Famous Monologues

I Ate the Divorce Papers

Ask any theatre kid how to complete the sentence “I ate the…” and they will likely reply “divorce papers with ketchup.” The "I Ate the Divorce Papers" monologue is known the world over by theatre people of all ages and has become a rite of passage amongst newly minted theatre students doing monologue work in classroom, audition and competition settings. Because this monologue is so well known, an actor's ability to breath fresh life into it is a mark of their talent and creativity in distinguishing their performance as unique and standout amongst the crowd. Not just a female monologue anymore, all genders and ages have taken a crack at making this old chestnut fresh with some theatre departments putting together montage performances of the famous monologue.

Be "in the know" about "I Ate The Divorce Papers"
  • The "I Ate the Divorce Papers" monologue is from the play Goodbye Charles, written by Gabriel Davis.  
  • "I Ate the Divorce Papers" monologue's famous opening line is often referred to as "I ate the divorce papers with ketchup" when in fact that exact phase never appears in the actual monologue. The opening lines of the monologue are: "I ate them. That’s right. I ate the divorce papers, Charles. I ate them with ketchup." 
  • The name of the character reciting the monologue is Jillian. Her husband Charles has been MIA for days. He comes back to get some things from their apartment and to get the divorce papers. That's when Jillian delivers the monologue.
  • The monologue is referenced as a meme on TikTok, where videos posted with the hashtag #iatethedivorcepapers had 608,800 views as of November, 2022. 
  • The "Pull Up in the Sri Lanka" meme and the "I Ate the Divorce Papers" monologue. The “Pull Up in the Sri Lanka” meme is pretty straight-forward: TikTok and Twitter users claim to be good at a certain activity or knowledgeable on a certain subject before demonstrating otherwise. The "Pull Up in the Sri Lanka" meme is a clip taken from The Wendy Williams Show where Real Housewives of Potomac star Wendy Osefo was asked "Are you a Nicky fan?" and to indicate she is a Nicky Minaj fan, replies "Am I a Nicky fan?" and then goes on to misquote a Nicky Minaj song. Several videos posted by theatre students to TikTok bring this together with "I Ate the Divorce Papers." In the videos, the actor/actress lip syncs to the audio from the "Pull Up in the Sri Lanka" meme while captions on the page show the text "Are you a theatre kid", "Am I a theatre kid? I ate the divorce papers!" The obvious reference here is that while knowing "I Ate the Divorce Papers" is certainly something all theatre kids know at this point, it is not enough to validate a person as a theatre insider. Maybe try quoting Tennessee Williams?  ; - ).
  •  The "I as in I Ate Them" Meme. In this meme, a person on the phone with customer service begins spelling their name. When they get to "I" they say "I as in I Ate Them" and launch into the monologue.
  • The "I'm Getting Ripped Tonight" Meme. In this meme, a person working out says "I'm Getting Ripped Tonight" and begins spelling ripped ... "R I P" ... before saying "I Ate Them" and reciting the monologue.