great
doctor, pediatrician, because she likes children.”

Just so you know, mom, the only boy I like is Rubén and he's 14 and he doesn't
need a pediatrician anymore... He's so cute, he gave me a gift that I do like ( he
touches a chain around his neck or a bracelet ). As soon as I grow up I'm going to
be his girlfriend.

I'm too young to think about being a girlfriend, but I'm not too young to decide
what I will be for the rest of my life. Who understand them? They tell me: “You
can't be a girlfriend because you don't know what you want and you have to be
older to make a serious decision with boys.”

Is the decision to date someone more important than deciding what I want to
be for MY ENTIRE LIFE?

MY WHOLE LIFE, how horrible! That's a long time... what would I like to do
when I'm 30 or 40? 40 YEARS!! I don't ever want to be that old...

I have to go back to the party and I can't go out with this on...

But my mom is going to feel really bad if I tell her that I didn't like her gift!
Oh now I have two problems! Decide what to study and make my mother
happy.

How difficult it is to be 12 years old. What I do?

( Puts on the gown, takes a doll, talks to an imaginary patient ) It's a girl, Don
Alfonso, a healthy and beautiful girl... ( sees the doll ) well, she's not very
beautiful, but she sure gets better with the days, because all babies are born a
little ugly, it's just that no one says it because this society lies a lot and the first
lie that a human being hears is “how pretty you look.”

I can't be a doctor! I'm very bad at telling lies and I don't like blood... what if
there was an emergency? Doctor Valeria, we need you in the operating room!

( Puts the doll on the ground )

He's not breathing! Move aside ( starts giving him breathing and performs CPR )
Quickly, bring the equipment! How come everyone is busy! This girl is dying!

( Valeria takes off her robe, it looks like she is sad and can't control it )

I don't want to see people die (tears come out), I already saw my dad die and
no... no, I can't live that over and over again...

My dad was a teacher, he taught me to read and write since I was very little...

I miss him.

(Valeria tries to contain her tears )

If my dad was here my mom wouldn't have bought me this robe...

My dad always said that children should fulfill our dreams and not the dreams
of frustrated adults... that word always made me laugh because he believed
that adults were very ripe fruits that went bad over the years.

Will my mom be frustrated?

( A shout is heard “Valeria, we are waiting for you ”)

I'm coming!

(The scream is heard closer: Valeria, come )

Leave me alone! I'll go out when I'm ready, stop bothering me! ( While
screaming, he twists the robe and throws it with all his force towards the space that
would be the door to his room)
I didn't want a party, nor did I want a horrible doctor's coat!

( Silence, footsteps are heard receding )

Mother? Mother?
(silence )

I shouldn't have yelled that, why did I say it? Now I feel like the worst daughter
in the world. My dad would be very sad if he heard me talk to my mom like
that. She just wants me to be… for me to be… happy!

My mom just wants me to be happy. I have to explain to her that being a

doctor won't make me happy, that what I want is... I don't know, to be a
teacher like my dad or a filmmaker to make love movies, I'd rather be a
singer... ( sings a bit of a popular song ) I'll be very famous and I will sign many
autographs... or I can be an actress and represent an incredible doctor who
saves thousands of lives ( Valeria smiles )

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that I want to be
happy. At least my mom and I agree on that.

And I also want my mom to be happy.

( Valeria puts on her gown ) I think chemistry teachers also wear gowns, I hope
my mom is happy with that...

( Walks to the door, turns back )

What if everyone heard what I yelled at my mom?

What a pity! There is Martha, she loves to communicate what is happening with
the neighbors, surely tomorrow everyone will find out about the screams I
made. Please, please don't let him listen to me.

I'm going to leave as if nothing had happened, as if I were very happy with my
gift, I'm going to give him a hug. my mom and I ask her forgiveness in her ear,
quietly so that only she can hear me.

(She fixes her robe, stands up straight, smiles fakely. She realizes that she looks
very fake, she smiles normally )
I promise that when I have sons or daughters I will not be a frustrated adult, I
will be an adult like my dad and I will let my children study what they want to
study, I will always give them what they want as a gift and I will never, ever
scold…
( Valeria takes a deep breath, leaves the stage, she is heard shouting: She's
beautiful, mom, thank you, it's just what I wanted! )
10. 10STUDENT MONOLOGUESTWO7Raquel(He is about 16 years old. After a night of drinking. He
is sitting on a curb, next to him two empty beer bottles. Around him there is a lot of garbage and
several containers.) HIM: Luis with Ana, Pedro with Clara, Javi with Merce... Yes, let me go with
them... They are good friends, it was hard for them to leave me alone... I realized and told them
that I had arranged to meet Raquel... I wish, what more would I want. I could go home now. I'll
wait. Maybe the lie becomes reality and appears at twelve, as I told them. (Pause. He takes one of
the two bottles, stands up and looks through it at the Moon, as if it were a spyglass. He does it for
a few moments, then puts down the bottle and sits down in the same place again.) I don't know
why old people don't like the bottle thing. It's the best there is. Friends, some drinks, some
laughter... some dances, some games... and Raquel. (Pause.) And Raquel, if she came with us. The
aunt said yes, yes, the next day will happen to me. Always says the same. I know what's
happening, why he's not coming. It's because of his grandmother, yes, because of his
grandmother. One day he told me in class, when the teacher asked us what we thought of the
bottle, that his grandmother didn't like drinking at all, not drinking, that neither,
because7Published in Marathon of Monologues 2003, Association of Theater Authors, Madrid,
2003.

11. 11It's very important, except for the noise we make. Because she lives next to the park, she
can't sleep until we leave. Which is up to our noses. That we are criminals, drug addicts, bitter
people. (Pause.) Become bitter? Yes, I think Raquel said this. I'm not sure. It was when I stared at
her eyes. (Pause.) Well, now at the breasts, that day, with that shirt... Now that I think about it...
How is Raquel going to come if she doesn't even know where I am? I was an asshole, I forgot to tell
him that we had changed places, that I convinced my colleagues that it was better to do it where
we wouldn't bother Raquel's grandmother, that is, her grandmother, or other grandmothers. It
was difficult for us to find the place. The park was prettier, but hey, it's not bad. A little gray, but
since it's night... It smells a little bad, but like girls put on perfume... Maybe if we asked the city
council for some masks... this garbage dump wouldn't be so bad. Raquel, if you were here to ask
me, I'm sure you could think of something to change this shit a little. Although if you were here... it
would... it would be... the most beautiful place in the world. But how are you doing? to be if I
haven't told you... that I love you. (He gets up a little sad, picks up the two bottles and places them
very carefully in one of the containers. Comes out.)

