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BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

  • 1.  BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-20-2022 11:59
    The drama teachers in my district are looking for BiPOC scenes and plays to bring to our classes for next year.  We already read Fences, but we'd like to bring more BiPOC authors and resources into our classrooms.  We are fortunate to have some paid time - supported by our district - to read and find plays & develop lessons.  We are an ethnically diverse district and it would be great to have scenes that students of color can relate to. I know you will have some great ideas--we want to order these scripts now so we can dive in when summer comes around!  Thanks in advance!!

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    Cindy Skelton
    Drama Teacher
    Burlingame High School
    Burlingame CA
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  • 2.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-21-2022 07:55
    In addition to August Wilson and Raisin in the Sun, try Camille by Alexandra Dumas fils, who was of mixed race in France. This is the play Moulin Rouge is based on. Also try The Thanksgiving Play, written by a Native American or for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow isn't enough, reviving on Broadway this summer. Mix in some plays by Leroi Jones and Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit) and some David Henry Hwang (F.O.B.) and some M. Butterfly and you're off to the races.





  • 3.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-21-2022 08:42
    I would recommend Home On the Mornin' Train by Kim Hines, any play by Karen Zacarias and any play by Jose Cruz Gonzalez (there is a nice compilation in Nine Plays By Jose Cruz Gonzalez, Magical Realism And Mature Themes In Theater For Young Audiences.)

    ------------------------------
    Joanna Lewton
    Arts Director
    Capital City Public Charter School
    Washington DC
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-21-2022 08:42
    New Play Exchange is a FANTASTIC resource to find multiple plays written by BIPOC playwrights. ��

    Hope this helps!

    Ellicia Elliott
    Artistic Director 
    The Rude Mechanicals 





  • 5.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-22-2022 09:20
    Hi Cindy,

    I'm in San Francisco so we are neighbors of a sort! This is really important for my program too given the diversity of our student body, so I have been on the same hunt (and continue to be) for diverse playwrights. Here are some I've found - a warning that my school is less strict about profanity (though I have my kids put euphemisms in when reading aloud), but extremely strict about no racial slurs regardless of who is saying them/the playwright's race. It's my first year teaching, so I am learning as I go myself and happy to hear other suggestions. I'm also happy to share lesson plans and prompts with anyone who's interested. 

    Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deveare Smith - This is a verbatim play based on the aftermath of the incident of police brutality against Rodney King. I did this in high school myself and thought it might be dated, but it is sadly so relevant still. The play is a series of monologues, so you could easily pull a few or present the play as a whole. I just did a unit reading the play, and then my students did interviews on topics that affect our school community which they turned into their own monologues to perform. It went really well, and my kids really liked and were moved by this play.

    King of the Yees by Lauren Yee. I am just starting a new unit on this play this week so not sure how it will go yet, but this is a really fun play set in San Francisco that is very metatheatrical. There are some good two-handed scenes in here too. The playwright is an alumna of the high school, so my students are very excited about it. We are going to be acting out the play as we read, as it's difficult to read on your own given the metatheatrics. We are then going to write and perform short plays about what we've learned this year using metatheatrical devices. Wish me luck!

    The Greek Trilogy by Luis Alfaro. These are reimagined versions of Medea, Oedipus, and Elektra set amidst modern day gangs in Los Angeles. I pulled scenes from this for my 2-week mini-unit on Greek theatre. My kids were able to grapple with these a bit more easily than direct translations of the Greek tragedies and helped enliven an otherwise dry unit (a work in progress). The language and content are a little mature, but I was able to get around this by selecting specific scenes.

    Hope this helps!

    Tim Sullivan
    Drama Teacher
    Lowell High School
    San Francisco, CA

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    Tim Sullivan
    Lowell High School
    CA
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  • 6.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-25-2022 17:02
    Thanks everyone for your great suggestions!
    They are greatly appreciated!!
    Cindy

    ------------------------------
    Cindy Skelton
    Drama Teacher
    Burlingame High School
    Burlingame CA
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-26-2022 05:55
    Pipeline Dominique Morriseau

    Nathan Rosen
    Theatre Arts teacher/director
    Atholton High School
    6520 Freetown Road
    Columbia MD 21044

    Best of Howard 2021 in Performing Arts, Honorable Mention

    http://www.atholtondrama.org
    "Wherever you go, there you are."





  • 8.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-27-2022 08:17
    I have found the language in PIPELINE problematic. How did others get around that issue when producing that play? It seems to get a lot of action in high schools. Is the playwright open to changes? Or is everyone doing PIPELINE as is? 

    --
    Mark A. Zimmerman
    Theatre Director,

    The Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone Community Learning Center
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    330-761-3275

    FirestoneTheatre.com


    Board Member, Ohio Educational Theatre Association
    NE Ohio Area Representative
    Workshop Committee
    Displays/Vendors Committee







  • 9.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-27-2022 08:22
    Here is a small list of BiPOC:

    The Odyssey by Derek Walcott
    Single Black Female – Lisa B. Thompson
    The Brothers Size – Tarell Alvin McCraney

    Stickfly – Lydia Diamond

    Citizen and American Lyric – Claudia Rankine
    Pipeline – Dominique Morisseau
    Detroit 67 – Dominique Morrisseau

    Choosing Side – 

    Obama-ology by Aurin Squire


    --
    Peace, Cheryl Williams Sent from Gmail Mobile





  • 10.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-27-2022 17:19
    Here are a few new titles to look at from TRW Plays:

    Black Super Hero Magic Mama, by Inda Craig-Galván, https://trwplays.com/black-super-hero-magic-mama/  

    Shot: Caught A Soul, by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall , https://trwplays.com/shot-caught-a-soul/ 

    Jacked!, by Idris Goodwin, https://trwplays.com/jacked/ (Coming soon - GHOST by Idris Goodwin)

    Teen Dad, by Adrienne Dawes, https://trwplays.com/teen-dad/ 

    Distance Learning, by Carey Crim, https://trwplays.com/distance-learning/ 

    College Colors, by Stacie Lents, https://trwplays.com/college-colors/

    Coming Soon: True Colors' Next Narrative Monologue Competition, https://truecolorstheatre.org/next-narrative-monologue-competition/



    ------------------------------
    [Jim] [Hoare]
    [New York] [NY]
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  • 11.  RE: BiPOC scenes & plays for high school

    Posted 04-27-2022 17:48
    I don't think anyone has mentioned this one, but I really love I and You by Lauren Gunderson!

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    Rosalind Flynn
    Head of the M.A. in Theatre Education
    Director, The High School Drama Institute
    The Catholic University of America
    Washington, DC
    drama.cua.edu/graduate/MATE
    drama.cua.edu/summer
    ------------------------------