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The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

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The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

I’m a member of several Facebook groups for theater teachers.  Other than enjoying reading their posts (which are hysterical sometimes), I am touched by their many questions and how they help each other. During this time of year teachers are looking for plays for young actors–youth theater plays to produce with their students or study in a class.

I can feel their frustration with selecting or even finding a script. Who better to receive advice from than those who has been in their shoes?  That’s me. Here’s the best advice you could ever get about new plays for youth theater

We theater teachers are a different bunch.  Selecting a play for students to read which appeals to most of them is a real challenge. A lot of theater teachers have students dropped on to their rosters who are not interested in theater and that’s another issue. Or a teacher finds a script but it’s juvenile or too mature.  Or they lack merit, or quite frankly, they are just plain stupid. Plus, reading a play written for adults isn’t always the most appropriate for students. And…not everyone wants to read Shakespeare which seems to be a go-to when a teacher/director just can not think what else to do.  That’s an entirely different blog post for another time.

My Background

Since I taught and directed for over thirty-eight years, I’ve had plenty of experience with this problem.  If you want to see my employment resume, go to: Teaching Resume. When I began directing and teaching in the late 1980s, I couldn’t find plays for young actors. I’d pad scripts with extra characters to give students a line or two.  Was it copyright infringement?  Probably, but the play catalogues didn’t carry youth theater scripts at all. If I’m guilty of anything it’s guilty of trying to educate our youth. I rest my case!

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

Finally, out of sheer desperation, I co-developed a national playwriting contest for youth theater plays in 1988.  You can read more about it here: Start a Playwriting Contest Using 20 Questions (part one) and Start a Playwriting Contest Using 20 Questions (part two).

It is my opinion that the youth theater play market became popular in the mid 1990s when Music Theater International unveiled its junior musical category.  Suddenly, theater and vocal music teachers had musicals to perform instead of having to use full length musicals written primarily for adults. With the rise of MTI’s junior musicals popularity, playwrights could see a reason to create scripts for our youth. Now we have many playwrights writing for our youth.

Having taught and directed for all those years and experienced this issue firsthand, I have a good finger on the pulse of what our theater teachers need or require. I know what works and what doesn’t.

I’m so pleased with the number of people who read my blog each day keeping my little blog in the top 5 of the most popular in theater education.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m here to help.

What’s My Advice?

Although it may easiest just to produce a play you’ve directed in the past, my advice is to try a new playwright.  Be daring and select something that is best for your students even if the community isn’t familiar with it.  That’s the only way people can learn about–you be the first!

When we began our playwriting contest I mentioned above, we didn’t have many playwrights interested in participating.  After several years, the word got out and many plays were entered in the contest.  We’d bring the winner to Columbia, MO and they’d have an opportunity to see their new script performed by our theater school. It was a wonderful way for our community to experience new works and help the playwrights as well.

Consequently, I thought it would be useful to give some playwrights a platform in which to share their scripts.  Here are several plays which I suggest you give a look and perhaps you will want to produce them:

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

The Losers’ Club

The Losers’ Club, published by Eldridge Publishing by Jonathan Turner Smith

One Act (High School Level)

Duration: 40 minutes

Cast: 8 m, 6 w

A group of outcast high sclhool students in a small Texas town have formed “The Losers’ Club.” On homecoming evening, these 12 students kidnap the star football player, Joe Taylor, and homecoming queen nominee, Tawny Harris, who have ignored, bullied, and ridiculed members of the club for years. Lead by Trenton, a 17-year-old Goth, the club members put the condescending Joe and Tawny on trial for “crimes committed against their fellow students.”

Each member of the “jury” details how he or she has been harassed by Joe, Tawny, and their friends, and how their lives have been affected by the abuse. What is revealed in the testimonies and the result of the trial is a surprise to all. An excellent play to serve as a catalyst for realistic discussions about bullying in schools across America.

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

Back to the 80s!

