Monologue: College Age Woman, Nice Girl from Indiana Type

This is a monologue from I THINK WE'RE LOST  by Peter Fenton for the role of LINDSAY. I THINK WE'RE LOST is a dark comedy retelling of Peter Pan that is set to make its professional premiere in April 2026 with Pier Players at Theatre Exile in Philadelphia. his copyrighted monologue is free for use in audition and educational settings. The full play can be read on New Play Exchange or read a sample on this website. © 2023 by Peter Fenton. All rights reserved.

About the Character:

LINDSAY PLENCNER (22, Female, Any Ethnicity) A senior at a Catholic university in Philadelphia who is ambitious, successful, and kind. A “nice girl from Indiana” inwardly buckling under the expectations placed upon her.

About the Play:

A darkly comedic postmodern reimagining of Peter Pan. Wendy is gone, and a college-aged Peter considers leaving Neverland. As her fantasy unravels, Tinker Bell recruits two new arrivals—a “Lost Boy” and a “Wendy 2.0”—and sends them on a secret mission to kill Captain Hook. But as the newcomers confront their existential baggage, they uncover unsettling truths buried in Neverland’s past. A contemporary, darkly comedic feminist and queer-positive not-quite sequel, not-quite adaptation, this is a story for young adult audiences about mental health, identity, and the seductive trap of eternal adolescence.

CONNOR

... So when I see someone who’s taken seriously. Someone the whole world bends to—it’s this haunting reminder that I have no idea who I’m actually supposed to be.

LINDSAY

The whole world bends to me.

She laughs; defeated.

CONNOR

Who are you really? Why’d you follow me here?

LINDSAY

I’m a nice girl from Indiana.

A long, sobered beat.

LINDSAY

Do you know how many types of lives you’re allowed to live when you’re a nice girl from Indiana? One.

They don’t care that I’m graduating summa cum laude. They don’t care that I’ve got an MFA lined up at NYU. They don’t even care that I won all my college money at Miss Teen Indiana, for Christ’s sake. No. The only thing my town, my family seems to care about is that I met the love of my life at freshman orientation and we got engaged at the ripe old age of twenty-two. I love Eric, I don’t regret him. But there’s part of me that feels like no matter what else I do with my life, every step I take down that aisle, they get to think they won. And the worst part is maybe they did.

I work twice as hard for half the credit to—

Do you know what it’s like?

To walk into a room full of men who are ready to snap your neck if you can’t prove right then and there why you’re worth listening to? I’m not even sure any of this is worth it anymore. So forgive me for not living up to whatever version of me you had cooked up in your head. I don’t know what you want from me. I’m just a nice girl from Indiana.

Pause.

CONNOR

I’m sorry.

LINDSAY

Thanks.

Connor and Lindsay look at each other as two friends really seeing themselves for the first time.

CONNOR

I think we’re lost.

***

That's the end of the excerpt! If you want to read more from this play, go over to the plays page on this website. If you want to check out more monologues by Peter Fenton, there are a few on the blog.

Want to use it in an audition or in a classroom setting?

Be my guest! This material is free to use for those settings only. While I'd love to know that you resonated enough with my words to use it as part of your audition or class, you do not need to ask me permission. All I ask is that you credit me as the author and the play that it came from.

Want to perform it publicly or use it in a different way?

Please contact me and explain your situation. We'll come up with an agreement that makes sense and is fair to us both.