You should check with my friend Richard Hitchler - the Artistic Director at Steppingstone Theatre for Youth Development in St. Paul, MN. They have developed a number of original and adapted scripts that are excellent and can be performed by students of different ages.
I have been able to make arrangements for rights through him in the past.
I can also pass on your information to him.
They've done some wonderful work - including that would be specific to African American history like:
Ruby! The story of Ruby Bridges
The Black Snowman
They did one about Young Martin Luther King, Jr.and another one about black inventors.
They also do work that is just great for kids that is not race specific. I did their adaptation of The Stinky Cheese Man for my children's summer theatre - and it was so much fun.
http://www.steppingstonetheatre.org 651-225-9265
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Glenn Morehouse Olson
Theater Teacher, Director
St. Francis MN
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-26-2014 00:36
From: Amy Sidwell
Subject: Looking for plays for African American elementary age students to perform
I've had luck adapting favorite children's books or poems into plays/performance pieces.
I love The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes.
Tar Beach is lovely.
There's a great book called Phoebe the Spy about a young African American girl working in her father's pub. It is "essentially historically accurate."
http://www.amazon.com/Phoebe-Spy-Judith-Griffin/dp/0698119568/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411705821&sr=1-1&keywords=phoebe+the+spy
Almost anything by Ezra Jack Keats could be adapted into a fun play for young performers.
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Amy Sidwell
Director of Theatrical Arts
Woodburn Arts and Communications Academy
Canby OR
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-25-2014 21:47
From: Rosalind Flynn
Subject: Looking for plays for African American elementary age students to perform
(This is a request from one of my graduate students.)
I am a first grade teacher and theatre educator. I am also African American and 90% of my elementary aged students are as well.
My passion is working with youth in the arts - especially in urban settings and I would love to put on a full scale production with my students at my school. However, I'd like to find plays that tells their stories from the African American perspective. I think my kids have exhausted the "Snow White" and "Cinderella" stories and I believe they are ready to showcase their stories.
Please keep in mind, I'm not talking about the "ghetto," African folklore, or even slave narratives. I'd like to find plays with interesting characters that look like them and talk like them - ones they can relate to. I am also looking for material that has nothing to do with race. I don't believe that just because the characters are "black" that the story line has to be about the color of their skin. There is more to life than racial issues.
The material must also be suitable for elementary students and their audience. I've been able to find plays for middle and high school students but not for elementary aged students.
Ok! I know that seems like a tall order but - If anyone has any ideas or resources that could help in my endeavors, please let my professor, Dr. Flynn, know via this forum!
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Rosalind Flynn
Head of the M.A. in Theatre Education
The Catholic University of America
Silver Spring MD
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