Back to the 80s! published by Playscripts.com publishing by Dean O’Carroll

Parody  (High School and above)
Duration: 60 – 70 minutes
15 W, 7 M,  (11-116 actors possible: 5-99 W, 1-111 M)
Set: Flexible.
(65 productions)

Hold on to your hoverboards, we’re taking a trip Back to the 80s! When modern teen Mary Fitzfry gets sent back in time by an eccentric professor, she finds herself in the middle of a totally tubular cavalcade of 80s pop culture. There’s a lot of familiar faces, from the teens in breakfast-time detention to the guys chasing ghosts and dancing zombies, but the biggest surprise of all is Mary’s own protective mom as a teen. Turns out she’s actually kind of rad – but thanks to Mary’s time travel, she’s in trouble.

Can Mary make things right? This adventure takes you from the mall where everything happens, to a suburban sitcom street, to a cave under the high school – and you can choose who to feature from a flexible throng of characters to bring your audience maximum nostalgia. A hilarious parody to make all ages cheer “I love the 80s!”

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

The Kingdom of Academia

The Kingdom of Academia published by Brookly Publishers by Autumn Owens

Type: One Act (Middle School and up)
Genres: Comedy, Ensemble Cast
Themes: Science & Math, Personifications, Royalty
Duration: 30 minutes
Speaking Cast: 2 females, 1 male, 14 either (17 total cast)
Flexibility: 0-20 extras, gender flexible
All is well in The Kingdom of Academia – a royal land ruled by the much-loved King and Queen and inhabited by loyal subjects like Art, Geography, History, and Philosophy. But when the Board of Education sends Math to become a new subject of Academia, the Kingdom’s peace and unity are threatened as subjects riot against this new addition. The King and Queen, having failed their own math classes as young students, turn a deaf ear to Math’s pleas to join the Kingdom.
It’s up to Math and his newfound friends, Science and the Princess, to convince Academia that Math isn’t so boring and confusing after all. Just when it seems that Academia might have a change of heart, the notorious Board of Education arrives on the scene, offering to take Math back. Will the King and Queen seize the opportunity to send Math home, or can Math persuade the Kingdom that he counts after all?
The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Selecting Plays For Youth Theater

It’s Her Say

Published by Stage Partners

Type:  Drama/Comedy (Middle School and up)

Short Play Collection.

Durations:  Each play is 10-20 minutes.

 Speaking Cast:  10-20 actors, flexible casting

It’s Her Say, a collection of short plays that focus on the female experience, can be used in the classroom for scene study or licensed for production. Ranging from historical fictionto social consciousness to shifting friendships to horror comedy, each play is written by a female-identifying theatre teacher who knows exactly what young performers are capable of and what kind of work they are eager to perform. This collection includes the following short plays:

Some Things Never Changeby Jane Best
I Said Run.by Rachel Bublitz
The Women’s Land Armyby Stephanie Buckley
Beauty Kweenzby Diana Burbano
Talk to Me About Homeby Eugenie Carabatsos
The Bootby Emily Hageman
Angela and Angie and Cynthiaby Patty MacMullen
The Stakeout by K. Alexa Mavromatis
The Un-Help Desk by Emily McClain
Girl, Period by Stephanie Shearer

(These plays can be licensed together or separately. If you license the whole collection, you have permission to pick and choose which plays to perform.)

I hope you take my advice and check out these plays in the near future.  This has been such a successful experience that I plan to blog again about this subject suggesting other plays suitable for our students!  Make sure you are following me so you’ll know when I’ve blogged again. Join here:

What is one of your favorite youth theater plays?  I’d love to discuss it with you.  Contact me at DhcBaldwin@gmail.com

Woman behind DramaMommaSpeaks

 

Start a Playwriting Contest Using 20 Questions

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This is my most recent article I penned for Litpick. I hope it’s helpful to you.


Start a Playwriting Contest Using 20 Questions

by Deborah Baldwin

Twenty-nine years ago, I was president of a community theatre, the Columbia Entertainment Company, in Columbia, Missouri. Also, I was the director of a youth theatre program for them. I volunteered hundreds of hours to both programs. It was an amazing learning experience and one that I draw upon from time to time in my career.

