Monster

by Daniel Brooks, Daniel Brooks

Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Drama. Monster , a one-man play, begins in the total darkness of a movie theatre. After a long silence, someone in the audience rudely shushes his neighbour, and the show begins. Daniel MacIvor transforms himself into a series of characters whose lives seem eerily related. There's the young boy who tells the story of the neighbour lad who hacked up his father in the basement. There are alcoholic Al and whiny Janine, the lovers who quarrel, make up, and decide to marry after seeing a movie about a lad who?well, same thing. There's the ex-drunk who dreamed up the movie, but got no credit because he was said to have stolen the idea from a famous unfinished film, a claim that so angered him that he went back on the sauce. And there's the movie maker who made that incomplete epic.

Genres: Plays, Canada, Drama, Theatre

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 16, 1998

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this performed by Daniel MacIvor in the late 90s, and it was terrifying. Just now reading it... Nearly 20 years later. Still good.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I am conflicted about this play. There is one particularly great monologue in this, and some interesting ideas for sure, but the transitions between characters by "adam" seems forced and contrived (it is meant to be performed by one actor). The structure is also lacking and some characters and stories are much more interesting than others and the time is frequently spent on the wrong ones.