12. 12STUDENT MONOLOGUESSTRESS8Alone (She enters with her backpack loaded with books.
He is 15 years old.)ELISA: There is no one in the house. There is never anyone. There will never be
anyone. I would like to come home from school and hear someone say to me “how are you, Elisa?”
how did it go today?; Do you have a lot of homework? “Were the exercises we did yesterday
good?” I wouldn't care if I had actually made them myself, because they wouldn't know how to
make them. (Pause.)Who are they? Two strangers. I hear his footsteps when I'm in bed.
Sometimes they open the door and I don't say anything, I go to sleep. I could tell you so many
things... I don't know why, but I remain silent. I don't know why I don't get up and ask them how
things went at work. If the checkout went well. If they have had any problems with a drunk like
that day. But I don't get up. Not even them when I go to class. Nobody stands up for anyone. They
think that in the afternoons I'm not alone, that a friend comes home or that I'm going out with
someone. Maybe I should do it. But no, I'm staying here. Sometimes I read, do my homework, play
television or the radio, listen to music, but everything makes me feel more alone. I often think I'm
weird. Different. That is not normal8This monologue along with 8 and 11 are part of the volume by
several authors entitled Elsize no importa. Short texts from here and now, Association of Theater
Authors, 2011. I have news of one of them being performed by the children's group of the “Pilar
Rey” Theater School of Santa Cruz de la Palma to celebrate World Theater Day. Theater in March
2012. (http://teatrojuvenilmaxidediego.blogspot.com.es/2012/03/agradecimiento-por-
representacion.html)
13. 13let me stay here, contemplating these ever-equal walls. But something pushes me to be
here. It's as if the emptiness called me, caressed me sweetly. Is something wrong with me? Or is it
just that I like being alone? Alone, alone, alone. (Silence.) Yesterday I called Dani. Like the day
before yesterday, like every day for a week. It's like a temptation, like trying to open a door. As
always I hung up when he picked it up. Dani is also a loner. But he looks at me. Run away from
people. But he looks at me. He takes refuge in books, in his music, but he looks at me. And his look
attracts me. It's like this closed room. One day, before hanging up, I heard her breathing behind
the phone and how she whispered, “Elisa, talk to me.” I hung up immediately. I panic. But I felt
strangely happy. (Pick up the phone, dial. Silence. After demarcating, he will remain silent for ten
or fifteen seconds. The character's breathing is heavy.) Dani? DARK BRUSH

16. 16STUDENT MONOLOGUES FIVEStrike (Entering the house with a backpack full of books and
the newspaper under his arm.) PEPA: I'm fed up. They go and stay at home. Or they go on a spree.
To the park to sunbathe. The video game console, how parents are working... And to the
demonstration, four cats. And then they laugh at us. They say that the strike day has been a
failure. And they are even right. In class everyone signs the paper saying that they are not going to
go to class the next day, but then no one bothers to protest. Tomorrow I'm going to hold a rally in
my class... They are going to die. Companions! Comrades! The achievement of the objectives set
by the state commission...! (Abrupt pause.) What do I say? This language is probably strange to
you. Colleagues! You have some eggs... so we're not going to get anything! We have to take to the
street so they can hear us! (She stops disappointed.) Taking the street... (Silence.) Nothing
surprises me about the guys, honestly, they're all kids. They only think about football and the
machines, they are stupid. But we... We must change this shitty world. But of course, there is Big
Brother and the trash TV that stuns them. But I won't give up. No. We have to take the street...
(She stops again disappointed.) Take the street...

17. 17There are so many things to change... Thank goodness the anti-globalization thing seems to
work. I hope my parents will let me go to the next training camp outside of Spain. I think they
understand me, but it scares them. They say I'm still too young. Maybe they are right. I have one
year left until I turn eighteen. Then they will not be able to deny. I have found a job on the
weekends to pay for my trip. They're going to find out. They only think about making money, they
don't care about hunger, poverty, or climate change. They're going to find out, the very... (Takes
out some books from her purse.) Well, I'm going to start studying, because tomorrow I have a
social exam. Although since I read the newspaper, I don't need to study much. Asshole David,
always with the AS under his arm, laughs because I buy El País or read El Militante. It will be a
cocoon. It is a monstrosity of the system. Thank goodness Suso is with me. Suso, bastard, you have
me crazy. And how well he speaks in the assemblies. Carmen also speaks well. But Suso has a little
ass... Good for studying, and then preparing for tomorrow's talk in class. (Pause.) Look, staying at
home, what we're risking... (Sighs.) DARK9The reference to the anti-globalization movement It
takes us back to a few years ago, when this monologue was written. I leave it to the discretion of
whoever puts it on stage to change it to another more current movement, like the 15 M. Reading
the text with this terminology can lead to an explanation of a movement that, although it has not
disappeared, is no longer front-page news.

18. 18STUDENT MONOLOGUES SIX Do you want us? (Stage divided into two equal parts, right and
left. In each part a student.) ONE: Today the teacher had sad eyes. TWO: Today the teacher had
happy eyes. ONE: I thought he was going to start crying at any moment. What a bad time! Not
even Arturo has dared to play the everyday joke. TWO: Where has his bitter face gone? Arturo has
played the daily joke and he has not expelled him as he almost always does. He smiled at him and
said: come on, Arturo, change the situation. And he smiled again. Arturo has not opened his
mouth again. But he also smiled. A: The silence lasted about five minutes. I never thought silence
could last so long. It has been unbearable. Above all, for enduring his gaze, fixed on us. Without
batting an eye. Without moving. Like a statue. Most of my classmates have fixed their eyes on the
book, trying to appear interested in Literature, on page 64 of which we had to correct I don't know
what activity. I didn't, I didn't take my eyes off her, I expected to see her tears springing at any
moment, I wanted to investigate the reason for that change, find out her dark secret.

