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  • 1.  Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 04-30-2019 13:45
    Hello,
    Currently putting together next season and would like any suggestions from people on a Fall play with a large female heavy cast.  It would be done in our brand new Micro theatre.
    Thanks,
    John

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    John Rowe
    Theatre Teacher, Advisor Washington Street Players
    Independent School District of Boise
    Boise ID
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  • 2.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-01-2019 05:42
    Are you interested with something of substance/dramatic or more of a light comedy to get a lot of people involved ?

    If you’re looking for something light with a simple set :
    Merry Murders at Mont Marie
    The Callamityville Terror
    Ask Any Girl

    Something more dramatic ..
    Walk Two Moons (pry my favorite straight play I’ve ever done)
    Murder in a Nunnery


    Toni Thomas
    English & Theatre Teacher & Director
    Ogemaw Heights High School

    Sent from my iPhone




  • 3.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-01-2019 07:33
    These are the shows I've done to feature a lot of women:
    Kate Hamill's Sense and Sensibility
    Dominic Cooke's Arabian Nights (RSC Version, very flexible casting)
    Anne Bertram's The Good Fight (story of British suffragettes)
    Steven Dietz's Still Life With Iris (one of the best YA pieces I've ever read)
    Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses (another flexible cast)
    Laurie Brooks' Triangle

    We did all these with very minimal sets and put most of the storytelling burden on the actors. However, there is also plenty of room for design spectacle and creativity if that interests you. I have pictures from most of these, so let me know if you want to see anything.


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    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre Department Coordinator
    Fishersville VA
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  • 4.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-01-2019 09:55
    I'm at an all-girl school. Here are few we've done that are large cast: 

    Little Women
    Anne of Green Gabels
    I Never Saw Another Butterfly
    Trixie the Teen Detective

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    KRISTI Jacobs-Stanley
    New Orleans LA
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  • 5.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-01-2019 12:18
    I don't know if this would fit scenically in a "micro theatre," but I had a ball directing Ferber and Kaufman's Stage Door.  Officially the cast consists of 21 females and 11 males, but most of the male roles are small enough to double-cast, so I only used about five or six boys, giving each boy more to do, in addition to the challenge of differentiating their characters.  One scene is written to be played on a second set, but the acting edition contains pre-approved edits that allow you to perform the entire play on one set - in addition to pre-approved edits that soften some of the language for more conservative communities.  I love the fact that even the smaller roles in this play have clear, individualized personalities and character arcs; every member of my cast felt important.  Rights are available from Dramatists Play Service.

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    Jeff Grove
    Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
    Stanton College Preparatory School
    Jacksonville FL
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  • 6.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-03-2019 02:08
    I have also had great success with 'Stage Door'.
    The 1937 film is also a great resource for this!
    https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ks0lh

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    Tom Schulz
    Singapore
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  • 7.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-01-2019 14:30
    The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca, as adapted by Emily Mann
    Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Jay Presson Allen
    The Unravelling by Fin Kennedy
    JOAN adaptable cast up to 15 – all roles can by played by women. (I am the author of both play and study guide.)


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    Kaz
    New York NY
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  • 8.  RE: Fall play for large female heavy cast

    Posted 05-02-2019 08:53
    Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions so far.  I have now chosen a war time drama by Don Zolidis called BADGER.  It is a new one that has not been published yet.
    HOWEVER, that will go up the first week of December and I've decided to add a Halloweenish farce the week before Halloween.  This would also be large cast, female heavy.  I've looked at a couple on this thread that might work but am open to more suggestions.  So far, I've done-
    THE BRIDE OF BROCKENLACH
    THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
    MURDER RUNS IN THE FAMILY

    I should clarify also that this is high school.

    Thanks again,

    John

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    John Rowe
    Theatre Teacher, Advisor Washington Street Players
    Independent School District of Boise
    Boise ID
    ------------------------------