Here is the story of probably the most important thing we did in this company: We created a national play-writing contest for large cast youth theatre plays. It is called the Jackie White National Play-writing Award Contest and is still in existence to this day. That’s a long time for a contest of this nature to flourish, especially sponsored by a community theatre.

The Origin

Thirty years ago I was a young woman who needed scripts for large casts—over thirty students in number, ages fourth through ninth grade. At the time, there were very few plays to choose from, much less musicals for kids. I lamented to a board that I was having a difficult time finding any suitable plays for the season. In the past, I pad the roles with extra non-speaking characters or ones with little ad libs, but what I really needed was youth theatre plays with large casts, period. The board member suggested our company create our own playwriting contest specifically for this purpose. So, really out of desperation, we did!

Please understand, we had NO idea what we were doing. We merely figured it out as we progressed. It took us a few years to perfect the contest, but it is still one of the most valuable programs the theatre created.

honk-jr

The Why

Generally, playwrights need their plays or musicals to be produced before a publishing company will represent them. The Denver Performing Arts Center sponsors a New Play Summit each year in February. Their contest is very clever. The first time the winning entries are produced as stage readings with minimal set and costumes. The audience gives feedback after the performance through a survey. If the play suits DPAC’s needs, during the next season, they mount a full production of it.

My husband and I have attended several years of the New Play Summit and enjoyed being part of the creative process. We feel more invested in the play, because we offered our suggestions. Whether DPAC intends to or not, this is a terrific way to encourage audience members to return to see the production once it is produced.

Your contest could be created by your drama class, community theatre or even youth group. There is no end to the possibilities a contest of this type affords a group. The contest can be as big or small as your group desires. You could sponsor whatever kind of contest you want—ten minute plays, musicals for youth theatre, plays focused on bullying or plays concerning tolerance. It’s all up to you.

Now before you look at these questions and think is an overwhelming project, I want you to consider the people who will receive such fulfillment from the contest. Playwrights are always seeking places to get their plays read and produced. That could be you!

studenst-reading-play

Here are some questions to contemplate when creating your own playwriting contest:

1) What is the mission of our contest? What is our end result? Are we looking for a particular subject to be explored? Reach a particular audience? Attract an underserved demographic?

2) What are the requirements of the winning script? Cast size, gender and age of characters, length of play or musical, set, costumes props and the feasibility of producing the script within the confines of our budget are all important questions to consider.

3) Is any subject taboo? In some social circles, certain subjects are considered inappropriate.

4) How about inappropriate language?

5) Should we charge a fee to enter the contest? How much?

6) Are there granting agencies or donors we could approach to fund the contest?

7) What is our budget to spend to advertise the contest?

8) What free media sources will we use to publicize the contest?

9) Will we fully mount the winning entry?

10) Should we present a stage reading?

11) Can anyone enter the contest? Are we seeking only student scripts or adults?

12) Who will read the scripts and make the final decision on the awardee?

13) Will we award 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards as well as honorable mention? How many honorable mentions?

14) What will the winner receive? A cash award, gift, certificate, lifetime season tickets?

15) Where will the cash award money come from? A donor? A service organization? Your city’s arts council?

16) After the awardee is selected, will we publicize the winner?

17) Do we want to bring the winning playwright to the performance?

18) If the winning playwright attends, is it our responsibility to provide room and board to them?

19) If the playwright is present, do we want to host a social in their honor?

20) What is our time line?

I hope these twenty questions will help you create your playwriting contest.  Do keep me informed.  I’d love to hear from you.

wishing-shelf

A Contest with Their Head in the Right Place

I am an indie author, too. Recently, I ran upon an indie author book contest in England created by a popular children’s author, Edward Trayer. The Whistling Shelf Award is a fairly new contest. When I was perusing his website regarding it, I discovered he charges an entrance fee and donates a portion of money to the Blind Children fund in England. Now, that’s my kind of author. Because of this, I quickly entered my book, Bumbling Bea, into its competition. I look forward to this year’s awards.

Since the penning of this post, I received word I was a finalist in the children’s books division in the Wishing Shelf contest.  What an honor!