19. 19TWO: Has he won the lottery and is he planning to tell us that he is quitting his job? He is
always complaining about us. He says that we never pay attention to him. And it is not true, we
serve him in our own way. But he doesn't understand us. I don't know why he doesn't change his
profession. I think he would be a good waiter. Well, today yes, today he knows how to be in class.
He has distributed one of his poems that talks about the joy of living, of fighting for happiness, of
smiles, of the importance of smiles. That's why he doesn't get away from her. It looks like a mask,
but a sincere mask. A: He was always happy. Well, lately, because some of his students from
previous years say that he was bitter, like now. It is the reflection of bitterness. After those five
minutes of absolute silence it has become even darker. He stopped looking at us, took the chalk
and put it on the blackboard in large, round letters, perfectly drawn: I love you. Reading it, my
heart has begun to beat with that force of the concerts I like to go to during the summer. He
opened his folder, took some sheets and distributed one to each of us. That leaf, that damn
wonderful leaf has changed my life, maybe Arturo's too. It was a poem, a poem about sadness,
about the hard path of life, about the difficulty of being a man or a woman. But in the end, in a
single verse, like a ray of sunlight filtering through the clouds, the long verse said: But I love you,
and this love frees me and makes me a rock impregnated with tenderness. And he signed:
ToñoLópez, him. Before leaving, at the end of class, he was on the verge of smiling, hope exploded
in his eyes.

20. 20TWO: When class was over, while he was gathering his things, I approached his table, my
classmates had gone out into the hallway, and I dared to ask him about his condition. He looked at
me calmly, with his half-faded smile, and in his eyes a wisp of darkness, and told me: don't be in a
hurry, before the course ends you will understand. But I have already understood it. He can't fool
me. He has simply realized that he loves us and he can't help it.

21. 21STUDENT MONOLOGUESSEVEN10I wanted to tell them the truth (Being older, with long hair
and a messy beard, sitting at a bar table, from time to time he will look to the side as if he were
waiting for someone.)CARLOS: I wanted to tell them the truth... With the chalk in the hand I
wanted to tell them the truth. They looked at me. They saw my hand tremble. They sensed it. That
day I was not going to talk to them about their books, not even about mine. I simply wanted to tell
them the truth. Tell them about my fear. Of sadness. That day I managed to say a few words to
them. That we would not talk about syntax, or metaphors, or generations, or literary genres. That
adjectives were not important, nor imperfect past tenses, that the meter was real shit. That day I
already knew it. But there they were, sitting, and they, also sitting. His gaze, his silence, and what I
interpreted as his anguish, overwhelmed me. I continued with the chalk in my hand, wondering if I
would be able to tell them something I wanted to say. I know that they perceived my internal
crying, my deep pain, my desire for impossible communication. On any other day, silence would
have cost minutes of effort, not that day. As soon as you entered, nothingness was created in the
environment. But why if they didn't know anything.10Published in Marathon of Monologues 2008,
Association of Theater Authors, Madrid, 2009.

22. 22I hardly knew it. Days later I came to consider that something deep existed between us. But I
refused to accept it. The silence lasted for several minutes. Tense, eternal, hard. Some boys looked
at each other, but they didn't dare to move, they didn't even move their notebooks or their pens,
like other times. There was a moment when the sum of breaths created a rhythmic sound only
broken by some noise that came from outside the class. A boy in his mid-teens, like everyone else,
lowered his head and rested it on the table between his hands. I know he didn't want to sleep, I
knew his innocence stained with sadness. A girl made a move to start crying, but her companion at
the table shook her hand. The most talkative one almost raised his hand, but he looked at the
others and suppressed his gesture. chalk or I, I don't know, tried to write something down on the
blackboard. He managed to write a capital A, but stopped. It was not an A like the other times,
vigorous, resounding, convinced, the harbinger of a message that he considered evident, sacred,
necessary. A creative A of knowledge, an A emotional impulse or mythical revelation, a Flooded
with communication. So no, that day that A could be the preamble to a farewell or a declaration.
You would never know. But I insist, that day I wanted to tell them the truth. And perhaps I said it
without words, because I have to remember that I left class without saying anything more than a
“see you forever” that I highly doubt they understood, both in its forceful meaning and in its
material consummation. a until

23. 23always, whisper, lament and frustration at the same time. A forever imbecile, miserable,
gloomy. But until always comfort and liberation. Because after closing the door, I heard, behind it,
the explosion of feelings, the roar of the chairs, the search for the meaning of those endless
minutes with the companion and perhaps friend. Before them an enigma greater than that of the
hides subordinate sentence, than that of intangible irony or abrupt visionary image. The enigma of
life had arisen before them. Once again, that class was a success. The success of failure. Years
later, already behind the counter of the bar where I worked as a waiter, I met her, always nervous
in class, now with a peace in her expression that I would like for myself. He recognized me, despite
my long hair, my unkempt beard. He recognized me even though I no longer used chalk. He told
me hello Carlos, I know why you left. So, without asking me for anything, not even a glass of water.
I felt paralyzed. I thought I had forgotten those years, almost twenty dedicated to correcting
accent marks and promoting the verb to think. I was about to run away because I couldn't avoid
his silence and his gaze. Carlos, it's me, Carmen. And how could I have forgotten Carmen. I realize,
in an instant, that I had not managed to forget any of the boys and girls from that last year, the
one I didn't finish because I ran away. Nor to Carmen, always nervous, who wrote “avia.”

24. 24without an h, with a vee and with the accent as lost as my desire to correct it. I came to like
the word like that, with that rebellious writing. Do you remember why you left? I know it, Carlos.
You may not remember, but I know why you ran away from class. And without giving my consent
he told me: You wanted to tell us the truth and you didn't dare. Thank you for not making our lives
miserable. I have discovered it and thanks to you I have understood the salvation of flight. But
what was my truth? I asked him. Your truth was that without enthusiasm, without joy, without
dedication, without love towards us there is no point in picking up a piece of chalk. And He added:
Maybe I'll come back another day and tell you my story and why your escape was so important to
me. He hasn't come back. I've been waiting for her for too long. I wait for her to tell her the truth
that she couldn't see. That he had been defeated. I wanted to teach them peace and outside they
taught them war. That we wanted to show them justice and hunger remained outside. I wanted to
suggest art to them and outside they offered them garbage. I would have liked to inject love into
them and out they sold them hate. I didn't have the strength to continue and I ran away, accepting
my defeat. I'm still waiting for you, Carmen, to tell you. And this wait is the best thing that has
happened to me in my life. Thank you Carmen.

