Open Forum

Hello, 
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Murder with grace has 5 female and 5 male.

------------------------------
Leon Kaye
Playwright for the Ages
Lhk@koa1.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

This is me every year. Some years I am lucky enough to have about 5 boys but never more than that. I generally look for shows that have a flexible cast or if they have more males than I have, I look for flexible characters or read the scripts to see if it would make sense for the males to be female characters (plus I've even had girls play the part of boys). All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum has a large, very flexible cast and you can do as few or as many of the vignettes as you like and you can do it as a musical or not. Last spring we did Aladdin (non-musical version) and the guards as well as the street beggar were played by girls. The School Spirit has a heavy girl cast (I think I did it with three boys). Anne of Green Gables is girl heavy as is Little Women. In fact I believe one year I had no males and I found a script of Little Women that was all females. A very fun play with a lot of girls (or characters that can be girls) is Under the Big Top by Martin Follose- I think I had the clowns played by girls even though it says male, and a couple of other characters were played by girls such as the magician and the lion tamer.

------------------------------
Rachel Cunningham
Elwood IN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 13:05
From: Leon Kalayjian
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Murder with grace has 5 female and 5 male.

------------------------------
Leon Kaye
Playwright for the Ages
Lhk@koa1.com

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

I did Peace of my Heart with a large cast instead of the 6 women it calls for. . .and enough men/extra women that anyone who died was carried off rather than walked off.  Women in War also has a large cast of women.  Both of these are excellent history pieces as well.  Shakespeare comedies can be done with more women than men.  Plays like Story Theatre, Peter Pan, Conference of the Birds can also be done with mostly women.  The female version of Odd Couple is fun, but it only has 6  women if I remember correctly.  And then there is always The Women and Twelve Angry Jurors!

------------------------------
Marilynn Zeljeznjak
Blacksburg VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-13-2017 06:37
From: Rachel Cunningham
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

This is me every year. Some years I am lucky enough to have about 5 boys but never more than that. I generally look for shows that have a flexible cast or if they have more males than I have, I look for flexible characters or read the scripts to see if it would make sense for the males to be female characters (plus I've even had girls play the part of boys). All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum has a large, very flexible cast and you can do as few or as many of the vignettes as you like and you can do it as a musical or not. Last spring we did Aladdin (non-musical version) and the guards as well as the street beggar were played by girls. The School Spirit has a heavy girl cast (I think I did it with three boys). Anne of Green Gables is girl heavy as is Little Women. In fact I believe one year I had no males and I found a script of Little Women that was all females. A very fun play with a lot of girls (or characters that can be girls) is Under the Big Top by Martin Follose- I think I had the clowns played by girls even though it says male, and a couple of other characters were played by girls such as the magician and the lion tamer.

------------------------------
Rachel Cunningham
Elwood IN

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 13:05
From: Leon Kalayjian
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Murder with grace has 5 female and 5 male.

------------------------------
Leon Kaye
Playwright for the Ages
Lhk@koa1.com

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Try The Miracle Worker.i did it with only two males by changing the gender of a few characters.

Sent from my iPad


Original Message------

Hello, 
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Did you have to ask for special permission to change the gender of the roles? I am starting a show next week and we didn't have enough boys, so I would like to change the gender of two of the roles but am waiting to hear back from the publishing company.

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-13-2017 06:52
From: Elisabeth Ledwell
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Try The Miracle Worker.i did it with only two males by changing the gender of a few characters.

Sent from my iPad


Original Message------

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

If the option for flexible casting is not clearly stated in the script then you really do have to secure permission.  The copyright statements usually indicate in some way that you cannot change anything without permission.  

The current play we are working on specifically says  - "Do NOT alter the text of the Play, change a character's gender, delete any dialogue, cut any music or alter objectionable language, unless explicitly authorized by Playscripts"

------------------------------
Amy Learn
Ballwin MO
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-13-2017 09:43
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Did you have to ask for special permission to change the gender of the roles? I am starting a show next week and we didn't have enough boys, so I would like to change the gender of two of the roles but am waiting to hear back from the publishing company.

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD

Original Message:
Sent: 10-13-2017 06:52
From: Elisabeth Ledwell
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Try The Miracle Worker.i did it with only two males by changing the gender of a few characters.

Sent from my iPad


Original Message------

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Honestly, whenever I have a predominantly-female high school group, I tend to reach for the classics. It might be a cop-out -- but it gives them a good opportunity to stretch their skills, and the audience doesn't expect them to be as grounded in reality as contemporary works.

Most of the Greeks, the French classics (Corneille, Molière, Racine), some of the Restoration comedies, most Shakespeare (an all- or mostly-female Coriolanus would give me life) . . . Even Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle or Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . . . If the language is heightened or the playwright dabbles in absurdity, audiences tend not to care if the casting is gender-ambiguous or gender-bent.