I believe in philanthropy and I believe in the power of theatre. I bet you do, too.
Try your hand creating a playwriting contest. The Jackie White National Children’s Play Writing Contest is one of the most important programs the Columbia Entertainment Company ever created. If a desperate, young director like me with no experience creating a contest can be successful, so can you!
Columbia Entertainment Company playwriting contest:

http://www.cectheatre.org/playwriting.html

Denver Performing Arts Center New Play Summit:

http://www.denvercenter.org/events/colorado-new-play-summit
Wishing Shelf Book Awards
http://www.thewsa.co.uk/

—————

Deborah is a veteran drama teacher having taught in Missouri and Colorado for nearly thirty-eight years. Specializing in youth and community theatre, Deborah has directed more than 250 plays and musicals with adults and children alike. Recently, she and her husband moved to Kansas to be near their family and first grandchild. Her award winning middle grade book, Bumbling Bea, can be purchased through Amazon.com.

Check out her blog at: Dramamommaspeaks.com or her website Deborahbaldwin.net. Deborah serves as handmaiden to her beloved cat and sings harmony to most any song she hears.

Announcing: Bumbling Bea The Play –Act one, Scene one

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Here is the play adaptation of my book, Bumbling Bea.

I’m one of those people who do what they say they are gonna do.

Gulp!

I am adapting Bumbling Bea into a play!  (I feel we need trumpets blaring and hi-steppers stepping….This is HUGE people.  )

marching band

Now you would think this would be an easy feat for me considering how many years I have directed plays.

 Nay, nay I say. ( I heard this on the radio one day and it cracked me up.)

I’m stalling, I know.

Directing plays since the dawn of man does make my job easier.  It’s a laborious process, however.  It takes me about two hours to adapt four to eight pages of the book version. Then I poop out.

Note:  This is the first draft of the scene.  I haven’t given you a cast list, or description of the set.  For those of you who are familiar with the book version, I think you’ll be able to easily follow the play.  At least, that’s my hope.

BB the play

 PLEASE BE KIND.

Here it is the play adaptation of Bumbling Bea:

 Act one, Scene one.  Enjoy!

Bumbling Bea Act One Scene 1B

Note #2:  I’m seeking beta readers for the play.  Would you be interested in helping?  Just think–someday when it is published you can say you helped make it into the terrific play it is destined to be.

I’m a fan of the play version of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  Bumbling Bea the play is loosely patterned at it.

Also, this is family fair.  I expect to see youth theater and community theaters producing it.

I honestly think Bumbling Bea will have much success in play form.

Daring words coming from the cautious me.

Are you looking for a new play to workshop?  I’m very interested in working with a drama class or youth theatre program and crafting Bumbling Bea, the play.

I have experience in working with new plays.  About twenty-nine years ago, I co-developed a national playwriting contest for youth theatre plays.

I know what is needed and I know how to make it happen.

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

Information on this website may be copied for personal use only.  No part of this website may be reproduced, stored, or transmissed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copy right Act, without the prior written permission of the author.  Requests to the author and publisher for permission should be addressed to the following email:  dhcbaldwin@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Happy April Fool’s Day–Theatre Jokes to Make You Laugh

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Happy April Fools Day! Theatre Jokes to Make you Laugh
First, these jokes are not mine.  Credit goes to Whatsonstage.com, Goldenbeardrama.com.
I only compiled them from several sources, but for those in theatre…well, we get them. Enjoy!

  • Two neighbours in Stratford claim that their home is the true birthplace of Shakespeare. Officials in Stratford proposed to solve the dispute by putting a plaque on both their houses.
  • Two deceased actors meet in heaven. One says: “Good grief, is that Trevor Nunn over there? I didn’t realise he was dead.” His acquaintance, who had a slightly longer experience of the afterlife, replied: “Oh no, that’s God- he just thinks he’s Trevor Nunn.” (I’ve known many an actor who thinks he’s God, trust me.  Not only are they obnoxious, but hacks, too.)