25. 25STUDENT MONOLOGUES EIGHT Poems for my teacher (During the entire scene SHE will be
looking for a book on a shelf full of them. From time to time he will take one out, look at it, and
put it back. The actions of selection, search and return will contrast in their delicacy with his
somewhat rude words.) HER: I have to tell someone or I'll burst. What world does this guy live in?
What do you aspire to? Does he really believe that we don't care at all about what he tells us,
what he reads to us, what he thinks about the world in which we live? Neruda and his love poems.
Passion of love, I like to be with a boy, but to pass the time. Love! We are in the 21st century! And
that Don Quixote who was crazy, and the windmills. Is that educational? A crazy guy who fucks
with some giants who aren't giants? And then they say that young people do strange things. But
what bothers me is when he talks to us about the world, it's that it doesn't stop, the warming of
the planet, the violation of human rights, hunger, poverty... What a mania it is to bring us
newspaper clippings! Damn, we don't have the It's my fault that you, those of your age, have done
it this way. That the world is in our hands, the young people. Today, today he repeated it again. I
was about to jump out. That-it-is-not-our-world, let's see if you find out, that it is yours,

26. 26that if this is what the disgusting newspapers say, it's because of you, you know-it-all adults.
Leave us alone. Let us have fun, drink, smoke, make love. (He said it pretending his voice with the
intention of imitating him.) Yes, because he also talks to us about sex, AIDS, and unwanted
pregnancies. Don't make our lives miserable. (Prolonged silence.) Although sometimes, it makes
me sad. The uncle lives it, he cares about us, he wants us to study and if we don't it seems that he
gets sad. Yes, when more than half of the class does not do an activity that he believes is of great
interest, he becomes depressed. But not a little, it gets a little depressed. Yesterday, for example,
he lost his voice. I didn't know how to continue. Sometimes I do things so I don't see him like that.
He is annoying, he makes that sad face, which is disgusting, but one is also human and sometimes
so much pain is unbearable. (Pick up a book and show joy.) Here it is, I knew it was here. Jose
Hierro. Anthology. My mother and her poetry books. That poem... (He hurriedly turns the pages
and stops. Read the first stanza of the sonnet.) I came through pain to joy. I knew through pain
that the soul exists. Through pain, there in my sad kingdom, a mysterious sun dawned. I am going
to copy it and tomorrow, without me No one can see, of course, I give it to them, to see if they're
encouraged, and by the way, why not? It gives me a little boost, because I'm quite needy. (Comes
out.)

27. 27STUDENT MONOLOGUES NINE Maybe one day (In a corner of the stage, sitting.) ARTURO:
They will never know what's wrong with me. Never. No matter how much they ask me. Neither my
tutor nor Ana. (He gets up and goes to the embouchure.) Never. Do not care. It's not your
business. They will never know my secret. (Walks around the stage restlessly.) It has cost me a lot
of work to hide my fear, my loneliness, my anguish, my pain... I have managed to be recognized for
my untimely jokes. I have gotten myself expelled from class quite frequently. Don't tell me
anything anymore because I have done exercise 4 on page 27. However, my tutor seems to know
something, although I haven't said anything and my mother has never set foot in the institute. She
has enough of her own. (Pause.) Today she has not expelled me, she has spoken well to me, she
has smiled at me and with a single phrase she has disarmed me: “Come on, Arturo, change the
mood.” And then that poem, that damned one. poem. Why did he have to say he loves us? I don't
want anyone to love me. And Ana, who hasn't stopped looking at me all morning. And he told me,
with that sweet and cruel voice: “Whenever you want, tell me what's happening to you.” And he
has tried to hold my hand. Who is she to hold my hand, to

28. 28worry about me? Do I worry about her, do I worry about anyone? They want to know. But
they will never know anything. (He sits down again, dejected.) Is it true that the professor loves
us? Even if he expels me, he puts me down, does he love me? I have to admit that today I liked
seeing him happy, he seemed happy. Not like every day, with that bitterness that deserves to
remember mine. Today has been so different... His joy almost infected me. In fact, today I have
written down in my diary what he asked for tomorrow. Maybe I will, although I don't know if I will
know. (Silence. Get off the stage and walk around the stalls looking for someone.) I know what I
can do. Find Ana. I don't have his phone number, but I know that in the afternoons he always goes
to the neighborhood library. I will ask you to help me. But only to do that. Don't let him think
about holding my hand because I'm running. I swear. (He keeps looking, but he can't find who he
wants to find. He goes on stage deeply sad.) Why wasn't Ana in the library today? What's
happening to me? I feel a desire to see her that I don't understand. It seems to me that it goes
beyond exercise 12 on page 42. Far beyond. Yes, I'm sorry, I feel like it's something else, something
different, I need her hand, I want to caress her hand, and for her to talk to me, to talk to me with
that voice so different from all human voices. (Silence.) Something's wrong with me. That damn
poem was to blame. I want to love someone. I want to love the teacher, my mother, I want to love
Ana and her soft hand. And listen to that voice so different from all voices

29. 29human. (Silence.) And why not? Maybe, I'm just saying maybe, talk to him about my
loneliness. Of my desperate and useless loneliness. DARK

30. 30STUDENT MONOLOGUESTENPraise of slowness (We will see the protagonist of this
monologue move slowly throughout the scene. He is recording what he says on a small tape
recorder.) JESUS: Yesterday I lost my friends again. They always go everywhere in a hurry. They say
I'm slow. But I am like this. I like to move as if gravitating in space, as if caressing the ground I walk
on, as if I were making my way through the branches of a thick forest. The truth is that my
slowness brings me some problems. Once, after a concert, I was going to kiss a girl, I was so slow,
not in the kiss but in the approach that she got up and left. In class, a disaster, I don't have time to
answer anything on the exams, although I know it. Thank goodness the social worker realized this
and made them for me in parts. The last one for a whole week. I got a 6, a complete success. My
friends, when we go out, always leave me alone. They can't stand my snail's pace, as they say.
Well, they let me, now I always go with Jaime, the smell researcher11, every step he stops to
smell11The origin of this character is another of the same name and with similar characteristics
from my work Los Raros (When the Moor's Scream), edited together with Quisimos both to Bapu
for Edicionesde la Torre in 2010.

