Open Forum

The Birds by Don Zolodis, Playscripts

Good adaptation, flexible casting, large cast, very funny! We sold out twice!

If you're looking for something edgier, Too Much Memory might work. It's a modern re-telling of Antigone.It's written for 9, but the Chorus could be split into multiple parts. I've been itching to do this play for a while, but it just hasn't been the best fit cast-wise for the students I've had.

Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

I have directed both The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza and The Frogs by Don Zolidis. Both were extremely well-received! Anouilh's Antigone has always been a favorite, but check out David Rush's version on Playscripts.com.

I second the motion for David Rush's adaptation of Antigone from Playscripts, Inc.

It's not a straight translation, mind you, but an adaptation, yet it retains the ancient Greek device of choral interludes linking dramatic scenes.  The deeper you get into the play, the more it diverges from Sophocles' telling, but the outcome and the spirit remain the same.

I directed this with my troupe about five years ago.  In addition to two nighttime performances, we gave two performances during the school day.  Enough teachers signed up to bring their classes that the morning performance "sold out" (quotation marks because we're not allowed to charge admission for in-school performances), and as word got around during the day, enough teachers came to me adding their classes to the sign-up sheet for the afternoon performance that we ultimately filled our second house, as well.  What surprised me was how quiet both audiences were; they really got into the piece, and never gave any hint that they were only there because their teachers had made them attend.

Some of our English teachers who had taught a more literal translation of Sophocles gave their students a writing assignment comparing and contrasting the two versions of the story, and they appreciated the fodder for an academic task.

I second the motion for David Rush's adaptation of Antigone from Playscripts, Inc.

It's not a straight translation, mind you, but an adaptation, yet it retains the ancient Greek device of choral interludes linking dramatic scenes.  The deeper you get into the play, the more it diverges from Sophocles' telling, but the outcome and the spirit remain the same.

I directed this with my troupe about five years ago.  In addition to two nighttime performances, we gave two performances during the school day.  Enough teachers signed up to bring their classes that the morning performance "sold out" (quotation marks because we're not allowed to charge admission for in-school performances), and as word got around during the day, enough teachers came to me adding their classes to the sign-up sheet for the afternoon performance that we ultimately filled our second house, as well.  What surprised me was how quiet both audiences were; they really got into the piece, and never gave any hint that they were only there because their teachers had made them attend.

Some of our English teachers who had taught a more literal translation of Sophocles gave their students a writing assignment comparing and contrasting the two versions of the story, and they appreciated the fodder for an academic task.

There is a playwright in Pittsburgh, Lissa Brennan, who wrote a hilarious verse adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata.  Set in WW II, it parodies all the MGM couples of that era--the rich 'Howell" type, the "His Girl Friday/Philadelphia Story" dynamic, the gangster and his moll, and the Southern bell 'cougar' with a beautiful farm boy.   It is called "Loose Lips Sink Ships."  Lissa hasn't published yet, but when we were looking at for this season, she even offered to rewrite the parts that were too racy for a high school.  Message me at hlove@chccs.k12.nc.us and I'll put you in touch or reach out to her directly on facebook and I'm sure she can send you a perusal script.  

I second the motion for David Rush's adaptation of Antigone from Playscripts, Inc.

It's not a straight translation, mind you, but an adaptation, yet it retains the ancient Greek device of choral interludes linking dramatic scenes.  The deeper you get into the play, the more it diverges from Sophocles' telling, but the outcome and the spirit remain the same.

I directed this with my troupe about five years ago.  In addition to two nighttime performances, we gave two performances during the school day.  Enough teachers signed up to bring their classes that the morning performance "sold out" (quotation marks because we're not allowed to charge admission for in-school performances), and as word got around during the day, enough teachers came to me adding their classes to the sign-up sheet for the afternoon performance that we ultimately filled our second house, as well.  What surprised me was how quiet both audiences were; they really got into the piece, and never gave any hint that they were only there because their teachers had made them attend.

Some of our English teachers who had taught a more literal translation of Sophocles gave their students a writing assignment comparing and contrasting the two versions of the story, and they appreciated the fodder for an academic task.

There is a playwright in Pittsburgh, Lissa Brennan, who wrote a hilarious verse adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata.  Set in WW II, it parodies all the MGM couples of that era--the rich 'Howell" type, the "His Girl Friday/Philadelphia Story" dynamic, the gangster and his moll, and the Southern bell 'cougar' with a beautiful farm boy.   It is called "Loose Lips Sink Ships."  Lissa hasn't published yet, but when we were looking at for this season, she even offered to rewrite the parts that were too racy for a high school.  Message me at hlove@chccs.k12.nc.us and I'll put you in touch or reach out to her directly on facebook and I'm sure she can send you a perusal script.  

I second the motion for David Rush's adaptation of Antigone from Playscripts, Inc.

It's not a straight translation, mind you, but an adaptation, yet it retains the ancient Greek device of choral interludes linking dramatic scenes.  The deeper you get into the play, the more it diverges from Sophocles' telling, but the outcome and the spirit remain the same.

I directed this with my troupe about five years ago.  In addition to two nighttime performances, we gave two performances during the school day.  Enough teachers signed up to bring their classes that the morning performance "sold out" (quotation marks because we're not allowed to charge admission for in-school performances), and as word got around during the day, enough teachers came to me adding their classes to the sign-up sheet for the afternoon performance that we ultimately filled our second house, as well.  What surprised me was how quiet both audiences were; they really got into the piece, and never gave any hint that they were only there because their teachers had made them attend.

Some of our English teachers who had taught a more literal translation of Sophocles gave their students a writing assignment comparing and contrasting the two versions of the story, and they appreciated the fodder for an academic task.