Happy April Fool's Day

  • Q: How do you drown an actress?
    A: Put a mirror at the bottom of the pool.
  • Q: How many actors does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A: Ten – one to hold the bulb and nine to say “it should be me up there”. OR…
    A: One – the actor holds the lightbulb and the world revolves around him.
  • Q: How many directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A: Hmmm… Lightbulb… Allow me to ponder the changing of the bulb.

(My daughter was in a Greek play while in college.  The director read 38 adaptations of a play before he directed hers.  It was horrible. Moral of the story:  You can read 1,000 adaptations but if you aint’ got the talent to direct it, it doesn’t matter.)

  • Q: How many producers does it take to change a lightbulb?
    A: Sorry, a new lamp isn’t in the budget.
  • (I know of one company who threw a very elaborate, expensive cast party, but denied a very dedicated, always responsible volunteer a complimentary ticket saying, “It was too expensive to give you one.” ????
  • Q: How many lighting designers does is take to change a lightbulb?
    A: None. It’s a carefully orchestrated blackout.

(Never, never make the lighting designer or crew angry.  They can easily put you in                  the dark because of it.)

Happy April Fool's Day

  • An actor without technicians is a naked person, standing on a bare stage, in the dark, trying to emote. A technician without actors is a person with saleable skills.
  • A stage manager, a sound technician and a lighting designer find a bottle in a corner of the theatre. One of them rubs it and a genie pops out. “Since you all found me,” he says “you each get one wish.” The sound technician steps up and says, “I’d like a million pounds and three beautiful women.” POOF! The sound tech is gone. The lighting designer steps up and says, “Well, if he can have that, I’d like TEN million pounds, and my own personal island with 15 beautiful women!” POOF! The lighting designer is gone. The stage manager steps up and says, “I’d like them both back in ten minutes.”
  • If “All the world’s a stage, and all the people merely players”… who the **** has my script?

(There is no one more hysterical or dramatic (pun intended) than an actor who can’t  find  his script, unless he or she is the overly confident actor who paraphrases anyway.)

Theatrical Logic

In is down, down is front

Out is up, up is back

Off is out, on is in

And of course-

Left is right and right is left

A drop shouldn’t and a

Block and fall does neither

A prop doesn’t and

A cove has no water

Tripping is OK

A running crew rarely gets anywhere

A purchase line buys you nothing

A trap will not catch anything

A gridiron has nothing to do with football

Strike is work (In fact a lot of work)

And a green room, thank god, usually isn’t

Now that you’re fully versed in Theatrical terms,

Break a leg.

But not really.
Child laughing
THE ACTOR’S LESSONS of DESTRUCTION

1. Compromise your principles early and get it over with.

2. Memorize all of the songs from “Cats.”

3. Wear as much spandex as possible to auditions.

4. Wear lots of “comedy and tragedy” accessories.

5. Take your art WAY too seriously.

6. Misquote Shakespeare.

7. If a director doesn’t invite you to callbacks, assume it’s a mistake and go anyway.

8. When you get to callbacks, ask the director “Will this take long?”

9. No matter how many conflicts you have, reply “none.” Hey, it can all be worked out in the end.

10. Overemphasize the lines they laugh at.

11. Mistreat props. Lose them. Take them home with you.

12. Tip the director.

13. Repeatedly ask techies, “Will this be ready by the opening?”

14. Assume the stage manager is there to clean up after you..

15. Stay up late power drinking before early morning calls.

16. Pause for so long after your monologue that they can’t tell if you are done or not.

17. Remember, although you can always be replaced, they can’t replace you until you’ve done a LOT of damage.

18. When your character isn’t talking, mug.

19. Why be onstage when you can upstage?

20. For a touch of realism, upstage yourself.

21. Give fellow actors advice on how to do their characters.

22. If you can’t get a grasp of your character, just do Jack Nicholson.

23. Blocking is for amateurs.

24. Eye contact is for actors afraid to stand on their own.

25. It’s not the quality of the role, it’s what you get to wear.

26. Wear all black and hang out in coffee houses.

27. Change your blocking on opening night.

28. Remember: frontal nudity gets you noticed faster.

29. Use your tongue to make stage kisses look “real.”

30. Break a leg. Literally.

Happy April Fool's Day

The Actor’s Vocabulary (Edited)


ETERNITY:  The time that passes between a dropped cue and the next line.