31. 31anything no matter how strange it is. We have become good friends. I'm starting to learn
about aromas and he's starting to walk like a lame turtle. I've been especially excited for a few
days. My mother has promised to buy me a car when I turn 18. I have three left, so I can learn little
by little. Tomorrow I start theoretical classes. Will I be able to get to the places on time? Will I also
drive slowly like when I ride a bike? A complete mystery. I know that my life will be different,
maybe by going so slowly my life will be longer. Or maybe not. But I like who I am. Although I have
to confess something: I'm afraid of your speed. Do you have time to look? I know that one day I
will be famous. I do not know why. But I sense it. Maybe they'll call it The Slow Man. Maybe you
will discover the importance of calm for the human brain. Or maybe not. Just in case I record this. I
get tired of talking so quickly, but it's necessary. (Exhausted, he will stop speaking at a normal pace
as before and will do so much more slowly. Cut the recording.) I can't take it anymore. I'm going to
bed. Tomorrow I have to get up early to get to class on time. (Slowly, very slowly, he becomes
DARK.)
32. 32STUDENT MONOLOGUESSONCEA normal girlSARA: I'm a normal girl. No writer in his right
mind would dare to write even a monologue about me. My life is summarized in a few words: I go
to school, I have breakfast, I eat, I have dinner. On weekends I go to the club or the park and that's
it. Maybe I could talk about my boredom in class. (The enthusiasm with which he says the
following must increase.) Less when the teacher reads us poetry or stories or when they show us
paintings or sculptures. I also like that thing about the human body, the thing about plants is very
curious, but above all, mathematics. When they play those songs in English and I find out what
they say, my classes fly by. But in general I get bored. Well, everyone says that high school is
boring. I already said it, I'm a normal girl. I don't know what else that absurd writer could talk
about. Maybe what I always think about when I go to the club. I see myself, and not because I
have taken any of those pills, which I don't try, or drank alcohol, which I don't like, I see myself at
the top of a mountain that I have reached through a forest through which it runs. a huge river.
From that mountain you can see a sea of white clouds and other mountains that are also very
high, very high. Although the music bursts my ears, I

33. 33I always see myself at the top of the mountain. And I enjoy it and then I start dancing like
everyone else, with a pure feeling of happiness. Well, maybe, that strange writer could talk about
my dream, my illusion. As normal as other dreams. Every day, every night I dream of the same
thing. It is something that fills me inside, that occupies my entire being. I'm ashamed, yes, because
it is a very normal dream. But I have to tell it, to show that there is no point in writing even a
monologue about myself.12 I want to have a job. Yes, it's that simple, have a job. I don't want to
be standing like my mother, desperate to search and not find anything. A job that doesn't mean I'll
be exhausted and angry like my father. A job that lasts, not like my demi brother's. A job that
makes me happy and earn money, enough to have my house and be able to go to concerts, the
theater and dance. A quiet job, without bossy bosses. Maybe in a library, surrounded by books of
poetry. Maybe in a laboratory inventing medicines. Maybe as a photographer, reflecting the end
of injustice or beauty. A job that only makes me happy. I'm willing to get it. I know, I'm too
normal.12 I dare to propose here the option that each student who represents the monologue
writes a dream, an illusion.

34. 34STUDENT MONOLOGUES TWELVEConfession 1 (The character kneeling in front of the

audience as if this were a confessional with a priest.)13IVÁN: Good morning, father, first of all I
must tell you that ten years have passed since my last confession, when I took communion, so no I
know very well how to do this now. Well, I'm here because I no longer know what to do to stop
lying. I am a gigantic liar. Yes, very skilled, they hardly detect me. But there is a reason why I want
to leave it and maybe you can help me. I love a girl, so much, so much, that I suffer when I lie to
her. And I can't stop doing it. They are small lies, don't think I'm going with others or anything like
that. But I have invented a double life for her to conquer her. And I feel like a lizard. I have told
him that my parents are rich, although I never have a euro. I told her that they had punished me
for something that I made up and that I no longer remember, and that they don't give me money,
so she always invites me. I have told him that I am a good student, lie, that I play the guitar, lie,
that I don't like to drink, lie, that I collaborate with a solidarity association, lie, 13Idea taken from
the montage The Confession, a project created by Walter Manfré, published by the Association of
Authors of Theater in 2001. I participated in it with the creation of one of the texts. The original
production was performed at the Autumn Festival and the Madrid Sur Festival in 2001.

35. 35that I write poetry, a lie. I downloaded those poems that I taught him from the Internet. But
I want to stop lying. I need him to love me as I really am. An ignorant; fond of motorcycles and
cars, which she hates; I am an Atleti fan, while I hate football; atheist or agnostic or something like
that. She is very religious. An uneducated person, she knows everything, the next year starts at the
university, and I, who am her age, am still in 4th grade. I can't take my lies anymore, I need to be
someone else. Well, father, tell me what I can do. Without her I couldn't continue living.

36. 36STUDENT MONOLOGUESSTRECEConfession 2 (The character in the same posture as the one
in the previous monologue. Maybe both on stage at the same time, first light on one and then on
the other.)GIMENA: Father, I lie. No, now I'm not going to lie. But I always lie. And I'm not bad at it.
They have never discovered my deceptions. Not my parents, not my teachers, not my friends. You
could say I'm a professional. But now I want to tell you the truth. I need it. I have to change and I
hope you will tell me how. They say that you, in addition to forgiving sins, know how to act
according to the commandments. And if I remember correctly one of them was not to lie. No, I'm
not religious, I confess, even though I said yes to the boy I like, the one I love. He is and I... for
liking him... you know. I need to tell him the truth, my truth, that I adore him even if it's not what
he thinks he is. Who doesn't lie a little to pretend to be better than what he is? He is different from
the others. A poet, musician, from a good family, cultured. Now he is punished and to appear to
be in a good position I have had to ask all my friends, my sisters, for money. I'm in debt. But I'm
out of credit. I will have to tell you that I have been punished too. But this doesn't matter much.
What I really feel is that

37. 37thinks I'm very cultured and, really, I'm not. I've never been. My main fun is not books, when
I meet him I take one from my older sister to show off. Before I met him, I spent hours watching
television, gossip, football, motorcycles. Now that I've met him, I'm no longer interested in them.
Yesterday I took a book of poetry from the library and, really, father, I liked it. That book talked
about love, the joy of love, the enthusiasm of love, the beauty of love. And so, with my lies, I feel
like I'm dirtying him, that I'm staining him. How can I confess to him that I haven't finished ESO,
that I stopped studying because of a stupid job from which I've been fired? Although, that's true,
I've become enroll. He loves music, he plays the guitar, he knows musicians I haven't heard of, Bob
Dylan, who is that guy? How can I tell him what I am and not lose him? Father, help me. Without
him I couldn't live.

