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  • 1.  August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-16-2014 10:17
    Has anyone done August:Osage County in a high school? If so, could you let me know how it went? The play has such strong female characters, but as usual, I am concerned about the age issue.
    Any other suggestions for strong plays are welcome.  Last fall, we did  Laramie Project Ten Years Later. I am looking for a contemporary drama with strong female characters. At this time, I am not interested in Anne Frank or Miracle Worker, but am looking for more contemporary works. Thanks!


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    Corinne Kravetz
    Drama Director
    Conard High School
    West Hartford CT
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  • 2.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-16-2014 19:35
    Are you interested in plays set in the Holocaust at all? If so there is a really good one called Irena's Vow. I am attaching the link to Playscripts so you can take a look at it if you are interested. http://www.playscripts.com/play/1946

    This is only a 1-act but At The Bottom of Lake Misosula is a strong piece. Here's the link for it. https://www.playscripts.com/play/1143

    Another thought would be to take a typically male based play like Frankenstein or Dracula and do completely gender blind casting. Obviously you would need to get permission to do this but it could create a really interesting take on some classic pieces.

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    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
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  • 3.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-17-2014 07:46
    Corinne,

    Have you thought about doing 12 Angry Jurors/Women?  With Jurors, you can blind cast the roles.  I played Juror #3 in HS opposite a male Juror #8 - it created some real dramatic tension on stage when we had to "recreate" the attack.  I would also recommend The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca.  It's a powerful play, only 1 male, and you only really would have to age 2, maybe 3, of the females.  The Trojan Women is also a great show with really juicy female roles and it goes more towards the classical. 

    Hope it helps.
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    Raquel "Rocky" Encalada
    Acting Coach
    Self
    Lakewood OH
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    Raquel Encalada
    Acting Coach
    Self
    Lakewood OH
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-17-2014 11:55
    Acts of God by Mark Rigney is a great piece about high school kids having to deal with the aftermath of a deadly tornado. If you are not set on a contemporary piece-Radium Girls by DW Gregory is a powerful piece. It's based on the true story of the factory girls in the early 20th Century who painted the faces on the dials for airplane dashboards. This caused cancer and there was a coverup, and many girls died. It's quite good, lots of female roles, also some good males.

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    Nancee Beilgard
    Lawrence KS
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-26-2014 09:13
    I actually was in a production of August: Osage County in college, and I fear that the content is far too strong for high school kids, and audiences. I can vividly remember watching audience members stand up and leave as I dropped the first of many "f-bombs" (I played Jean Fordham, so there was a lot of that). Aside from that there is the use of drugs on stage, the topic of child molesting, and much much more. You'd really have to cut a lot of the great parts of this show out to make it appropriate for high school and that would be a shame, as it is such a phenomenal piece of theatre. 

    I would also highly recommend Irena's Vow. Such a powerful piece of theatre, but much of what might be considered strong content is offstage and left to the imagination in true Greek fashion. 

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    Chelsey Cavender
    Membership Service Specialist
    Educational Theatre Association
    Hamilton OH
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  • 6.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-27-2014 09:27
    Chelsey has several good points.  You don't want to limit your audience because high school performances are the only theatre a lot of middle school students can attend.  Seeing a live person on stage is different than watching a television show so you don't want to exclude them from this great experience.

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    Vicki Bartholomew
    Playwright
    Sherwood OR
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-27-2014 10:38
    I say do it.  I have always pushed the envelope with putting real drama on stage.  The kids and audiences usually love it, it's the administration that seems to have  problem.  The must difficult would be the usage of the f-word, other than that, it is amazing when local audiences see real life on stage.  It's usually a positive one.  The kids also love playing real people, mine do anyway,

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    Craig Cohan
    Teacher/Theatre Director
    Fairview Park City Schools
    Olmsted Falls OH
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 06-28-2014 16:58
    Be ready to think about what your community is prepared for.   August is a great play but I know I could not put it on in my community even if I changed the F-bombs.  It might be more acceptable in your community.

    The Triangle Factory Fire Project is a good play
    Raising Ophelia
    Ten Red Kings

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    Alan Strait
    Teacher
    CCSD
    Henderson NV
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: August: Osage County or other powerful dramas

    Posted 07-30-2014 14:03

    One of the most powerful productions we worked on was Shirley Lauro's "A Piece of My Heart," about the women that served in Vietnam.  We expanded the cast by not having the main characters become any of the smaller parts and I think it really helped clarify the action for the student audiences.  We got the Vietnam vets involved, and used it to not only explore the history of the Vietnam war, but the impact of war on all people that it touches.  

    Sheryl Goodspeed
    Theatre Director
    Rolling Hills Preparatory School/Renaissance School
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    Original Message


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