High school plays with adventure, darkness, theatricality, laughs
October 5, 2021 7:48 PM Subscribe
I'm a newly-minted high school drama director and am choosing two plays for February and May. No musicals this year. I've read a metric boatload of plays but can't quite find the one that really lights me up all the way. Please help me find something in my sweet spot.
First: Real plays that have worked in real theaters. There is a huge market of plays custom-made for high school productions, and I have almost never read one that's good. Besides, I want students to participate in the grand tradition of theater.
My students would love to do something with a horror element, something that shakes up the parents and attracts their peers, something a little thrilling.
I would love to do something that has some edge and absurdism to it. Something that's wild with gender (half my kids are genderfluid or non-binary or trans or some combo). Nothing that's too much about how depraved teenagers are (they aren't) or has intense suicide or rape themes (bye-bye Spring Awakening).
I would love a play that can be created by simple visual means. The National Theatre's production of Jane Eyre (not available for licensing in U.S. and also 3 hours long) was perfect — a platform and some ladders, a backdrop of translucent drapes that changed colors and patterns, and all the rest was in the bodies and faces and voices of the actors.
Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of The Odyssey is so close, but the language is too damn much and requires 25 actors.
Will Eno's Middletown is awfully close. Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a little light (and Picasso was a shit). The Madwoman of Chaillot feels fussy and effortful. Macbeth is potentially terrifying and imaginative, but I don't have the actors that can do it. Mr. Burns: An Electric Play is one of the best concepts ever, but the third act is pretentious twaddle. And so on.
New or old, translated or not, I'm open to ideas.
First: Real plays that have worked in real theaters. There is a huge market of plays custom-made for high school productions, and I have almost never read one that's good. Besides, I want students to participate in the grand tradition of theater.
My students would love to do something with a horror element, something that shakes up the parents and attracts their peers, something a little thrilling.
I would love to do something that has some edge and absurdism to it. Something that's wild with gender (half my kids are genderfluid or non-binary or trans or some combo). Nothing that's too much about how depraved teenagers are (they aren't) or has intense suicide or rape themes (bye-bye Spring Awakening).
I would love a play that can be created by simple visual means. The National Theatre's production of Jane Eyre (not available for licensing in U.S. and also 3 hours long) was perfect — a platform and some ladders, a backdrop of translucent drapes that changed colors and patterns, and all the rest was in the bodies and faces and voices of the actors.
Mary Zimmerman's adaptation of The Odyssey is so close, but the language is too damn much and requires 25 actors.
Will Eno's Middletown is awfully close. Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile is a little light (and Picasso was a shit). The Madwoman of Chaillot feels fussy and effortful. Macbeth is potentially terrifying and imaginative, but I don't have the actors that can do it. Mr. Burns: An Electric Play is one of the best concepts ever, but the third act is pretentious twaddle. And so on.
New or old, translated or not, I'm open to ideas.
Ubu Roi, Alfred Jarry's great play, is absurd, hilarious, and politically relevant. Plus it lends itself to wildly imaginative staging. Perhaps a bit heady for high school but could be a fun challenge?
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:06 PM on October 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:06 PM on October 5, 2021 [6 favorites]
Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Ridiculously funny, absurd, sad - just perfection. Also it has four characters.
Should add: I studied it in school, and my entire class really enjoyed it. I can still rattle off lines and it’s been years. I also saw it when it was on in the UK a couple of years ago - absolutely brilliant.
posted by bigyellowtaxi at 8:45 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Should add: I studied it in school, and my entire class really enjoyed it. I can still rattle off lines and it’s been years. I also saw it when it was on in the UK a couple of years ago - absolutely brilliant.
posted by bigyellowtaxi at 8:45 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Cloud Nine by Carol Churchill (maybe too edgy?)
+1 to Christopher Durang
posted by phoenixy at 8:49 PM on October 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
+1 to Christopher Durang
posted by phoenixy at 8:49 PM on October 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
Teenage Dick by Mike Lew
The Witch of Edmonton by John Ford, William Rowley, and Thomas Dekker
Mac Beth by Erica Schmidt
Rhinoceros by Ionesco
Revolt, She said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch
Life Sucks by Aaron Posner
posted by minervous at 8:53 PM on October 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
The Witch of Edmonton by John Ford, William Rowley, and Thomas Dekker
Mac Beth by Erica Schmidt
Rhinoceros by Ionesco
Revolt, She said. Revolt Again by Alice Birch
Life Sucks by Aaron Posner
posted by minervous at 8:53 PM on October 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
Another vote for Rhinoceros by Ionesco. Timely!