38. 38STUDENT MONOLOGUES FOURTEEN You will not know my dreams (Noelia is sitting at a
table, surrounded by books, notes, filing cabinets, notebooks. Something exaggerated. From time
to time he will pick up a book, open it and put it carefully on the floor.)NOELIA: Today I cried in
class. A quiet, cold and very wet cry. Everyone looked at me, the teacher too. He called me, asked
me to go outside the classroom and asked me what was wrong, if he could help me. I, dying of
shame, lowered my head and with a gesture told him no. He insisted, but I haven't opened my
mouth. I don't like to say certain things. He can't understand it. Nobody can. Nobody who has not
lived in misery, in a shanty, dirty, hungry, surrounded by rats. That's why my parents came to
Spain. They work as much as they can. For little money, but now we eat every day. My mother is a
caregiver for the elderly and my father has been a waiter and a bricklayer, and now, unemployed.
Since a month ago. That's why I cried, because he says that there is no work and that maybe we
have to return to our country. I do not want. (Very affected.) I don't want to. I want to study,
although it is difficult for me because I have many doubts because I did not study almost when I
was a child, I want to study. Prepare myself. My dream is to go to university, although the teachers
say it is very difficult. I am going to

39. 39fight. (About to cry.) If necessary I will look for a job and study at night. I don't want to go
back there. That's why I cried. And he will never know.

40. 40STUDENT MONOLOGUES FIFTEENThe abyss shakes me (Alejandro is located at the edge of
the stage, but he will not look towards the audience, he can do so in several directions, but he will
always avoid the audience, his gaze.) ALEJANDRO: Today I have delved into the soul of my parents.
I have glimpsed your fear. His fear that he won't be happy. His fear floods everything. It makes me
shudder. The other day I learned this word: shudder. Make something tremble or tremble with
sudden agitated movement. Feeling a sudden nervous jolt or jolt in your mood. I liked it, not only
its meaning, that it helped me understand it a little. To understand submissive. Also its sound.
There are words that I don't know why, I like them, they make me shudder. Your languor shakes
me. Languor, what a beautiful word. Your enigmatic languor shakes me. I feel like an enigma to
them. That's why they are afraid. I know. But I can't breathe it. It hurts me. Today, because of that,
because of that pain, I have delved into his soul. But a deep abyss separates us. An unfathomable
abyss. Unfathomable, the other day I read this word in class, in a text. I do not know what it
means. Could an unfathomable abyss be well said? I think so, it will be a very big, deep abyss. I
don't understand your fear, your lack of confidence. Your fear scares me. I would like to come
closer and tell you something

41. 41it was easy for him to destroy that look of guilt. Or is it not to blame? What does that distant
look tell me? Where does this anguish come from? Don't know. That's why I slip away from his
fear, I hide, I avoid his presence. His reproaches. I just want to tell you to trust me, but I don't
know how to do it. That's why I shudder before that unfathomable abyss. DARK

42. 42STUDENT MONOLOGUES SIXTEEN They should have told us the truth (While the character is
speaking, he is packing objects that he keeps in some moving boxes.) BEA: I say this without any
resentment. Maybe in his place I wouldn't have known either. Maybe it wasn't about saying or
explaining. Maybe crying would have been enough, not always, one day, just one day in the five
years I was there. A brief cry, lasting a few minutes. Looking at our eyes. Possibly they didn't know
or we or I didn't know how to see it. Maybe they should have put aside, if not always, then at least
for one day, so much empty explanation. Those direct complements couldn't be so important or
the title of that Mozart composition. Were those equations indispensable that day? Why didn't
they tell us the truth? (Silence. The character seems to make an effort to find the right words.)
That we should prepare ourselves to resist lies. That we should have doubted so much. Unite to
resist together. And cry, sometimes cry. Get angry so often. And be on the streets for so many
days. To shout, to resist, to defend ourselves. (Pause.) No, without a doubt, they were not
prepared. Of course, the programs, the notes, the textbooks, those important authors, those
scientific laws, they were there, they had to reach us. Well, okay, I respect that, but what about

43. 43the other truth? Suffering, hunger, misery, and the other side, enrichment, power, profit.
Where were you? Why weren't these truths the protagonists for at least a few hours among so
many days, so many months, so many years? Sorry, maybe I couldn't hear you, maybe one day you
whispered it and I wasn't prepared while I looked at him and played at not listening to you. Maybe
you should have taught me to listen to you, maybe you did and I learned it too late. (Silence. Bea is
finishing packing the last items. But now, what will become of me? They have made me remember
you, I don't know why. Tomorrow they will kick me out of my house, you know, the
unemployment, the mortgage, the eviction, the usury. And I don't know why I remembered that
you told me to study, and I believed you, I did, but here I am. It hasn't helped me at all. Tomorrow
I'm leaving, I'm emigrating. I will look for work outside. It doesn't matter much, there are worse
situations than mine. I have supports. Well, I'll leave it, I'm about to close my last box, I haven't
managed to gather many things yet. I don't need them either. I want you to stop being a sad
memory. If you are still there, among the boys and girls who learn, don't forget to tell them not to
believe their lies. Unkiss.DARK

44. 44STUDENT MONOLOGUES SEVENTEEN What about two? (Theater of shadows. We will see
Olga's shadow behind a sheet. If it is of interest to the director we can use the music from the
campaign “Pregnancy is a 2” by INJUVE14.) OLGA: I know that my Language teacher is after me to
write about my status and you don't dare ask me. I don't know how to tell him either. He is always
writing about what happens to us. He says he wants to talk to us, to tell us in our ear what he
doesn't know how to tell us any other way. Can not be. But I would like to tell you something
about my doubt. About this doubt that is hurting me so much that I am about to scream. I'm
pregnant. They say I'm too young. I turned sixteen two months ago. I have been pregnant for two
months. It's been two months since that party. I would tell him, but I won't dare, that it was my
first time, that it was raining, that it was cold, that I had drunk, that I don't know how we were left
alone, that he smelled so good, that he always looked at me like that, with that dark look, that that
day he told me Congratulations very quietly, in a whisper, very close to the neck, that he gave me
this ring and this bracelet and a book that I have not yet read and with a very strange title that I do
not remember. (Pause.) I would tell him14http://www.embarazoescosade2.es/indice.jsp

