Open Forum

The TL;DR version is, can you give me a suggestion of a great play with a flexible cast for middle school students that have never done a play before? 

Hello friends! After 10 years of running an amazing high school drama program and Thespian Troupe, my family and I moved across the state and I accepted a new job at a middle school teaching drama to 6th-8th grade. At this school, they have not produced a play in decades. Moreover, our school district's budget situation is so dire that our state has stepped in to oversee the managing of funds and my school is almost certainly going to close at the end of this school year. We have no money, and no real hope of building something for the future at our school. Despite this, my students deserve the experience of putting on a play and I mean to give it to them.

All of my prior experience is working with high schoolers and managing a fairly self-sustaining program. I'm a bit new to middle school and starting from scratch. The good news? We have a fantastic and enthusiastic PTSA that are extremely interested in helping out. We also may have a mysterious benefactor that has promised to provide things like set, lighting, sound, etc., but I will believe it when I see it. We have a small cafetorium that has gone unused for a very long time, but will be our performance space. What would you recommend for a play to be performed by a group of middle schoolers that have never performed in a play at a school that hasn't had one in a very long time? I'm thinking some kind of fun comedy that doesn't require a ton of technical elements, but could use them if we had those kinds of capabilities. I think I may be able to scrounge up some funds for scripts and royalties, but cheaper is always better. After that, I'm planning to beg, borrow, and deal, for costumes, props, make-up, and anything else. What ideas do you have?

The TL;DR version is, can you give me a suggestion of a great play with a flexible cast for middle school students that have never done a play before? 

Hello friends! After 10 years of running an amazing high school drama program and Thespian Troupe, my family and I moved across the state and I accepted a new job at a middle school teaching drama to 6th-8th grade. At this school, they have not produced a play in decades. Moreover, our school district's budget situation is so dire that our state has stepped in to oversee the managing of funds and my school is almost certainly going to close at the end of this school year. We have no money, and no real hope of building something for the future at our school. Despite this, my students deserve the experience of putting on a play and I mean to give it to them.

All of my prior experience is working with high schoolers and managing a fairly self-sustaining program. I'm a bit new to middle school and starting from scratch. The good news? We have a fantastic and enthusiastic PTSA that are extremely interested in helping out. We also may have a mysterious benefactor that has promised to provide things like set, lighting, sound, etc., but I will believe it when I see it. We have a small cafetorium that has gone unused for a very long time, but will be our performance space. What would you recommend for a play to be performed by a group of middle schoolers that have never performed in a play at a school that hasn't had one in a very long time? I'm thinking some kind of fun comedy that doesn't require a ton of technical elements, but could use them if we had those kinds of capabilities. I think I may be able to scrounge up some funds for scripts and royalties, but cheaper is always better. After that, I'm planning to beg, borrow, and deal, for costumes, props, make-up, and anything else. What ideas do you have?

The TL;DR version is, can you give me a suggestion of a great play with a flexible cast for middle school students that have never done a play before? 

Hello friends! After 10 years of running an amazing high school drama program and Thespian Troupe, my family and I moved across the state and I accepted a new job at a middle school teaching drama to 6th-8th grade. At this school, they have not produced a play in decades. Moreover, our school district's budget situation is so dire that our state has stepped in to oversee the managing of funds and my school is almost certainly going to close at the end of this school year. We have no money, and no real hope of building something for the future at our school. Despite this, my students deserve the experience of putting on a play and I mean to give it to them.

All of my prior experience is working with high schoolers and managing a fairly self-sustaining program. I'm a bit new to middle school and starting from scratch. The good news? We have a fantastic and enthusiastic PTSA that are extremely interested in helping out. We also may have a mysterious benefactor that has promised to provide things like set, lighting, sound, etc., but I will believe it when I see it. We have a small cafetorium that has gone unused for a very long time, but will be our performance space. What would you recommend for a play to be performed by a group of middle schoolers that have never performed in a play at a school that hasn't had one in a very long time? I'm thinking some kind of fun comedy that doesn't require a ton of technical elements, but could use them if we had those kinds of capabilities. I think I may be able to scrounge up some funds for scripts and royalties, but cheaper is always better. After that, I'm planning to beg, borrow, and deal, for costumes, props, make-up, and anything else. What ideas do you have?

The TL;DR version is, can you give me a suggestion of a great play with a flexible cast for middle school students that have never done a play before? 

Hello friends! After 10 years of running an amazing high school drama program and Thespian Troupe, my family and I moved across the state and I accepted a new job at a middle school teaching drama to 6th-8th grade. At this school, they have not produced a play in decades. Moreover, our school district's budget situation is so dire that our state has stepped in to oversee the managing of funds and my school is almost certainly going to close at the end of this school year. We have no money, and no real hope of building something for the future at our school. Despite this, my students deserve the experience of putting on a play and I mean to give it to them.

All of my prior experience is working with high schoolers and managing a fairly self-sustaining program. I'm a bit new to middle school and starting from scratch. The good news? We have a fantastic and enthusiastic PTSA that are extremely interested in helping out. We also may have a mysterious benefactor that has promised to provide things like set, lighting, sound, etc., but I will believe it when I see it. We have a small cafetorium that has gone unused for a very long time, but will be our performance space. What would you recommend for a play to be performed by a group of middle schoolers that have never performed in a play at a school that hasn't had one in a very long time? I'm thinking some kind of fun comedy that doesn't require a ton of technical elements, but could use them if we had those kinds of capabilities. I think I may be able to scrounge up some funds for scripts and royalties, but cheaper is always better. After that, I'm planning to beg, borrow, and deal, for costumes, props, make-up, and anything else. What ideas do you have?

The TL;DR version is, can you give me a suggestion of a great play with a flexible cast for middle school students that have never done a play before? 

Hello friends! After 10 years of running an amazing high school drama program and Thespian Troupe, my family and I moved across the state and I accepted a new job at a middle school teaching drama to 6th-8th grade. At this school, they have not produced a play in decades. Moreover, our school district's budget situation is so dire that our state has stepped in to oversee the managing of funds and my school is almost certainly going to close at the end of this school year. We have no money, and no real hope of building something for the future at our school. Despite this, my students deserve the experience of putting on a play and I mean to give it to them.

All of my prior experience is working with high schoolers and managing a fairly self-sustaining program. I'm a bit new to middle school and starting from scratch. The good news? We have a fantastic and enthusiastic PTSA that are extremely interested in helping out. We also may have a mysterious benefactor that has promised to provide things like set, lighting, sound, etc., but I will believe it when I see it. We have a small cafetorium that has gone unused for a very long time, but will be our performance space. What would you recommend for a play to be performed by a group of middle schoolers that have never performed in a play at a school that hasn't had one in a very long time? I'm thinking some kind of fun comedy that doesn't require a ton of technical elements, but could use them if we had those kinds of capabilities. I think I may be able to scrounge up some funds for scripts and royalties, but cheaper is always better. After that, I'm planning to beg, borrow, and deal, for costumes, props, make-up, and anything else. What ideas do you have?