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  • 1.  Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-04-2015 19:28
    Hurrah for me, I just produced two Dramatic Publishing plays, 'Wiley and the Hairy Man' (Zeder) and 'Hush: An Interview with America.' 

    I've got an offer to claim two free Dramatic publishing plays...Any good suggestions? 

    My criteria:
    High school, demographic mostly Hispanic/white/African American (50/30/20)
    Fairly conservative administration (Reduced Shakespeare Company's Compleat Works was too much, Chicago: absolutely no)
    I like darker, deeper pieces with humor
    Love physical pieces

    All right, GO!

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    Phillip Goodchild
    Valrico FL
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  • 2.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-04-2015 19:31

    Just to be super state the obvious, but the suggestions really have to be plays that Dramatic Publishing actually publishes. Other suggestions are fine, and I'll be interested in checking those out for myself as well, but I'm kinda after the freebies. :)

    Additional help: Sam Shepard and Harold Pinter are two of my favorite playwrights. But their work tends to get turned down by conservative administrations....!

    Suggestions for musicals are good with me, too. 

    Thanks, and sorry to make this more challenging!


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    Phillip Goodchild
    Valrico FL
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  • 3.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-05-2015 07:55
    High School Confidential. Topical, but not preachy. Also-the authors give carte blanche to edit for content based on local standards. I produced it at a Christian school in GA. 

    Curse of The Werewolf by Tim Kelly. Silly murder mystery fun.




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    Scott Piehler
    Drama Director
    Lilburn GA
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  • 4.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-05-2015 10:27

    Please forgive me if these selections are not quite conservative enough, but I work in NYC. (It's all about perspective.) I stumbled across this work almost by accident, but it is one I plan to direct someday.  Unfortunately, it's just out of the reach for my middle school program, but I think it's an excellent choice for high schools. Learn Me Somethin'  by Michael Schneider is an intelligent satire that addresses the education system. It teaches rather than preaches, and still tells a story. It is multi-ethnic, multicultural and very current (CCLS). This is one of those hidden gems that I think deserve to be uncovered.

    http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p815/Learn-Me-Somethin'/product_info.html

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    Hugh Fletcher
    Performing Arts Coordinator
    IS 229 Dr. Roland Patterson Middle School
    Bronx NY
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  • 5.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-05-2015 11:06
    We did Maricela de la Luz Lights the World, it's a children's theatre piece, but has great puppet and mask work potential.  It's made for six actors, but we split the doubled roles.

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    Amy Sidwell
    Director of Theatrical Arts
    Woodburn Arts and Communications Academy
    Canby OR
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  • 6.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-06-2015 09:09
    One Dramatic Publishing play that I really, really love is A Heart Divided.  Although it was written for a small multi-racial cast with actors playing multiple roles, the script allows you to break up casting one actor to a part, which significantly increases the size of the cast.  The story is about a high-school girl whose family moves from New York City to a small town in Tennessee, where she falls in love with the star of her new school's football team, only to find the two of them taking opposite sides when a controversy erupts over the town's flying of the Confederate battle flag outside of City Hall and the use of "Rebels" as the high school athletic teams' name.  Although the piece is fictional, it consciously adopts the presentational style of The Laramie Project.

    If you want something lighter and don't already have The Mouse That Roared, it's a reliable standby that my kids had fun with last year, and it's in this company's catalog, as well.

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    Jeff Grove
    Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
    Stanton College Preparatory School
    Jacksonville FL


  • 7.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-06-2015 14:29
    I like Home on the Mornin' Train which is about a group of German Jewish children hiding in a barn from the Nazi's, reading about African-American children in the US escaping slavery. It uses some great old folk songs. I also love Everything I Needed to know I Learned in Kindergarten--it's a night of storytelling that is incredibly flexible and allows every member of the cast to shine.

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    Joyce Thrift
    Theater Teacher
    West Contra Costa Unified School Distric
    Hercules CA
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  • 8.  RE: Dramatic Publishing play suggestions...

    Posted 01-07-2015 00:13
    I've produced Jungle Book by Robinette, which I really loved, and Up the Down Staircase, which my students kept asking "are you SURE this was written 50 years ago??" because of how relevant it is today.  They also own I Never Saw Another Butterfly which is a powerful piece.

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    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
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