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  • 1.  Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-14-2018 21:37
    I need your play knowledge!

    My most advanced class reads a play every quarter from a different historical period, analyzes the script, we discuss theme/characterization/etc, they research the acting/directing styles of that period, and then present scenes from the play.  I try to pick plays that appear on AP reading lists and on college syllabi all while keeping everything consistent with whatever my theme is for that year.  This year, I'm going with "Man's search for. . . . " and I've got several options but would like your input.
    What's on tap so far:
    Man's search for self--The Crucible (non-negotiable)
    Man's search for justice--Federal Theatre Project (negotiable)
    Man's search for meaning--Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (non-negotiable)
    Man's search for. . . . . .

    I need one more quarter filled, and I would like a second companion play for each quarter, as well.  Just to give you an idea of what I've had my kids read in the past, we've done Oedipus, Doll's House, Tartuffe, Beaux Strategem, Macbeth, Everyman, Laramie Project, Streetcar Named Desire, Our Town, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Noises Off.  We've run the gamut!

    Thanks, all!

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    Annie Rice
    Spring Hill TN
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  • 2.  RE: Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-15-2018 07:31
    How about mans search for moral justice (law vs. moral law)? You can use A View from the Bridge.

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    Dawn DeMaio
    Theater Teacher/ Director
    GW Hewlett High School
    Hewlett, NY
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-15-2018 09:28
    Hello,
    I have been reading Anna Devere Smith's Fires in the Mirror since I started teaching 14 years ago. 
    It chronicles the reaction of Crown Heights, New York residents to the death of an African-American boy.  There are questions regarding who is truly responsible; was the reaction of the Lubavitcher and African-American communities justified?  I read it with my Drama III students and it is SO timely.  Each scene is a monologue, and in the original production, Anna Devere Smith played all the characters!  There's even YouTube videos so the kids can see how one person plays a multitude of characters!
    The kids absolutely LOVE reading it and we have some of the most incredible discussions about the different perspectives; the different cultures; the passage of time and how issues today are SO similar. 
    Many students use monologues from this show for college auditions and get AMAZING feedback :)
    I highly recommend it!!

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    Lisa Dyer
    Henrico VA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-15-2018 16:57

    I second anything that allows you to study Fires in the Mirror, which is a gorgeous and incredibly relevant play about race in America. I actually had the pleasure of seeing one of the earliest productions of it, as Anna Deavere Smith performed it at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA while I was a Harvard student. I remember being sick as a dog that night, but it was so magical that for 90 minutes, I completely forgot I was sick.

    As a cool sidenote, I was in rehearsal for a play of mine at the time, and we were rehearsing daily in one of the rehearsal rooms at the Loeb Drama Center. She used the room for her warm-up, so every night we'd pass her as she was heading off to perform and we were coming in to rehearse.

    I also highly recommend Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, her similarly structured play about the LA riots. Again, another important exploration of race in America, a discussion that is unfortunately just as relevant today as it was when it was written.

    Also, if you do wish to explore issues of race further, I'd recommend looking at the work of iconic Latinx writer-performers Culture Clash. For anyone in the greater Los Angeles area, they are currently at the Pasadena Playhouse performing Bordertown Now, a revisiting of their 20-year-old play Bordertown. A super powerful exploration of issues of immigration, the Wall, race and more.

    Cheers,
    Jonathan



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    Jonathan Dorf
    Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Co-chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
    Los Angeles CA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-15-2018 13:59
    For the search for justice you might consider Twelve Angry Men (Jurors) by Reginald Rose. Or A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin.

    Man's Search for Truth: The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht or Equus by Peter Shaffer.

    --
    "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." - Shakespeare



    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Plays to read in class

    Posted 06-15-2018 14:01
    This year, our drama one/two theme was "Search for Identity." I didn't even realize I had done that until it was time to write the final lol. I don't know how you feel about including musicals in your curriculum, but the shows that really stuck with my students regarding this theme, based on their finals, were "Hamilton," "Dear Evan Hansen," and "Wicked." Plays that were mentioned in their finals were "Bang Bang, You're Dead," "The Miracle Worker," and "The End of the World (With Prom to Follow."

    Obviously, my class has a pretty contemporary lean, though I'm working to change that for next year. :)

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    Jodi Disario
    Director of Drama
    Willow Glen High School
    San Jose, CA
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    Original Message


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