Open Forum

Hi there! 

Our theatre company did a production of "The Plot, Like Gravy, Thickens" about a year ago and our students LOVED it. It's a comedic murder mystery that has about an 18-person cast (including swings/understudies). As long as you have a strong male actor to play Edward, the rest of the roles are not too difficult to cast. It has a small improv bit in the second act that actors and audiences LOVE. Hope this helps!

2 vignette plays - series of scenes that can be independently cast which makes it possible to have a large cast.

• Almost, Maine -  very sweet.   Simple set.
• The Good Doctor - Neil Simon's adaptation of some of Chekov's short stories - tied together by "The Writer" (aka Chekov) who appears in several scenes. Runs gamut from total absurdity to hilarity to bittersweet in "In Two Late for Happiness", the vignette that requires the 2 actors, 1W, 1M, to sing. Very simple set - can be done with just furniture and pools of light or more if so desired.

Our Town - a classic. Easily to fill out with extra townspeople. Set is just furniture and pools of light.

Whose Life Is It Anyway?  - don't judge it by the movie (a travesty). Available in both male and female leading character versions.  Mature. But so worth it. Set is just furniture and pools of light.

Harvey - sweet nostalgia. 2 main sets. Can do a generic one that gets redressed for the two locations.

Arsenic and Old Lacy - one set. I did it in the round once with no set save furniture.

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 - NOT a musical. It's a farcical sendup of every closed-mansion murder mystery ever written.  Hilarious.  One character can be done in drag or not. Set is a challenge!!! 1 rotating bookcase, 1 sliding bookcase, 1 opens like a door bookcase all leading to secret corridors. Oh and a painting of Edgar Allen Poe.

Up the Down Staircase - still relevant. (HS experience and racism are unchanging).  Small group of main leads with many supporting parts.  Set is "a classroom" - decrepit. The suggestion box sections do NOT have to be done Laugh-In openings in wall style. I just had actors appear in pools light in front of black masking alternating far edge sides of stage "reading" from their suggestion.

The Diviners - large cast, simple set of platforms - lighting is important in this one, especially to indicate the river. Tragic.   My students loved it.

If you want to tackle Shakespeare: Shrew or Midsummer's - can easily modernize setting and have lots of fun.

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Douglas Fox
NC
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There are great suggestions here, many of which have felxible casts and you can read them for free: https://school-theatre.com/f/10-fantastic-full-length-plays-for-high-schools

Hi Tana,

I'll go out on a limb and suggest my play, "Techies," cast of 13 (it could absorb a few more if needed). "Techies" just had its third production, and it won the Texas Network Theaters Award in 2021. Synopsis: "The high school stage crew prepares to mount Arthur Miller's The Crucible while grappling with accusations of sexual harassment leveled against one of their own." And yes, it's funny. Call it a dramedy? I'm a member of the Dramatists Guild, and I can be found at markrigney671@gmail.com if you want to reach out. Best of luck with whatever you choose!

Hi!
  My name is Steve Flowers, I am a middle school music teacher in Illinois. I recently wrote a musical, Ghost in the Graveyard, that I performed with my middle school students. Since our production, I've also had other schools and theaters perform it, with casts ranging from ages 11-17. If you are looking for a fun, large cast musical (21-33 speaking parts) with a majority of teen characters, I would love to see it performed again! This musical is copyrighted by me, but it is not published, and I am not looking to make any money. I would gladly let you have all of the materials for free if you were interested in using it for a production.

  The running time is one hour, and there are 11 original songs in the styles of pop, rock, salsa, hip-hop and even a polka, with a lot of great choreography opportunities. Here is a short medley of 6 songs from the musical:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rVNUPXqNUqx0y5ARFoHSBiBL2cVT8aIp/view?usp=sharing

SYNOPSIS: Have you ever played the game Ghost in the Graveyard? Would you ever play it in a real graveyard? Roxanne always wants to prove to her classmates that she is fearless, but when she and her friends take a dare to play Ghost in the Graveyard in an abandoned cemetery, Roxanne gets separated from the group and becomes lost. Alone and afraid, she meets a boy named Samuel, who turns out to be a real ghost…in a graveyard. The two are soon captured by Ganamor, the evil ghost queen, and her army of zombies. Roxanne narrowly escapes and makes it home safely, but the next day feels tremendous guilt for leaving Samuel. Roxanne decides to sneak back into the cemetery, this time helped by her family and friends, to try and free Samuel from Ganamor's evil reign.

  If you would like to read the script and hear the full versions of all of the songs, please either reply to this post with your contact info or email me directly at sflowers726@gmail.com and I will share them with you.

Thanks! 

I would be very interested in performing this play in our next season.  I am the theatre teacher at Klamath Union High School in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  I wouldn't mind paying you for royalties, but would like to know more details when you have some time.  My school email is strattonl@kfalls.k12.or.us  if you would like to connect and discuss this further.  Thanks so much!

Lindsay Stratton

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Lindsay Stratton
Drama/English Teacher
Klamath Union High School
OR
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Shamless plug for the superhero parody Above Average Man.  My students loved performing it.  https://www.brookpub.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&p=28164