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

​This is my dilemma every year. Again, I'll suggest The Good Fight, or Triangle, which have a lot of women and only a few men. Or storytelling-type shows that allow for flexible casting, such as Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses or Dominic Cooke's Arabian Nights. There are also several women-heavy scripts published by Nick Hern Books which I just discovered and plan to read for next year.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-13-2017 08:36
From: Victoria Chatfield
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Honestly, whenever I have a predominantly-female high school group, I tend to reach for the classics. It might be a cop-out -- but it gives them a good opportunity to stretch their skills, and the audience doesn't expect them to be as grounded in reality as contemporary works.

Most of the Greeks, the French classics (Corneille, Molière, Racine), some of the Restoration comedies, most Shakespeare (an all- or mostly-female Coriolanus would give me life) . . . Even Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle or Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . . . If the language is heightened or the playwright dabbles in absurdity, audiences tend not to care if the casting is gender-ambiguous or gender-bent.

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Girls of the Garden Club.  I cast two males and 25 women.

------------------------------
Rob Albrecht
Aurora OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

My students and I had a ball with Ferber and Kaufman's Stage Door - 21 females, 11 males.  Before you flinch at the number of males, only one of those roles is a true lead; the others are all so small and so spread out in appearance that I doubled and even tripled boys in those parts, so I used far fewer than 11 boys.  The guys loved the challenge of differentiating their various characters, and it gave each of them about as much stage time as the girls had.  Even the cameo parts are colorful, and just about every character has a real story arc to follow, so that no one is just "living scenery."  Rights are from Dramatists Play Service.

I'll also put in yet another word here for Stephen Gregg's science-fiction romantic comedy Crush - 10-12 females, 4-5 males, 2-10 of either gender.  I cast almost all of the "either gender" roles with girls.  My students really bought into this one and enjoyed it.  It can also be a teaching play, as one of its plotlines revolves around a high-school production of Our Town, giving you a chance to familiarize kids with a classic if they don't know it already.  And it's cheap to stage, because it models its presentation on Our Town, too - nothing but tables, chairs, ladders, etc. for scenery, with the audience imagining the rest!  Rights are from Dramatic Publishing.

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

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

I concur with Stage Door. We did it two years ago and the girls loved it. We are an all-girls high school, so have similar issues. I cast the boys we had at auditions and then used some of the girls to play boy characters, which went well. 

Best of luck!

------------------------------
Sarah Aanderud Wahlen
Director of Theatre & Film
Holy Names Academy
Seattle, WA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-14-2017 17:41
From: Jeff Grove
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

My students and I had a ball with Ferber and Kaufman's Stage Door - 21 females, 11 males.  Before you flinch at the number of males, only one of those roles is a true lead; the others are all so small and so spread out in appearance that I doubled and even tripled boys in those parts, so I used far fewer than 11 boys.  The guys loved the challenge of differentiating their various characters, and it gave each of them about as much stage time as the girls had.  Even the cameo parts are colorful, and just about every character has a real story arc to follow, so that no one is just "living scenery."  Rights are from Dramatists Play Service.

I'll also put in yet another word here for Stephen Gregg's science-fiction romantic comedy Crush - 10-12 females, 4-5 males, 2-10 of either gender.  I cast almost all of the "either gender" roles with girls.  My students really bought into this one and enjoyed it.  It can also be a teaching play, as one of its plotlines revolves around a high-school production of Our Town, giving you a chance to familiarize kids with a classic if they don't know it already.  And it's cheap to stage, because it models its presentation on Our Town, too - nothing but tables, chairs, ladders, etc. for scenery, with the audience imagining the rest!  Rights are from Dramatic Publishing.

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

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

​You could do almost any fairy tale/kids show situation and make animal/fantastical parts girls. Fabulous Fable Factory?  I adore Law and Order - Fairy Tale Unit.

I have also had this problem and have even gone searching for boys in my English classes!

My favorite show, which I have done more that once, is Up the Down Staircase.  You could make all of the teachers girls, including the principal.  You would need one male teacher (Paul) and a Joe Ferrone - although I suppose Joe could also be female... now that I think about it!  It's a large cast and has a great message. 

------------------------------
Amber Hugus
Harmony PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

I've had experience with some mid-sized casts featuring mostly female roles -- not sure you could get away with 20 females but these are still great shows a number of local all-female high schools have done lately with some success:

Radium Girls
Scenes and Revelations
A Piece of My Heart (as someone else already suggested)
The Odd Couple Female Version

Hope that helps!

~Laura

------------------------------
Laura Berkemeier
Thomas More College
Erlanger KY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

LONG JOAN SILVER?
A new version of Treasure island, where ALL the pirates are women. Available from YouthPLAYS.
http://www.arthurjolly.com/longjoansilver.php

------------------------------
Arthur M. Jolly
Playwright
Houston TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Hello Everyone,

What I need is a one act for Middle School. I have two boys and 20 girls. Our school district is very conservative.

