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Classic Play Suggestions

  • 1.  Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-28-2017 14:35
    I am looking for a classic play that you have used with your Advanced Theatre class that the kids loved. I am looking for us to read it as a class and analyze it, etc.

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    Candice Corcoran
    Kennesaw GA
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  • 2.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-28-2017 15:40
    My kids really enjoy dissecting Shakespeare (what with all the dirtiness). If you can push boundaries a bit (there are definite language issues) there is a great script called 110 Stories. It's not classic but it is amazing. Other options are Uncle Vanya, Dollhouse, School for Scandal, or (if you want a musical) Showboat or H.M.S. Pinafore.

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    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-28-2017 20:21

    I have enjoyed reading these classics with my classes:

    Arsenic and Old Lace
    Twelve Angry Jurors
    You Can't Take It With You
    Twelfth Night




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    Paul Townsend
    Coronado High School
    Scottsdale, AZ
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-29-2017 06:35
    Depends on how 'classic' you want to get, but my crew loved Antigone and Shaw's St. Joan. Both have strong, young women at the center - which is also nice. And yes, the bawdiness of Shakespeare goes a long way!

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    Jake Miller
    Department of Theatre
    Germantown Friends School
    Philadelphia PA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-29-2017 14:01
    Hi,
    I'm not sure if you are looking for "classics"--awesome plays that transcend their time, or "classical" plays from before the modern era--(pre 1800). Anyway, here are some that my students really liked. (Please note: I did not have to worry about language/themes, etc. when it came to texts we were reading and studying in class.)

    Modern Classics: Fences by August Wilson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson, Ruined by Lynn Nottage, Yankee Dawg You Die by Phillip Kan Gatonga, The Strong Breed by Wole Soyinka read side-by-side with The Lottery based on Shirley Jackson's short story, Woza, Albert! by Nbogemi Ngema and Percy Mtwa, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

    Classical Plays: The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Antigone--followed by comparison with Jean Anouilh's Antigone, Sakuntala by Kalidasa, and lots of Shakespeare--it's hard to go wrong there. 

    Plays that did not go over so well: I love Chekhov, but used a not-great translation of The Three Sisters once and the kids just didn't think it was as hilarious as I did. (That same group loved Ibsen's Hedda Gabler for its quick-moving plot.)  My class didn't love The Piano Lesson as much as the years where I taught the August Wilson works I cited above, but I love Wilson and recommend him highly.

    Best of Luck--there's a lot out there for your kids to love!

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    Meg O'Connor
    Teaching Artist
    oconnormainstage.com

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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-29-2017 17:36
    If you want to shock your students into realizing just how "modern" these classic authors can be, "Tartuffe" will knock their socks off...! For that matter, Moliere's "Don Juan," sounding very like a certain politician, will make them realize that nothing is new in human history...!

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    Tim Mooney
    www.timmooneyrep.com
    www.moliere-in-english.com
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 07-31-2017 09:02
    I agree with Tim, my students think Moliere is hilarious. We read The Misanthrope.

    Surprisingly enough, one of the classics that my kids most enjoy is Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. It's hard, but they're always super into it. 

    They also love The Importance of Being Earnest (as do I!)

    If you're looking for modern American classics and don't mind some edge, my students like The Crucible, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Raisin in the Sun. I'll also add Arthur Miller's All My Sons, which I don't currently teach but think is amazing.

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    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre Department Coordinator
    Fishersville VA
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 08-01-2017 08:10
    For another modern classic, try Sam Shepard's True West.

    Sent from my iPad


    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 08-02-2017 01:54
    My kids loved The Tempest  and A Midsummer Night's Dream when we read them.  While I love Merry Wives they didn't find it quite as hilarious as I do.

    They LOVED the Tennessee Williams unit we did.  We read in book groups - Night of the Iguana, Streetcar, Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  All were very well received by the students who read them, and have stuck with them.

    We performed The Importance of Being Earnest spring 2016 and this year I'm teaching an Oscar Wilde unite.  The kids loved Earnest so much that I'm debating whether I should teach that or expose them to something new.

    We did an Arthur Miller unit last year.  Again, we read in book groups.  We read The Man Who Had All the Luck, All My Sons, A View from the Bridge and Broken Glass.   All My Sons was the favorite.

    Two years ago, we did a Greek unit.  We read Medea, Oedipus and Agamemnon.  They especially loved Medea.

    Finally, we did a commedia unit a couple of years ago and read plays by Carlo Gozzi.  We read The Raven, The King Stag and The Green Bird.  They loved them all.


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    Laura Steenson
    Theatre Director
    Reynolds High School
    Troutdale OR
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 08-03-2017 07:51
    What do you mean by "book groups"? I am unfamiliar with this.



    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Classic Play Suggestions

    Posted 08-04-2017 23:28

    I've had great luck with Shaw and my advanced students. They loved the characters in Arms and the Man and it's anti-war theme. It led to some great discussions on courage, masculinity and the romanticising of violence.  They also really loved Major Barbara which touches on a lot of themes including social class, war profiteering, politics, religion and feminism. Both shows have great female leads by the way.

    Antigone goes over well, although a lot of students read it in their language arts classes now. Tartuffe also remains timely. Kids definitely get it.

    This was a surprise, I taught in a more rural community a few years ago and found the teenagers there really responded well to Picnic. Not only did they love the steamy soap-opera elements (one student remarked that the play read like a show on the WB - this was meant as a compliment), and yes, they had some laughs at the expense of the desperate love-lorn schoolteacher characters, but what the students really responded to was blue collar small-town teenagers struggling against conformity and limited options. The play really hit home for a lot of them.



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    John Monteverde
    Drama Teacher
    Pittsfield High School
    Pittsfield, MA
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    Original Message


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