Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Evening of One Acts

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Kim L.
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Topic: Evening of One Acts
Posted: 7/04/11 at 9:06pm

I am going to be teaching an Evening of One Acts Middle School class. I will have 24 kids in the class. The primary focus of the class is to teach drama techniques and such and the secondary focus is to produce several one act plays. I thought I could divide the class into 3 sections and have each group perform a 30-40 minute one act play. This would provide a greater number of kids the opportunity to have lead roles. It all sounds great (on paper) except I am having a hard time finding 3 one act plays that I like. Any suggestions for MS?

Thanks!!

Kim

Kim

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donzolidis
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Posted: 7/05/11 at 1:18am

A great place to search is playscripts.com. Not only can you search for middle-school appropriate plays, but you can also read them online without having to buy them. Here's a list of their 10 most popular shows for middle school:

http://www.playscripts.com/middle

I am a former middle school theatre teacher and I wrote a lot of plays for my students. (I also directed loads of one-act play nights). If you're planning on having three shows with about 8 kids each, I'd suggest taking a look at Check, Please. It's a series of blind dates that go horribly wrong, it's the easiest thing in the world to stage, and it's pretty darn funny. It's also the most-produced one-act in the universe.

Show and Spell, about a middle-school spelling bee, is also a fun choice.

Most of the plays I wrote involved larger casts than what you want. I have two, though, that would work for you. The first is Anna and August (cast 4-8), here's the blurb:

"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." You can read it online here:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1485

The second is The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (cast of 5+ any gender) - here's the blurb:

"Two narrators attempt to recreate all 209 of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm in a wild, fast-paced extravaganza. To make it more difficult, they attempt to combine them into one gigantic fable using Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and other more obscure stories like Lean Lisa and The Devil's Grandmother."

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1163

Happy to suggest others if you want.

www.donzolidis.com

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Kim L.
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Posted: 7/05/11 at 5:21pm

Donzolidis

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. The last full production I did with the MS was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was great and fun to do. With the One Acts, I feel like I am looking for something more meaty. Maybe I am looking for more drama than comedy.

I see that there is a script for Hundred Dresses but it is not a one act. I don't know if I could submit to the playwright to truncate it. I like Hundred Dresses b/c it teaches a lesson. Maybe I'm sort of looking for something like that...something that teaches a lesson. A classic would also be nice.

Thanks!!!

Kim

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donzolidis
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Posted: 7/05/11 at 7:28pm

I'm not familiar with Hundred Dresses, but playwrights vary on whether or not they allow cuts. Can't hurt to ask.

Check out the plays of Alan Haehnel, he has a number of dramas that are performed frequently in middle schools as well.

You might have a bit of a challenge finding meaty, 8-character, one-act plays appropriate for middle school. I didn't do a lot of them - most of my shows were larger- you might want to look at The Audition, which is my adaptation of A Chorus Line for middle school. (Except they're auditioning for A Chorus Line) - it's funny and serious, and follows the lives of various kids trying out for the show. You can read it here:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1427

www.donzolidis.com

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Rorgg
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Posted: 7/06/11 at 2:25pm

Let me just toss a one-act at you ... it's called Small Actors. Here's the synopsis:

Cast: 4m., 4w. (2m. Or w., doubling and extras possible.) Emily desperately wants to play the lead in her high school's production of Romeo and Juliet. Instead, she gets a one-line, four-word role. None the less, she tells her parents (who will be out of town during the performance) that she got the lead, and suddenly, things spin way out of control. Mom and Dad cancel their vacation plans and invite every relative they can round up to come visit and see their daughter play Juliet. This outlandishly funny and very touching play is about the roles we all play�in theatre and in life. Area staging.

And they list middle school as the target age.