PROP:  A hand-carried object small enough to be lost by an actor exactly 30 seconds before it is needed on stage.

DIRECTOR:  An individual who suffers from the delusion that he/she is responsible for every moment of brilliance cited by the critic in the local review.

BLOCKING:  The art of moving actors on the stage in such a manner so as to have them not collide with the walls, furniture, or each other, nor descend precipitously into the orchestra pit . Similar to playing chess, with the exception that, here, the pawns want to argue with you.

BLOCKING REHEARSAL:  A rehearsal taking place early in the production schedule where actors frantically write down movements which will be nowhere in evidence by opening night.

QUALITY THEATRE:  Any show with which one was directly involved.
TURKEY: Any show with which one was NOT directly involved.

DRESS REHEARSAL:   The final rehearsal during which actors forget everything learned in the two previous weeks as they attempt to navigate the 49 new objects and set pieces that the set designer/director has added to the set at just prior to the DRESS REHEARSAL.

TECH WEEK: The last week of rehearsal when everything that was supposed to be done weeks before finally comes together at the last minute. This week reaches its grand climax on DRESS REHEARSAL NIGHT when costumes rip, a dimmer pack catches fire and the director has a nervous breakdown.

SET:  An obstacle course which, throughout the rehearsal period,defies the laws of physics by growing smaller week by week while continuing to occupy the same amount of space.

MONOLOGUE: That shining moment when all eyes are focused on a single actor who is desperately aware that if he forgets a line, no one can save him.

BIT PART: An opportunity for the actor with the smallest role to count everybody else’s lines and mention repeatedly that he or she has the smallest part in the show.

GREEN ROOM:  Room shared by nervous actors waiting to go on stage and the precocious children whose actor parents couldn’t get a baby-sitter that night, a situation which can result in justifiable homicide.

STAGE MANAGER: Individual responsible for overseeing the crew, supervising the set changes, baby-sitting the actors and putting the director in a hammerlock to keep him from killing the actor who just decided to turn his walk-on part into a major role by doing magic tricks while he serves the tea.

LIGHTING DIRECTOR:  Individual who, from the only vantage point offering a full view of the stage, gives the stage manager a heart attack by announcing a play-by-play of everything that’s going wrong.

ACTOR [as defined by a set designer]:  That person who stands between the audience and the set designer’s art, blocking the view.

STAGE RIGHT/STAGE LEFT:  Two simple directions actors pretend not to understand in order to drive directors crazy. (e.g. “…No, no, your OTHER stage right!!!!”)

MAKE-UP KIT:  (1) [among experienced Theater actors]: a  battered tackle box loaded with at least 10 shades of greasepaint in various stages of desiccation, tubes of lipstick and blush, assorted  pencils, bobby pins, braids of crepe hair, liquid latex, old programs, jewelry, break-a-leg greeting cards from past shows, brushes and a handful of half-melted cough drops; (2) [for first-time  male actors]: a helpless look and anything they can borrow.

CREW:  Group of individuals who spend their evenings coping with 50-minute stretches of total boredom interspersed with 30-second  bursts of  mindless panic.

MESSAGE PLAY:  Any play which its director describes as “worthwhile,” “a challenge to actors and audience alike,” or “designed to make the audience think.” Critics will be impressed both by the daring material and the roomy accommodations, since they’re likely to have the house all to themselves.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:  Individual willing to undertake special projects that nobody else would take on a bet, such as working one-onpone with the brain-dead actor whom the rest of the cast and crew (including the director) has threatened to take out a contract one.

And finally, remember this: “It’s only theater until it offends someone…then it’s ART!”

Happy April Fool’s Day!Happy April Fool's Day

 

Do you know any funny theatre jokes?  I’d love to learn them.

I have quite a sense of humor myself.  If you’d like to see any evidence of it.  Check out this lesson:  

The Brave Little Tailor

Theatre Jokes to Make You Laugh

Contact me at dhcbaldwin@gmail.com or DeborahBaldwin.net

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