Monologue

Laura Monologue from The Machine

From The Machine by Upton Sinclair

female · defiant · 1:23 min

You sell them out to any one, high or low, who will pay for the privilege of exploiting them. You sell them to the rum-dealer and the dive-keeper and the gambler. You sell them to the white-slave trader. (GRIMES: There's no such person, Miss Hegan.) You offer an insult to my intelligence, Mr. Grimes. I have met with him and his work. There was a girl of the slums... her name was Annie Rogers. She was a decent girl; and she was lured into a dive and drugged and shut up in a brothel, a prisoner. She escaped to the street, pursued, and a friend of mine saved her. And, high and low, among the authorities of this city, we sought for justice for that girl, and there was no justice to be had. Yesterday afternoon I learned that she cut her own throat. (GRIMES: I see.) And that happened, Mr. Grimes! It happened in the City of New York! I saw it with my own eyes!

Rehearse Laura's monologue

Run it out loud with a spotlight that follows your voice, line by line, until it's off the page. Free to start, no credit card.