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  • 1.  One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-09-2019 09:31
    I'm looking for another ensemble-style play like US AND THEM where the entire cast is on stage and active the entire show.  During testing and remediation, etc...., students come and go. I need a play that I can double cast, but have everyone involved (even if they are not speaking). Thanks!

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    Evan Gould
    Drama/Chorus Teacher
    Becky Murphy
    Fleming Island FL
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  • 2.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-09-2019 14:10
    Hi
    We did Elephant's Graveyard by George Brant. It worked well.

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    Ellen O'Reilly-LaSalle
    Dighton Rehoboth Regional High School
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  • 3.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-09-2019 14:42
    We did Atypical Boy by Laurie Brooks this past Spring.  What a rewarding experience!

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    Amy Learn
    Ballwin MO
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  • 4.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-10-2019 09:31
    I haven't done it yet, but I think The Spirit of Life is a wonderful show. https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/7722/the-spirit-of-life
    It says 3m 6f, but that's a minimum - it could handle as large a cast as you'd like.

    I wouldn't describe it as an ensemble play, but The Insanity of Mary Girard could be done with everyone one stage (it may even be in the stage directions). When students are not part of a scene, they could be patients at the asylum.

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    Ken Buswell
    Drama Teacher
    Peachtree City, GA
    http://mcintoshtheater.org/

    Theater kills ignorance
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  • 5.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-11-2019 08:03
    I don't know what you're looking for in terms of tone or what your community standards are, but there is a 50-minute ensemble piece about students with sexual identity problems called Lost and Found by Marsha Sheiness.  There is basically no set and each actor has roles in the others' stories. There is no vulgarity or language--similar to the same-sex scene in Almost, Maine. That may be a bit heavy for what you're looking for. 

    There is a new play out called 12 Chairs by John O'Hara. It has just received its first professional production. It moves us through a mother/daughter relationship at a funeral as the daughter empties Ann's house after her funeral, and we experience the the meaningful moments of this relationship. There are a number of other characters who come and go during these scenes. I don't personally know either the play or the writer, but it was reviewed favorably for me by one of my grad students in playwriting who had gone to see it. I doubt that it is published but you might find a way to locate the playwright if you googled him--assuming you wanted to see the script. You can mention my name if you like as your reference point. I doubt that he would know it, but I'll tell the student who reviewed the play that I've done so.

    One way to add to your repertoires out there is to try to find new plays with promise that have not yet gotten enough notice to require some of the enormous costs of more standard works--which also benefiting the arts.

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    Jean Klein
    Playwright/Founder HaveScripts/BlueMoonPlays
    Playwriting Teacher in MFA program, Wilkes University]
    Virginia BeachVA
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  • 6.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-11-2019 13:31
    I always appreciate when ensemble plays come up. I really appreciate the suggestions from all of you that wrote in previously. A couple of 50 min plays that I have enjoyed that make good use of ensembles is The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza by Don Zoldis. This one is really crazy and needs a bit of clean up, but I love its absurdist comedy and repetition structure (has an All in the Timing charm) Heart's Desire by Caryll Churchill. There are 3 main characters, but the scene keeps getting interrupted by things and it is possible to use a full ensemble for most of those crazier scenes.

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    Colleen Mylott
    Lafayette CO
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  • 7.  RE: One Act ensemble play

    Posted 05-12-2019 08:54
    Our style is to have 25 actors on stage the entire show for our 40-minute competition one-act. We typically produce full-length shows that we have cut down, and I am happy to let you know how we make cuttings. Shows that work for us in this style:

    -Trey Clarkson's Rosie the Riveter (I'd check out Don Zolidis's Badger now)
    -Don Zolidis's Monster
    -Richard Tullouch's The Book of Everything
    -Robert Schenkkan's Fire in the Hole
    -Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher
    -Emma Rice's A Matter of Life and Death

    Shows we haven't produced, but I can see in that style:
    -Jim Leonard's Anatomy of Grey
    -Naomi Izuki's (Anon)ymous
    -Emma Rice's 946 The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tipps