Monologue

St Herbert Monologue from The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: An Improbable Comedy

From The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: An Improbable Comedy by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome

male · comedic · 1:58 min

Rehearse this freeFind more monologues
A leader of the Orange Party was opposed by a Nationalist, and the proceedings promised to be lively. They promised for a while to be still livelier, owing to the nomination at the last moment of the local lunatic. (PHOEBE: This is where we come in.) There is always a local lunatic, who, if harmless, is generally a popular character. James Washington McCaw appears to have been a particularly cheerful specimen. One of his eccentricities was to always have a skipping-rope in his pocket; wherever the traffic allowed it, he would go through the streets skipping. He said it kept him warm. Another of his tricks was to let off fireworks from the roof of his house whenever he heard of the death of anybody of importance. The Returning Officer refused his nomination—which, so far as his nominators were concerned, was intended only as a joke—on the grounds of his being by common report a person of unsound mind. And there, so far as South-west Belfast was concerned, the matter ended. (PHOEBE: Pity.) But not so far as the Returning Officer was concerned. McCaw appears to have been a lunatic possessed of means, imbued with all an Irishman’s love of litigation. He at once brought an action against the Returning Officer, his contention being that his mental state was a private matter, of which the Returning Officer was not the person to judge.

About this piece

30s · joy · madness · identity · power · humor

Rehearse St Herbert'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.

Rehearse freeStart rehearsing

More from The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: An Improbable Comedy

Browse