Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Teen actors/play

Author

Message

GracieGarland
Player
Player

Joined: 11/13/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 23

Topic: Teen actors/play
Posted: 12/15/10 at 10:27am

Looking for a play with strong female teen roles....can't seem to find anything that isn't...well...weak. Seven Minutes in Heaven--wasn't moved by the 57 pages I did read.

There could be adults and boys in the play, but I would like to keep the cast and set simple.

Have any ideas? PLEASE pass them my way

Gracie

IP Logged

donzolidis
Celebrity

Joined: 5/15/07
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 156

Posted: 12/15/10 at 11:21am

That's my bread and butter. Are you looking for comedy or drama? Fairly small cast, I guess?

Try The Matchmakers a romantic-comedy (18 yr old female lead - 5F 8M) - here's the blurb:

"After a lame homecoming date at Wendy's and the dissolution of her parents' marriage, Bree begins to think that she's been cursed. When her mother declares that she's going to marry her loathsome marriage counselor, she's almost certain. And when she starts falling for that marriage counselor's geeky, awkward son, she's convinced. The Matchmakers is a wild, romantic comedy, complete with a strange clown, blind dates, and a swordfight."

You can read it online here:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=2062

If you're looking for a one-act, or something for a night of one-acts, my favorite is Anna and August (4 F 4 M, teenage female lead)

"Anna is the smartest girl in the school. She's also a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do and has a devastating punch. Strangely enough, she has trouble meeting boys. Except one: August, who seems to appreciate her weirdness. Unfortunately, the course of weird love never did run smooth."

http://www.playscripts.com/play?playid=1485

For plays I didn't write, you could go with

How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel (brilliant play, but about child molestation, so might not be appropriate depending on your venue)

Our Town

Proof (the protagonist is in her twenties, but could be played by a teenager without a probelm)

And of course things like Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, the list goes on and on...

www.donzolidis.com

IP Logged

edh915
Celebrity

Joined: 11/19/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 325

Posted: 12/15/10 at 12:10pm

"Shakespeare's R & J" by Joe Calarco, Dramatists Play Service

It was written for four young men, but it's been done with 4 girls.

Here's the blurb:

"Four actors with no set, no costume changes, and no props, bring the essence of this classic play vividly alive with the sheer theatricality of this timeless story.

Four young prep school students, tired of going through the usual drill of conjugating Latin and other tedious school routines, decide to vary their very governed lives. After school, one breaks out a copy of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and they all take turns reading the play aloud. The Bard's words and the story itself are thrilling to the boys and they become swept away, enmeshed in the emotion so much so that they break school rules in order to continue their readings. The rigidity of their lives begins to parallel the lives of the characters in the play: roles in the family, roles in society and the roles played by men and women soon seem to make all the sense in the world, and then, suddenly, they seem to make no sense at all. Although they had been taking turns playing all the parts, two eventually emerge playing Romeo and Juliet exclusively, bringing a whole new dimension to the proceedings. Perceptions and understandings are turned upside down as the fun of play acting turns serious and the words and meanings begin to hit home and universal truths emerge."

It's great theater. I highly recommend it.

IP Logged

Play Suggestions
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Play Suggestions

Author	Message
GracieGarland Player Joined: 11/13/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 23	Topic: Teen actors/play Posted: 12/15/10 at 10:27am
	Looking for a play with strong female teen roles....can't seem to find anything that isn't...well...weak. Seven Minutes in Heaven--wasn't moved by the 57 pages I did read. There could be adults and boys in the play, but I would like to keep the cast and set simple. Have any ideas? PLEASE pass them my way Gracie

	IP Logged

donzolidis Celebrity Joined: 5/15/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 12/15/10 at 11:21am
	That's my bread and butter. Are you looking for comedy or drama? Fairly small cast, I guess? Try The Matchmakers a romantic-comedy (18 yr old female lead - 5F 8M) - here's the blurb: "After a lame homecoming date at Wendy's and the dissolution of her parents' marriage, Bree begins to think that she's been cursed. When her mother declares that she's going to marry her loathsome marriage counselor, she's almost certain. And when she starts falling for that marriage counselor's geeky, awkward son, she's convinced. The Matchmakers is a wild, romantic comedy, complete with a strange clown, blind dates, and a swordfight." You can read it online here: http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=2062 If you're looking for a one-act, or something for a night of one-acts, my favorite is Anna and August (4 F 4 M, teenage female lead) "Anna is the smartest girl in the school. She's also a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do and has a devastating punch. Strangely enough, she has trouble meeting boys. Except one: August, who seems to appreciate her weirdness. Unfortunately, the course of weird love never did run smooth." http://www.playscripts.com/play?playid=1485 For plays I didn't write, you could go with How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel (brilliant play, but about child molestation, so might not be appropriate depending on your venue) Our Town Proof (the protagonist is in her twenties, but could be played by a teenager without a probelm) And of course things like Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, The Seagull, the list goes on and on...
	www.donzolidis.com
	IP Logged

edh915 Celebrity Joined: 11/19/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325	Posted: 12/15/10 at 12:10pm
	"Shakespeare's R & J" by Joe Calarco, Dramatists Play Service It was written for four young men, but it's been done with 4 girls. Here's the blurb: "Four actors with no set, no costume changes, and no props, bring the essence of this classic play vividly alive with the sheer theatricality of this timeless story. Four young prep school students, tired of going through the usual drill of conjugating Latin and other tedious school routines, decide to vary their very governed lives. After school, one breaks out a copy of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and they all take turns reading the play aloud. The Bard's words and the story itself are thrilling to the boys and they become swept away, enmeshed in the emotion so much so that they break school rules in order to continue their readings. The rigidity of their lives begins to parallel the lives of the characters in the play: roles in the family, roles in society and the roles played by men and women soon seem to make all the sense in the world, and then, suddenly, they seem to make no sense at all. Although they had been taking turns playing all the parts, two eventually emerge playing Romeo and Juliet exclusively, bringing a whole new dimension to the proceedings. Perceptions and understandings are turned upside down as the fun of play acting turns serious and the words and meanings begin to hit home and universal truths emerge." It's great theater. I highly recommend it.
	IP Logged

Topic: Teen actors/play( Topic Closed)