45. 45that we don't use a condom. That we don't even think about anything other than... how to
put it? How can I tell him without being embarrassed? We were just thinking about how to do it.
He didn't know either. I hadn't even imagined it could happen. That I would hug him, that he
would kiss me, that...Yes, I know. We had information, they had recently reminded us in a talk at
the institute, that you had to carry a condom, yes, I know. (Pause.) But this is not just what I would
like to tell you if I dared. I would tell him, although I won't dare, that my head is spinning, that a lot
of images, different, contrary, hit me day after day, that I have lost my appetite, that I need to
scream... that I have to tell someone. I see him so small in my arms, looking for my chest, he
crawls on the floor, calling me, laughing, crying, sleeping... I see these images and I don't know if I
like them or not. I hear different voices, some that I can abort, others that are not right... And I am
so alone. But my voice is blocked, closed, it cannot speak, I just want to scream, scream.
(Prolonged scream saying NO. Maybe closing music. Dark.)

46. 46STUDENT MONOLOGUES EIGHTEENThe end of the world15OSCAR: Tomorrow the world
ends. I don't really know why. I have never been interested in the news; The news programs and
the newspapers seem disgusting to me. It seems safe, everyone says it: the president of the
government, the pope, my aunt, the teachers. I have received more than one hundred emails
confirming it. (Occasionally he will tear up a handwritten sheet after looking at it.) I will have to
tear them all up. (Pause.) Everyone is restless. It is logical. My mother does not stop crying. I,
however, am almost glad. And I say almost to soften a little what I think emphatically. I'm very
happy. So much unemployment, so much poverty, so much exploitation, so much empty future,
everything to hell. I'm glad because so many smart money-hoarders at the expense of others have
run out of money. What now, huh? What good does it do to you to reduce public health for your
private businesses, eh? About what? (He stops in front of a new letter, looks at it and crumples it
violently. Then he opens it again and looks at it and hurriedly tears it to pieces.) I have to finish
this, lest the end come too soon. I don't want a single letter left in case someone survives and
takes over my secret. Maybe I should have sent them. Maybe I would have gotten, at least, his
appreciation. Although I don't know if I would have tolerated the presence of his eyes. Thank
goodness it's all over. (With anger.) Yes this meteorite, yes it is15Based on an idea by Juan Carlos
Díaz, screenwriter of the film Los dias no vivires.

47. 47nuclear bomb, if this solar explosion or whatever doesn't destroy this damn planet,
someone should finish me off if I myself can't put an end to... What I did is unforgivable. I'm
miserable. A miserable damn. Why did I have to yell at him? Why did I threaten her the only day I
got her to look at me? I've already lost everything. She separated from me in fear. He fled like so
many will want to flee tomorrow from that definitive end. I don't. Not me because I deserve their
hate. And I can't stand it. Tomorrow I will run to the epicenter of destruction, wherever it comes
from. Tomorrow I won't try to hide. It is possible that this way I will purify this disgust that I feel
towards myself. I read letters that I didn't send and I thought, why did I think that? If everything
was going to end, she could be mine for a day. But he ran away, he ran away from me with fear.
And that fear in his eyes… it hurts me so much. That's why tomorrow I'll run toward the tongue of
fire, the big wave, or whatever. (Tears up the last letter.) But I will continue to love you, forgive
me. (Dark very, very slow.)

48. 48STUDENT MONOLOGUESNINENINEWithout a mobile phone16CÉSAR: Today they invited me

to speak at the institute's cultural days. Next week. I'm very nervous. You'll see, they'll laugh, as
always. The teacher says no, if there is laughter she will intervene. And all because of the article I
wrote last year for our newspaper. I didn't invent anything either, I had read it in Public and I only
summarized it a little. Well, then I also saw a video of an organization on YouTube. She says she
didn't invite me because of the article but because of what I did afterwards. I'm very nervous, I
don't know how I'll dare to go up there in front of everyone. What they have laughed at. And just
for not wanting to have a fucking cell phone. They'll laugh again, you'll see. It's not just because of
the coltan and the war. Also, this way no one controls me. Before, when I was a little late, my
mother was already there... Also, since I can't talk on the phone, I talk and hang out more with my
friends and Lorena. Lorena told me that she is also going to get rid of her cell phone. Give it time,
it's not that easy. I don't force her, let everyone do what they want. I simply got angry when I read
that16http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y8-0VCvBighttp://www.publico.es/ciencias/244572/
coltan-el-futuro-insosteniblehttp://www.
abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=1162520http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/02/29/opinion/
1330535854_387176.html

49. 49news and did some more research. And I threw it away. Yes, I threw it away, I could have
sold it, but no, I got angry and threw it away. Then I found out that it could be recycled, I didn't
know and I got angry. I guess I'll have to say something about the coltan thing, well, if I can,
because with the nerves I have... Public speaking is not my thing. Let's see if I rehearse a little.
(From here on you will read from some pages that you have taken out of your pocket.) Coltan is an
alloy from which tantalum is extracted; this, due to its qualities, is irreplaceable in the
manufacture of mobile phones, video game consoles and all types of electronic equipment. If it is
so necessary, we could think that the country that had deposits would be a prosperous country,
but that is not the case. Quite the contrary, this wealth is your misery. In the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, where the most important deposits are located, there are wars provoked and
financed by the control of the mines. Children and adolescents are exploited and work for meager
wages or are enslaved. It is estimated that for every kilo of coltan, between two and three children
have died. The armed groups that control its extraction rape and murder women and girls. The
forests and their fauna are also in danger. (Pause, puts the papers away.) I'm sure I can't read it. I
will start to tremble and… (Silence. He moves nervously, but with determination, as if he were
realizing something.) Well, maybe I tremble, but what I am going to say is important, very
important, you cannot allow anyone to make money off of the suffering of others. Others should
not be consented to. Maybe I tremble, but maybe people think about it
50. 50and you don't change your cell phone every now and then or recycle it or stop giving so
much importance to these and other devices. (Dark thrilling.)