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jonplaywright
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Posted: 7/08/11 at 12:10am

Kim,

Don has some excellent plays. I also like to think that I have a few that aren't so bad either. One that is widely produced at the middle school level, has some meat to it and could be done with 8 (though admittedly that's its minimum) is After Math (dramedy): a boy disappears in the middle of math class, and as those left behind come up with their ideas about where he's gone, they realize that no one really knew him, and it's only in disappearing that he's attracted their attention.
http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=652

You might also check out my comedy Supermodels in Jeopardy, which can be done with as few as 4 or 5 but can easily be done with more: when all of the world's supermodels--other than a pair of guys from Iceland who miss their flight--are trapped in their dressing rooms in a partial building collapse, will the regular folks ride to their rescue...?
https://www.brookpub.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&st=Supermodels+in+Jeopardy

You also might check out online publisher YouthPLAYS. The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, Princess Pigface and The Wild and Wacky Rhyming Stories of Miss Henrietta Humpledowning might be good choices:
http://youthplays.com/plays/view/114
http://youthplays.com/plays/view/107
http://youthplays.com/plays/view/92

Cheers,
Jonathan

Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights
Resident Playwright, Final Draft

YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences
www.youthplays.com

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Lazy Bee
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Posted: 7/10/11 at 2:41am

Seven options listed here - although you can discount the first one which, though it could be done by one of your groups, is really a collection of shorter pieces.

Stuart
Lazy Bee Scripts
http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk read complete play scripts on-line

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Kim L.
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Posted: 7/11/11 at 5:00pm

I am looking for the script for Hundred Dresses. Book was written by Eleanor Estes and the script was adapted by Bill Williams. Would anyone know how I could go about getting a perusal or who holds the rights?

Kim

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jonplaywright
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Posted: 7/22/11 at 11:43pm

I would check www.findaplay.com to see if it comes up. If not, try a Google search and see if a publisher's name is in the search somewhere.

Jon

Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights
Resident Playwright, Final Draft

YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences
www.youthplays.com

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

Author	Message
Kim L. Star Joined: 2/03/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 86	Topic: Evening of One Acts Posted: 7/04/11 at 9:06pm
	I am going to be teaching an Evening of One Acts Middle School class. I will have 24 kids in the class. The primary focus of the class is to teach drama techniques and such and the secondary focus is to produce several one act plays. I thought I could divide the class into 3 sections and have each group perform a 30-40 minute one act play. This would provide a greater number of kids the opportunity to have lead roles. It all sounds great (on paper) except I am having a hard time finding 3 one act plays that I like. Any suggestions for MS? Thanks!! Kim
	Kim

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donzolidis Celebrity Joined: 5/15/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 7/05/11 at 1:18am
	A great place to search is playscripts.com. Not only can you search for middle-school appropriate plays, but you can also read them online without having to buy them. Here's a list of their 10 most popular shows for middle school: http://www.playscripts.com/middle I am a former middle school theatre teacher and I wrote a lot of plays for my students. (I also directed loads of one-act play nights). If you're planning on having three shows with about 8 kids each, I'd suggest taking a look at Check, Please. It's a series of blind dates that go horribly wrong, it's the easiest thing in the world to stage, and it's pretty darn funny. It's also the most-produced one-act in the universe. Show and Spell, about a middle-school spelling bee, is also a fun choice. Most of the plays I wrote involved larger casts than what you want. I have two, though, that would work for you. The first is Anna and August (cast 4-8), here's the blurb: "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." You can read it online here: http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1485 The second is The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon (cast of 5+ any gender) - here's the blurb: "Two narrators attempt to recreate all 209 of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm in a wild, fast-paced extravaganza. To make it more difficult, they attempt to combine them into one gigantic fable using Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and other more obscure stories like Lean Lisa and The Devil's Grandmother." http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1163 Happy to suggest others if you want.
	www.donzolidis.com
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Kim L. Star Joined: 2/03/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 86	Posted: 7/05/11 at 5:21pm
	Donzolidis Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. The last full production I did with the MS was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was great and fun to do. With the One Acts, I feel like I am looking for something more meaty. Maybe I am looking for more drama than comedy. I see that there is a script for Hundred Dresses but it is not a one act. I don't know if I could submit to the playwright to truncate it. I like Hundred Dresses b/c it teaches a lesson. Maybe I'm sort of looking for something like that...something that teaches a lesson. A classic would also be nice. Thanks!!!
	Kim
	IP Logged

