Open Forum

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations. I teach all of the 8th graders for a quarter of the year -- they don't choose to take theater, and many of them wouldn't if they had the choice. Pre-COVID, I used a different short Shakespeare script with each group, and we did a full performance at the end of the quarter. I'm trying to work my way back into performance for "outsiders" -- for the last two school years, I've done monologues with them with no larger-audience performance. I'm thinking that we would work with the script and I would give my students the option of doing a full-class performance of the full play or presenting excerpts, with the possibility of student-written work inspired by the script as well. With my students, scripts in rapid-fire snarky dialogue style would NOT work, and they would definitely roll their eyes at anything fairy-tale-esque. The groups should be between 10 and 15 students, so that would be the ideal cast size for these shows. Thank you in advance for your ideas!

------------------------------
Cora Turlish
NJ
------------------------------

Hi there! 

That sounds like a perfect group for my short play, 10 WAYS TO SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, which works really well with groups who are new or who might not be into theater. It's very flexible and funny and lets some of the extremely reluctant kids be zombies. 

You can find it here:

https://www.playscripts.com/play/2529

------------------------------
Don Zolidis
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2022 11:06
From: Cora Turlish
Subject: 30 min plays for 8th grade

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations. I teach all of the 8th graders for a quarter of the year -- they don't choose to take theater, and many of them wouldn't if they had the choice. Pre-COVID, I used a different short Shakespeare script with each group, and we did a full performance at the end of the quarter. I'm trying to work my way back into performance for "outsiders" -- for the last two school years, I've done monologues with them with no larger-audience performance. I'm thinking that we would work with the script and I would give my students the option of doing a full-class performance of the full play or presenting excerpts, with the possibility of student-written work inspired by the script as well. With my students, scripts in rapid-fire snarky dialogue style would NOT work, and they would definitely roll their eyes at anything fairy-tale-esque. The groups should be between 10 and 15 students, so that would be the ideal cast size for these shows. Thank you in advance for your ideas!

------------------------------
Cora Turlish
NJ
------------------------------

I agree....it's a really fun play!

Tom Turner

------------------------------
Thomas Turner, PhD
Theatre Instructor
Phoenix, AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-13-2022 08:45
From: Don Zolidis
Subject: 30 min plays for 8th grade

Hi there! 

That sounds like a perfect group for my short play, 10 WAYS TO SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, which works really well with groups who are new or who might not be into theater. It's very flexible and funny and lets some of the extremely reluctant kids be zombies. 

You can find it here:

https://www.playscripts.com/play/2529

------------------------------
Don Zolidis

Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2022 11:06
From: Cora Turlish
Subject: 30 min plays for 8th grade

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations. I teach all of the 8th graders for a quarter of the year -- they don't choose to take theater, and many of them wouldn't if they had the choice. Pre-COVID, I used a different short Shakespeare script with each group, and we did a full performance at the end of the quarter. I'm trying to work my way back into performance for "outsiders" -- for the last two school years, I've done monologues with them with no larger-audience performance. I'm thinking that we would work with the script and I would give my students the option of doing a full-class performance of the full play or presenting excerpts, with the possibility of student-written work inspired by the script as well. With my students, scripts in rapid-fire snarky dialogue style would NOT work, and they would definitely roll their eyes at anything fairy-tale-esque. The groups should be between 10 and 15 students, so that would be the ideal cast size for these shows. Thank you in advance for your ideas!

------------------------------
Cora Turlish
NJ
------------------------------

I just did Folk Tails by Lisa Abbot. It's available on Pioneer Drama. It's a collection of folk tales so its super flexible on cast size and timing. 
I also put my students in charge of all the costumes and props so its a fun challenge for them to be creative! 


------------------------------
Stephanie Clussman
Laville Jr. Sr. High School
IN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2022 11:06
From: Cora Turlish
Subject: 30 min plays for 8th grade

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations. I teach all of the 8th graders for a quarter of the year -- they don't choose to take theater, and many of them wouldn't if they had the choice. Pre-COVID, I used a different short Shakespeare script with each group, and we did a full performance at the end of the quarter. I'm trying to work my way back into performance for "outsiders" -- for the last two school years, I've done monologues with them with no larger-audience performance. I'm thinking that we would work with the script and I would give my students the option of doing a full-class performance of the full play or presenting excerpts, with the possibility of student-written work inspired by the script as well. With my students, scripts in rapid-fire snarky dialogue style would NOT work, and they would definitely roll their eyes at anything fairy-tale-esque. The groups should be between 10 and 15 students, so that would be the ideal cast size for these shows. Thank you in advance for your ideas!

------------------------------
Cora Turlish
NJ
------------------------------

One of the short scripts in this collection I co-authored could work:
The Odyssey, Oedipus, and Others or Greek Story Theatre
https://www.playscripts.com/play/1612

------------------------------
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
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-12-2022 11:06
From: Cora Turlish
Subject: 30 min plays for 8th grade

Hello! I'm looking for some recommendations. I teach all of the 8th graders for a quarter of the year -- they don't choose to take theater, and many of them wouldn't if they had the choice. Pre-COVID, I used a different short Shakespeare script with each group, and we did a full performance at the end of the quarter. I'm trying to work my way back into performance for "outsiders" -- for the last two school years, I've done monologues with them with no larger-audience performance. I'm thinking that we would work with the script and I would give my students the option of doing a full-class performance of the full play or presenting excerpts, with the possibility of student-written work inspired by the script as well. With my students, scripts in rapid-fire snarky dialogue style would NOT work, and they would definitely roll their eyes at anything fairy-tale-esque. The groups should be between 10 and 15 students, so that would be the ideal cast size for these shows. Thank you in advance for your ideas!

------------------------------
Cora Turlish
NJ
------------------------------