Hi all!
I'm a playwright, not a teacher, and now and then I work up a play designed from the ground up for high school performers. Past efforts of mine include
Acts of God, available from Playscripts, Inc., a show that has enjoyed over sixty productions around the country.
This past fall, Whiteland Community High School and teacher/director Tara Sorg were kind enough to take a chance on a new piece of mine,
The Wizard Delivers (and Pinky Stays the Course). The show went really well and I'd like to spread the love, and hopefully allow these characters to tread the boards on stages beyond Whiteland.
Cast of nine, with a majority of roles for young women, including both leads.
All roles are age-appropriate, so no gray hairspray required. Some flexibility in casting with regard to gender.
And yes, it's funny and features a do-it-yourself set you can build on the cheap from cast-off junk.
(I have always wanted to write a play involving milk crates, and now, at last, I've done it.)
A synopsis:
In the alley behind Crusty Rusty's Pizza, a recent high school grad known only as the Wizard dispenses advice and plays at being a college counselor––all for a fee, of course, which her teen clients are happy to pay, since the Wizard's track record is unimpeachable. Her clients include high schoolers of all stripes, including several whose troubles run too deep to be solved by anything as straightforward as the Common App. But the Wizard never gives up, not on her clients, and not on herself––at least until it's time to pursue dreams of her own and leave her beloved alleyway kingdom (queendom!) behind.A quick bio for me looks like this:
Mark Rigney's stage plays have been produced in twenty-three U.S. states (including off-Broadway) plus Australia, Austria, Hong Kong, Nepal, and Canada. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a past winner of the John Gassner Playwriting Award, the Maxim Mazumdar New Play Prize, and the Panowski Playwriting Award (twice). Recent work has been part of Next Act! (Capital Rep, Albany, NY). His published plays are available from Playscripts, Inc., Next Stage Press, ArtAge, Heartland, Applause, and multiple editions of Smith & Kraus's The Best Ten-Minute Plays. He maintains lively outposts at his website, http://www.markrigney.net/, and at the New Play Exchange.
There you have it. If anyone would like to give
The Wizard Delivers a read, I'd be more than happy to send it!
Regardless of your particular interest, thanks for all the work you do as teachers, and in bringing the joy of theater to your students.
Cheers, best,
Mark
(he/him/his)
www.markrigney.net------------------------------
Mark Rigney
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