51. 51STUDENT MONOLOGUES TWENTY Laughter, so long ago (A very serious boy, he wears a
black suit, his face is very white, he barely moves. Minimal gestures except when indicated.
STUDENT: They say that a long time ago there was something called laughter. Yun verb: laugh.
Sometimes, they say, it sounded ha, ha, ha; others, heh, heh, heh; even ho, ho, ho and hee, hee,
hee. Stranger was ju, ju, ju. Apparently, it was a way to express joy or fun. Now I am very happy
and fun and I don't need to make those ridiculous sounds. (Pause.) People laughed at good news,
at a joke, at a success, at a joke, even at... a fart. (He says this with obvious discomfort.) Thank
goodness the laughter disappeared. (Pause.) But why did it disappear, you might wonder? I asked
myself, too, and that's why I chose this topic for my quarterly research. I have spoken with many
grandfathers and grandmothers who still suffered from this abominable custom. This custom they
have hidden from their descendants due to its despicable character. Why did it disappear? (He
takes a token out of his pocket and looks at it surreptitiously.) It disappeared due to disuse. Little
by little, filmmakers, playwrights, writers in general, screenwriters... stopped writing comedies.
The people on the street stopped telling jokes. There were statements that it was difficult for
them to invent situations

52. 52fun in the midst of so much adversity. Many grandfathers and grandmothers remember that
it was because of the crisis. (Expression of ignorance.) I also don't know what the crisis is, but
Pablito will explain it to us below, he has chosen this topic for his quarterly historical exhibition.
(Pause.) Another grandmother told me that they overcame the crying and sadness. I don't know
what it means to cry either. (Looks at someone in the audience and corroborates.) Yes, Laurita will
tell us about this verb later. (Looks to his right and greets with a slight bow of his head.) Since the
professor has asked us to try to recover the past, then and to finish, I am going to try to make you
laugh. Something practically impossible because it requires learning, according to what I have
read, and none of us has ever laughed. (The student begins to gesticulate in a histrionic way. The
director and the actor - although it can also be an actress - will decide the gestures and
movements of the character, among which the imitation of an animal should not be missing. Of
course, we will try to maintain, parallel to the ridiculous gesture, a certain hieraticism in the
actor's or actress's countenance. When faced with laughter, real or produced among the audience
by several collaborating actors, the student reacts immediately with a mixture of surprise and
shock.) What was that? Was it laughter? Can anyone tell me if it was laughter? (Looks at the
audience, someone, a grandfather or grandmother, has confirmed that it was laughter.) Yes? But,
but... it's wonderful. (About to cry, very emotional.) I want to laugh, I want to laugh, I want to
laugh... (He will repeat it again and again very slowly while slowly fading into darkness.)

53. 53GIVE ME YOUR HAND (X and Y are two teenagers, 15, 16, 17, I don't think they will reach 18
years old. When writing I saw a boy and a girl, but I don't know very well who one or the other
was. Maybe I'm wrong and it's two boys or two girls. Maybe this is not the important thing. Or if.
Who knows. Certainly, in these moments I am more aware of their looks, their gestures and their
speech, the tone of their voice, their feelings. I'm interested in what they say and how they say it.
Like that, really.)X: Please give me your hand.Y: Your hand? Why?X: I'm afraid. Don't you hear
what they say everywhere? Y: What do you mean? What world do you live in? Everything they say.
Y: Who? Teachers, including us, also say it more and more. Y: Yeah, everything is shit. It worries
me, but fear, fear...

54. 54X: Aren't you scared of not having a job? That your parents become unemployed, that they
cannot pay the mortgage and that they throw you out of the house? Y: Well, seen like that. (He
holds out his hand. They caress each other. After a few moments, X separates. Something strange
has happened to the character.)X: (With a different attitude, he has lost his fear. Now he will be
sure of himself.) Thank you, thank you, truly, your hand has saved me. Thank you for your support,
for your affection. I'm not afraid anymore. Now I know everything that happens. And knowing it, I
have become strong, resistant... And: (Cutting him off.) Stop, stop. I don't understand you, you are
very strange today. What is happening? How has my hand simply made you strong? X: I don't
understand it either. I don't know how it happened. But now I know, I know it and it's very simple.
They are lying to us.Y: Well, we can imagine that.X: Not imagine, listen. I didn't know before that...
(Pause, the adolescent character gets up, perhaps, if possible, an overhead light or another type of
resource that breaks the "normality" of the scene. We will observe that the character's indignation
will grow as each new piece of information is provided.) I did not know that 0.16% of the world's
population already appropriates the equivalent of 66 percent of the annual world income17. We
did not know that 28 of the 35 largest Spanish companies and the majority of banks use tax havens
to facilitate tax evasion and economic crimes by their large clients18. I didn't know that in the
Stock Market17From the book There are alternatives. Proposals to create employment, Vicenç
Navarro, JuanTorres López and Alberto Garzón Espinosa, Ed. Sequitur and ATTAC Spain, Madrid,
2011. Page 64.18 Same book, page 62.

55. 55In Chicago, there is speculation on the price of food, sweaty men in brightly colored jackets
decide the fate of millions of people. The hunger of the planet in exchange for the wealth of a
few19. I did not know that in Spain 0.0035 percent of the population controls resources that are
equivalent to 80.5 percent of the wealth, what they call GDP20. I did not know that global military
spending, despite the 4 years of economic crisis, increased worldwide for another year, reaching
the scandalous figure of 1.6 trillion dollars21. And while the Millennium Goals are forgotten22. I
didn't know that... (And he approached and gently took her hand. X, little by little, calms down.
End of the visual effect.)Y: Where did you get that data from?X: From a book, from pages of
organizations on the Internet...Y: You have to leave that book with me. Are we going to play on the
playground?Y: Yes, that's how we clear our heads a little. Knaup / M. Schiessl and A.
Seith.http://elpais.com/diario/2011/09/04/domingo/1315108356_850215.html20From the cited
book, page 39.21Various sources, for example, the report South America leads world
rearmament,Andra Rizzi.http://elpais
.com/diario/2011/04/11/internacional/1302472803_850215.html22This list of data can grow or
decrease depending on the capacity of the actor, on the one hand, and the receptivity of the
public, on the other.

56. 56X: Although another day I have to talk to you about coltan.Y: About coltan?X: (As they
leave.) Yes, a mineral that is used in the manufacture of electronic devices. In some African
countries, in the mines, children work as slaves...