Open Forum

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following: 

1) Plays by and/or about people of color. 

2) Plays by women. 

3) Plays about the immigrant experience. 

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors. 

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Are you okay with using a musical? Because I immediately thought of Porgy and Bess for a piece about people of color. I'd also look at A Raisin in the Sun or The Color Purple.  

What length are you looking for? If you're okay with one acts I've really enjoyed Laura Lundgen Smith recently. 

I can't think of immigrant pieces right now... 

For a younger audience have you considered I Never Saw Another Butterfly. It's a Holocaust piece but is based around the children and their experiences. I'd also look at a Sherlock Holmes piece for this. We really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily by Katie Forgett when we did it a few years ago. Another choice might be Creature Features by Christian Kiley. It's got a good message about embracing individual differences. I'm pretty sure YouthPlays has this one and Playscripts has Jersey Lily.

------------------------------
Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

There is a great play for students of different ethnic backgrounds named Baltimore by Kristen Greenidge. Actually, Greenidge’s work is great as a whole and offers depth but in a way that is attainable to student actors. So, if you don’t care for Baltimore maybe check out some of her other plays!


---------------------------------
Michelle Evans

Michelle J. Evans LLC
Dawsonville GA
---------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018
From: Shira Schwartz
Subject: RE: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

Are you okay with using a musical? Because I immediately thought of Porgy and Bess for a piece about people of color. I'd also look at A Raisin in the Sun or The Color Purple.  

What length are you looking for? If you're okay with one acts I've really enjoyed Laura Lundgen Smith recently. 

I can't think of immigrant pieces right now... 

For a younger audience have you considered I Never Saw Another Butterfly. It's a Holocaust piece but is based around the children and their experiences. I'd also look at a Sherlock Holmes piece for this. We really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily by Katie Forgett when we did it a few years ago. Another choice might be Creature Features by Christian Kiley. It's got a good message about embracing individual differences. I'm pretty sure YouthPlays has this one and Playscripts has Jersey Lily.

------------------------------
Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.



2) Plays by women.

Modern women? Sarah Ruhl, Lynn Nottage, Annie Baker

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.
     
4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

The Rise & Rise of Daniel Rocket by...?
Step on a Crack & Do No Go Gentle by Susan Zeder

------------------------------
Marisa Visser
Theatre Director
Irving TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

My graduate school professor at NYU has created the following website.  It is a phenomenal resource for this very topic.  I hope it helps!

Contemporary Playwrights of Color

------------------------------
Ryan Weible
Theatre Arts Teacher/Director
Bentley School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Original Message------

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following: 

1) Plays by and/or about people of color. 

2) Plays by women. 

3) Plays about the immigrant experience. 

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors. 

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

For plays by (and about) women, definitely check out The Kilroys. It's the list of the best plays written by women in any given year. When the rights become available, I highly recommend checking out Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves. Also, while it wasn't written by a woman, I also recommend reading The Rape of the Sabine Women, By Grace B. Matthias by Michal Yates Crowley. Both of which are specifically about the issues impacting young women, and both of which are excellent. (Helen Schultz has a great list of plays about young women at Howlround.)

Edited because the rights for The Wolves are available via Samuel French. 

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka pretty much hits all your requirements. A modern, immigrant-focused retelling of The Odyssey. Also consider any of Mary Zimmerman's pieces, including her Arabian Nights or the Dominic Cooke/RSC Arabian Nights, which is more friendly to young audiences and is awesome.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-08-2018 06:19
From: Victoria Chatfield
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

For plays by (and about) women, definitely check out The Kilroys. It's the list of the best plays written by women in any given year. When the rights become available, I highly recommend checking out Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves. Also, while it wasn't written by a woman, I also recommend reading The Rape of the Sabine Women, By Grace B. Matthias by Michal Yates Crowley. Both of which are specifically about the issues impacting young women, and both of which are excellent. (Helen Schultz has a great list of plays about young women at Howlround.)

Edited because the rights for The Wolves are available via Samuel French.

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Thank you for the suggestions! I spent quite a bit of time on the Playwrights of Color website- that is amazing. I use the Kilroy site in class. I wish it was easier to search by numbers though.

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Hi William,

I've got a few different plays that I can suggest:

The Brothers Size and In The Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Part of his trilogy of "Brother/Sister Plays," both plays feature casts predominately of color. While they are set in modern day, the dialogue has a very poetic style and Red and Brown Water has some movement/ritualistic dance elements. It will definitely challenge your actors but read them over to make sure if they meet your 4th criteria.

Silent Sky by Laura Gunderson. A relatively recent play about the first female astronomers. A period piece that deals with science, love, sexism, and overcoming obstacles. It's making the rounds at various professional theatres and there will even be a mainstage showing of it at ITF this year!

De Donde by Mary Gallagher. I'm not a huge fan of this play but I have only read it and never seen it performed. It deals with the issue of immigration from multiple perspectives: families who immigrated legally, those who are harboring illegal immigrants, ICE/border agents, immigration lawyers, and the immigrants themselves. It offers the potential to double cast certain roles and has a lot of political nuance if not a bit of an unruly play. I read and taught this play as part of my Race, Gender, & Theatre class in college.

Father Comes Home From the Wars: Parts 1, 2, & 3: An odyssey play trilogy by Suzan-Lori Parks deals with a slave who fights for the Confederacy in exchange for his freedom from his master, a Confederate Colonel. Im not sure if you can do the individual plays separately but the play much like McCraney's play has a heightened language but has more of the feel of a Greek tragedy. It might be cool to rehearse/perform this play while reading Sophocles' Oedipus plays.

Jitney by August Wilson. A strong ensemble play for African-American males and 1 or 2 female roles. It deals with a "car service" company in the 1970s, the ins and outs of black masculinity, what it means to be a man, a good son or father, and incarceration.

I hope this helps!

------------------------------
Nathaniel Netzley
Cincinnati OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

William,

I just thought of another play that hits a number of your criteria that I cannot believe I forgot. Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker is an incredible play based on true events. If you're unfamiliar with it, the play deals with the early days of Australia, when it was a penal colony and a group of British Marines and convicts staged a production of The Recruiting Officer. It deals with immigration, being classified as "the other," the rehabilitating power of theatre, dealing with prejudice, and it is a challenging play for high schoolers to perform but can be performed for younger audiences. If you're looking for a challenging play for your students that hasn't been done to death, this is the one.

Hope this helps!

------------------------------
Nate Netzley
Cincinnati OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2018 13:43
From: William Addis
Subject: Play suggestions:Writers of color, women, plays for young audiences

I am starting to plan for my production season for next school year and I would like to expand my reading list. I am looking for plays with casts between 10-20 (gender does not matter). With the exception of my fourth category, I am able to do work that is fairly challenging when it comes to subject matter.

I am particularly looking for the following:

1) Plays by and/or about people of color.

2) Plays by women.

3) Plays about the immigrant experience.

4) Plays appropriate for lower school aged audiences that will also feel challenging on some level to high school actors.

Open to all ideas and suggestions. Thanks in advance!

------------------------------
William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------