“Different Glove”
Noah, 16, has to tell his father he’s quitting baseball — the sport they’ve shared his whole life — to try theater instead. He’s terrified, not of the game, but of disappointing the person he loves most.
Can you turn the game off? One second. If it’s on, I’ll lose my nerve and just agree to more baseball.
I’m not playing in the spring. And before you do the thing where you fix it — don’t. Nothing’s broken.
I’ve had your old glove since I was six. Eleven years I’ve tried to love the thing you love, just to keep sitting in the truck with you after — radio on, you ordering the drive-thru wrong on purpose to make me laugh. That part I love. The baseball part I’ve been faking since middle school.
And if I play one more season, I think I’ll start resenting you. And I don’t want to be a person who resents you. You’re my favorite person. That’s the whole reason I’m even scared to say this.
So I’m going to try the theater thing. I saw your face — I know. Just come sit in the audience the way you had me sit in the stands. Same truck after. Same radio. Different glove.
How to Play It
Objective: to tell the truth and keep his dad. Noah isn’t rejecting his father — he’s trying to protect what they have by being honest about what he doesn’t want.
The turn: “I think I’ll start resenting you.” The reason stops being about baseball and becomes about love. The closing image reframes the whole ask: not leaving his dad, just changing the glove.
The fear isn’t of the sport — it’s of hurting someone he adores. Keep the affection warm and present throughout; the courage is in saying it anyway. Don’t play it as rebellion. Talk to a real dad who is really reacting.
Who it suits: a teen actor who can be brave and tender at once. An honest, non-controversial one-minute dramatic piece for boys with true teenage stakes.
Want Will to Coach You Through It?
A monologue is a two-person scene where the other person never speaks. Working it 1-on-1 with a working actor is the fastest way to make it land.