Script Spotlight: To Bee or Not To Bee by Tracy Wells

Is it a comedy or tragedy when dreams of Broadway glory fade to life in a bumble bee costume for a mall’s springtime garden display? The answer found in Tracy Wells’ ten-minute monologue is all comedy, at least for the audience.

Dressed in a full bumble bee outfit, a lone performer tells the sad-and-Shakespearean story of one actor’s star-crossed journey from New York to L.A. to a clown car to Easter Bunny envy at the mall. Appropriate for either a male or female actor, “To Bee or Not to Bee?” will work perfectly for a competition, variety night, talent show, or comedic showcase.

Playwright Tracy Wells may have never worn a giant bee costume herself, but she was definitely stung by the theater bug in high school after starring in a string production and loving every minute of it. It’s no coincidence she married a fellow theater nerd. Her husband Eric is a middle- and high-school theater director.

When Eric needed just the right large-cast play to use with his students, Tracy decided to try and write one. The result, an adaptation of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” launched her long-running career as a playwright. You’ll find several of her scripts on Scriptmore.

Tracy loves a good monologue. She cited Nora’s big speech at the end of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” as one of her favorites. As a performer, though, she found monologues challenging.

“I performed in both plays and musicals in high school, as well as competitively in forensic competitions,” Tracy told us. “I always found monologues much tougher. Aside from the memorization, the entire story is all on you. You have to convey character and setting and tell a story from beginning to end without anyone else to work off of. I'm continually in awe of those who take on this challenge!”

If you’d like a fun challenge, why not tackle “To Bee or Not to Bee?” as a competition piece or for your next variety show?

[Playwrights Recommend: Tracy describes playwright Andrew Kooman as a powerful storyteller and suggests checking out his dramatic monologue “They Tried to Destroy Us” on Scriptmore.]