Any ideas? Thank you!

------------------------------
Kathleen Tate
Theatre Director
Grapevine Colleyville ISD
Grapevine TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Hello,
I have enjoyed the following shows and they are very flexible, gender wise.
1. The Actor Games
2. The American Revolution in 40 minutes or Less
3. Hoodie
4. Totally Red
5. Wiley and the Hairy Man
6. James and the Giant Peach (play not musical)
7. Dorothy meets Alice, the Wizard of Wonderland

I hope this helps!

---------------------------------
Natalie Pass


Cumming GA
---------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 11/21/2017 11:00:58 AM
From: kathleen.tate@gcisd.net
Subject: RE: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello Everyone,

What I need is a one act for Middle School. I have two boys and 20 girls. Our school district is very conservative.

Any ideas? Thank you!

------------------------------
Kathleen Tate
Theatre Director
Grapevine Colleyville ISD
Grapevine TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Pride and Prejudice or Jane Erye come to mind. You could also look at a classical piece and adjust it; just make sure it's one in public domain

------------------------------
Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Has anyone run across any new plays to add to this list? I'd love to produce one large-cast play next year rather than two medium-sized ones if at all possible. I prefer a drama to a comedy, and I don't really want one about high school life unless it's quite thought-provoking and well-written. I need a cast size of about 25 with either primarily women, or roles that are gender flexible. I also prefer material that is less than 20 years old, and in a perfect world, written by a woman. I'd like it to have a female lead (or leads) and be a woman's story. 

I know, picky much? :-) But I feel like lots of us are often looking for the same type of show and having a hard time finding it.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Have you looked at any of Mary Zimmerman's plays?   Big Fan here.  Large cast, incredible opportunities for theatricality.  Lots of roles for women and roles that can be played by either gender.  ARABIAN NIGHTS, SECRET IN THE WINGS,  THE WHITE SNAKE, ARGONAUTIKA, MIRROR OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD, and of course, METAMORPHOSIS.  We've also done her ODYSSEY and JOURNEY TO THE WEST but those are a bit more male heavy.

------------------------------
Ron Parker, Theatre Educator
Appleton North High School
Renaissance School for the Arts
Appleton WI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-16-2018 11:29
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Has anyone run across any new plays to add to this list? I'd love to produce one large-cast play next year rather than two medium-sized ones if at all possible. I prefer a drama to a comedy, and I don't really want one about high school life unless it's quite thought-provoking and well-written. I need a cast size of about 25 with either primarily women, or roles that are gender flexible. I also prefer material that is less than 20 years old, and in a perfect world, written by a woman. I'd like it to have a female lead (or leads) and be a woman's story.

I know, picky much? :-) But I feel like lots of us are often looking for the same type of show and having a hard time finding it.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

​

Teaching Drama for 31 years this has always been the case.  

Some wonderful Dramas: Women on Fire by Irene O'Garden, She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen.   A comic gem is The Women by Clare Booth Luce. And, of course, The Children's Hour. 

------------------------------
Luigi Jannuzzi Educator & Playwright
All The King's Women
Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies
www.LuigiJannuzzi.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

You should read "Our Miss Brooks". Really charming old 20s play ABOUT the problem of a teacher trying to put on a play with very few boys. I've wanted to do it, but haven't yet because I have too many boys (still more girls, though) and I feel bad about leaving them out. There are about a dozen female and just a few male parts.

------------------------------
Steven Slaughter
English/Theatre
Rosslyn Academy
Nairobi, Kenya

"Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts." - W Berry
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

------------------------------
Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
------------------------------

Here are some great articles on this very subject:

Ladies Choice! Large Cast Suggestions for Female Heavy Plays (Part 1)

PerformerStuff More Good Stuff		remove <g class="gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="59" data-gr-id="59">preview</g>
Ladies Choice! Large Cast Suggestions for Female Heavy Plays (Part 1) Written by Tiffany Wilkie October 31, <g class="gr_ gr_62 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="62" data-gr-id="62">2017</g> Sometimes the number of girls and women significantly outweighs the number of boys and men in a theatre department. That's when it's time to start looking for female-heavy plays. Check out our list below, and be sure to come back for Part 2! View this on PerformerStuff More Good Stuff >

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David Lee
Orlando FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-12-2017 10:14
From: Anne Elisa Brown
Subject: Large Ensemble Plays (Mostly Female)

Hello,
I am a theater director at a small high school. I usually have about 20 girls that show up to auditions, but only between 2-5 males. I am looking for a full-length play for this spring that I could do with a mostly female cast. I am having a lot of trouble finding something that doesn't have many male roles but can accommodate a lot of female roles. I appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

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Anne Elisa Brown
Director of the MHS Drama Department
Madison Central School District
Madison SD
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