Open Forum

Hi Everyone! 
I  am a theatre teacher at a charter school which means I teach 6-12th grade. 
I am stumped when looking for a good production next year! I am finding that the titles I am picking up are too adult for the middle schoolers to partake in, whereas the middle school ones I come across are not changeling enough. 

I usually do not cast 6th graders in the mainstage production (they have their own) and try to keep it to 8th grade and up.

I would prefer nothing more significant than 20 people cast-wise, but other than that I have no restrictions. 

Thank you so much for your help!

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Linsey Kelly
Arizona Conservatory for Arts/Academics
AZ
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My school has students grades 5-11 this year. I had a similar struggle (along with the struggle of these students never having had a true theatre class before this year). I wound up performing Gathering Blue by Eric Coble (based on the book by Lois Lowry). It was a GREAT show. The cast has an optional ensemble so it can be done with as few as 8 or as many as 20+. I had a cast of 17, 11 would be good if you didn't have then ensemble. It's on the shorter side, but we added an intermission with the first half of the show running about 30 minutes and the second half running 50. The script says it's about 65 minutes but I have no idea how someone would perform it in that short of a time. There are a lot of scene/set changes so you either need a large stage or an awesome run crew. My students loved the script and we had 5th through 10th graders in the performance (my 11th grade student was one of our stage managers).
I would HIGHLY recommend the show though - amazing feedback from everyone who came to see it!

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Becky Gil
Performing Arts Teacher
Willows Preparatory School
Redmond, WA
www.willowsprep.com
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I teach grades 5-8, and have previously taught in a 6-12 school.

A couple of shows Steven Dietz shows come to mind: The Rememberer and Still Life with Iris.  Both would be certainly be challenging enough for high schoolers, but also have roles suitable for middle schoolers.  Iris has a similar vibe to Gathering Blue (which I've read and liked a lot, but haven't produced).

Iris is listed as just 9 actors, but you can easily use more (9 involves a lot of doubling).  Both can be done with fewer than 20, but they are also expandable.  Both are beautifully written, and were loved by the actors when we produced them, and were very well received by the audiences as well.

Trap by Stephen Gregg is another great option.  There is a middle school and a high school version, but there is nothing in the high school version that makes it inappropriate for middle schoolers (it is more just the setting and listed age of the characters).

Happy reading!

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Kristin Hall
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Drama Director
Lincoln MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-07-2022 12:13
From: Becky Gil
Subject: Play Help

My school has students grades 5-11 this year. I had a similar struggle (along with the struggle of these students never having had a true theatre class before this year). I wound up performing Gathering Blue by Eric Coble (based on the book by Lois Lowry). It was a GREAT show. The cast has an optional ensemble so it can be done with as few as 8 or as many as 20+. I had a cast of 17, 11 would be good if you didn't have then ensemble. It's on the shorter side, but we added an intermission with the first half of the show running about 30 minutes and the second half running 50. The script says it's about 65 minutes but I have no idea how someone would perform it in that short of a time. There are a lot of scene/set changes so you either need a large stage or an awesome run crew. My students loved the script and we had 5th through 10th graders in the performance (my 11th grade student was one of our stage managers).
I would HIGHLY recommend the show though - amazing feedback from everyone who came to see it!

------------------------------
Becky Gil
Performing Arts Teacher
Willows Preparatory School
Redmond, WA
www.willowsprep.com
------------------------------

My situation exactly.
   We did THE ORPHAN TRAIN by Aurand Harris.  It fit our 6th-12th grades department well.  There are eight scenes, each with an orphan that tells their story with several background characters coming into each scene.  Dramatic Publishing states 11-25 cast members.  I used 18 with several students playing two different background characters.  We used furniture pieces for the various scenes and a large mid-West train map as the backdrop.  While not a challenging show, we focused on ensemble and character building.  It was a great first show of the year and a wonderful opportunity to educate our locals about the orphan trains that carried thousands of orphans to farms and ranches in the mid-east/mid-west.  We made maps and charts and each student wrote a story about their character's life's journey.

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Kathy Siler
Theatre Educator
Payson High School
AZ
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Hi All,

I also teach at a 6-12th grade school. This year I really struggled to find plays that were appropriate for the far ends of those ages. 

I was looking at A WRINKLE IN TIME as a possibility for our fall play next year. Maybe LOVE OF THREE ORANGES?

It does feel really hard to make sure you're attending to the maturity and ambition of the 11th/12th-graders while not exposing the 6th/7th-graders to content that is too mature...

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Betsy Goldman
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