donzolidis Celebrity Joined: 5/15/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 7/05/11 at 7:28pm
	I'm not familiar with Hundred Dresses, but playwrights vary on whether or not they allow cuts. Can't hurt to ask. Check out the plays of Alan Haehnel, he has a number of dramas that are performed frequently in middle schools as well. You might have a bit of a challenge finding meaty, 8-character, one-act plays appropriate for middle school. I didn't do a lot of them - most of my shows were larger- you might want to look at The Audition, which is my adaptation of A Chorus Line for middle school. (Except they're auditioning for A Chorus Line) - it's funny and serious, and follows the lives of various kids trying out for the show. You can read it here: http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1427
	www.donzolidis.com
	IP Logged

Rorgg Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Posted: 7/06/11 at 2:25pm
	Let me just toss a one-act at you ... it's called Small Actors. Here's the synopsis: Cast: 4m., 4w. (2m. Or w., doubling and extras possible.) Emily desperately wants to play the lead in her high school's production of Romeo and Juliet. Instead, she gets a one-line, four-word role. None the less, she tells her parents (who will be out of town during the performance) that she got the lead, and suddenly, things spin way out of control. Mom and Dad cancel their vacation plans and invite every relative they can round up to come visit and see their daughter play Juliet. This outlandishly funny and very touching play is about the roles we all play�in theatre and in life. Area staging. And they list middle school as the target age.
	IP Logged

jonplaywright Star Joined: 7/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 53	Posted: 7/08/11 at 12:10am
	Kim, Don has some excellent plays. I also like to think that I have a few that aren't so bad either. One that is widely produced at the middle school level, has some meat to it and could be done with 8 (though admittedly that's its minimum) is *After Math* (dramedy): a boy disappears in the middle of math class, and as those left behind come up with their ideas about where he's gone, they realize that no one really knew him, and it's only in disappearing that he's attracted their attention. http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=652 You might also check out my comedy *Supermodels in Jeopardy, which can be done with as few as 4 or 5 but can easily be done with more: when all of the world's supermodels--other than a pair of guys from Iceland who miss their flight--are trapped in their dressing rooms in a partial building collapse, will the regular folks ride to their rescue...? https://www.brookpub.com/default.aspx?pg=sd&st=Supermodels+in+Jeopardy You also might check out online publisher YouthPLAYS. The Adventures of Rocky & Skye, Princess Pigface* and *The Wild and Wacky Rhyming Stories of Miss Henrietta Humpledowning* might be good choices: http://youthplays.com/plays/view/114 http://youthplays.com/plays/view/107 http://youthplays.com/plays/view/92 Cheers, Jonathan
	Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Resident Playwright, Final Draft YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences www.youthplays.com
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Lazy Bee Star Joined: 2/21/07 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 89	Posted: 7/10/11 at 2:41am
	Seven options listed here - although you can discount the first one which, though it could be done by one of your groups, is really a collection of shorter pieces.
	Stuart Lazy Bee Scripts http://www.lazybeescripts.co.uk read complete play scripts on-line
	IP Logged

Kim L. Star Joined: 2/03/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 86	Posted: 7/11/11 at 5:00pm
	I am looking for the script for Hundred Dresses. Book was written by Eleanor Estes and the script was adapted by Bill Williams. Would anyone know how I could go about getting a perusal or who holds the rights?
	Kim
	IP Logged

jonplaywright Star Joined: 7/20/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 53	Posted: 7/22/11 at 11:43pm
	I would check www.findaplay.com to see if it comes up. If not, try a Google search and see if a publisher's name is in the search somewhere. Jon
	Co-Chair, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Resident Playwright, Final Draft YouthPLAYS, plays for young actors and audiences www.youthplays.com
	IP Logged