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Ile

And d' you s'pose any of 'em would belie...

Overview

Show
Gender
Male
Playing Age
Adult, Mature Adult
Style
Dramatic
Act/Scene
Act 1
Time & Place
The monologue takes place in Captain Keeney’s cabin aboard the steam whaling ship Atlantic Queen in the icy waters of the Arctic during the early twentieth century.
Length
Short
Time Period
Classical
Show Type
Play
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)

Context

Text

And d' you s'pose any of 'em would believe that--any o' them skippers I've beaten voyage after voyage? Can't you hear 'em laughin' and sneerin'--Tibbots 'n' Harris 'n' Simms and the rest--and all o' Homeport makin' fun o' me? "Dave Keeney what boasts he's the best whalin' skipper out o' Homeport comin' back with a measly four hundred barrel of ile?" (The thought of this drives him into a frenzy, and he smashes his fist down on the marble top of the sideboard.) Hell! I got to git the ile, I tell you. How could I figger on this ice? It's never been so bad before in the thirty year I been a-comin' here. And now it's breakin'up. In a couple o'days it'll be all gone. And they's whale here, plenty of 'em. I know they is and I ain't never gone wrong yit. I got to git the ile! I got to git it in spite of all hell, and by God, I ain't a-goin' home till I do git it!

O’Neill, Eugene, Ile, The Atlantic Book of Modern Plays, 1921.

Performance Tips

Emotional Beat Breakdown

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