Cheshire Cat Monologue 〈Quick | HONEST REVIEW〉

Since the Cat appears and disappears, the actor must use negative space.

The Cat’s eyes are his most dangerous weapon. During a monologue, do not look at the audience as a whole. Pick one person in the third row. Stare at them. Smile. Then slowly let your eyes drift, unfocused, to the back wall, as if looking through reality at the void behind the curtain.

Let us construct a hypothetical monologue. Imagine the stage is dark except for a single floating pair of yellow eyes and a wide, crescent smile. The voice is calm, slightly high-pitched, like silk being torn slowly. Cheshire Cat Monologue

“You know, Alice, the trouble with reality is that it has absolutely no sense of rhythm. You humans march to a beat you cannot hear, calling it ‘time.’ But I have watched the seconds fall off the clock face and crawl away to die in the carpet. They don’t march. They meander.

They ask me, ‘Which way ought I go?’ A sensible question, provided you care about the destination. But I have been to the destination. It is remarkably dull. It looks exactly like the beginning, only the tea is cold. Since the Cat appears and disappears, the actor

We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad. But here is the secret the Hatter forgets to tell you: Madness isn’t a disease. It is a cure. Sanity is just a cage where they keep the boring people. I do not bite my tongue. I dissolve it.

Look at my hands. You can’t, can you? Because they are gone. But I am still speaking. That frightens you. It should. It means I am not in my head. I am in yours. “You know, Alice, the trouble with reality is

So go ahead. Take the left path. Or the right. It makes no difference here—the Queen will want your head either way. As for me? I shall remain. Even when the lights go up. Even when you go home. Especially then.

*Long pause Cheshire Cat grin fades last. *”

This excerpt works because it follows Carroll’s rule: the Cat never lies, but he never tells the truth straight. He warns, threatens, and comforts in the same breath.