posted by stoneandstar at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by stoneandstar at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2021 [4 favorites]
My kid went to conservatory high school. Boy have I seen a lot of high school plays (including Madwoman of Chaillot, and I agree with you). The one that I think ticks all your boxes is Gregory Moss's adaptation of Uses of Enchantment. It's weird and dark and wonderful and real theater and no one else is going to suggest it.
posted by shadygrove at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by shadygrove at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
A Bright Room Called Day is a lesser-known Tony Kushner play that I saw a few years ago and loved. It takes place in 1930s Berlin, so it's definitely dark, though not in a fun/creepy way, but it's also pretty simple to stage, has great characters (including at least one openly-gay character) and since all the characters are artists in 1930s Berlin, the genders are relatively fluid.
posted by lunasol at 9:04 PM on October 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 9:04 PM on October 5, 2021 [3 favorites]
(It also has that fun, chewy Kushner dialogue that theater kids love.)
posted by lunasol at 9:06 PM on October 5, 2021
posted by lunasol at 9:06 PM on October 5, 2021
If I was a HS drama director, A Dream Play is the thing that I'd run.
posted by ovvl at 9:09 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 9:09 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
How about "Carnage"
posted by effluvia at 9:11 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 9:11 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Another vote for Rhinoceros. I'd recommend Zoo Story, but it only has two characters and some might be put off by the discussed animal cruelty. Maybe something by David Ives? I'm a huge fan of All in the Timing, although some of it is probably a bit more problematic these days than it used to be. (Sure Thing and Words Words Words are my two favorites).
Once you can get a musical, do Little Shop of Horrors, which fits your description to a T.
posted by Hactar at 9:57 PM on October 5, 2021
Once you can get a musical, do Little Shop of Horrors, which fits your description to a T.
posted by Hactar at 9:57 PM on October 5, 2021
Does Off-Broadway to Broadway to Cult Film count?
Deathtrap. 4 Character, 2 Murder Plot.
Queerable, in that for the PLOT TWIST! Sidney and Clifford are lovers!!, Sidney can be any gender you want. Helga ten Dorp can just as easily be Ingmar and get the same laughs. Watch the movie for 80's Christopher Reeve in a big sweater and tight pants.
Wait Until Dark. A blind woman doesn't realize that the package that was just mis-delivered to her studio apartment is a doll full of heroin. The smugglers show up. The boss said no EYE witnesses.
It counts on a female lead to play on the woman-in-peril audience sympathies; but boyfriend Sam could be girlfriend Sam, and the gangsters just have to be sinister & intimidating. Watch the movie for Audrey Hepburn lighting a match.
Both are single sets, but they are ones that will require several particular bits of dressing - a staircase, french doors that lead offstage, a pool noodle dressed up as a fireplace log to bash someone dead behind the couch with. WUD has a particularly fun bit of Stage Tech where the only lighting on stage is from an open refrigerator door. I suppose you could do something conceptual, with the only 'real' things in a blind woman's apartment being the things she touches; the railing, the couch, the lamp, and the rest is just scrims or something. There are several school productions to check out on youtube.
posted by bartleby at 10:36 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Deathtrap. 4 Character, 2 Murder Plot.
Queerable, in that for the PLOT TWIST! Sidney and Clifford are lovers!!, Sidney can be any gender you want. Helga ten Dorp can just as easily be Ingmar and get the same laughs. Watch the movie for 80's Christopher Reeve in a big sweater and tight pants.
Wait Until Dark. A blind woman doesn't realize that the package that was just mis-delivered to her studio apartment is a doll full of heroin. The smugglers show up. The boss said no EYE witnesses.
It counts on a female lead to play on the woman-in-peril audience sympathies; but boyfriend Sam could be girlfriend Sam, and the gangsters just have to be sinister & intimidating. Watch the movie for Audrey Hepburn lighting a match.
Both are single sets, but they are ones that will require several particular bits of dressing - a staircase, french doors that lead offstage, a pool noodle dressed up as a fireplace log to bash someone dead behind the couch with. WUD has a particularly fun bit of Stage Tech where the only lighting on stage is from an open refrigerator door. I suppose you could do something conceptual, with the only 'real' things in a blind woman's apartment being the things she touches; the railing, the couch, the lamp, and the rest is just scrims or something. There are several school productions to check out on youtube.
posted by bartleby at 10:36 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
I highly recommend the plays of Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos. They have a real noir/gothic sensibility, and a lot of roles for women.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:43 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:43 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
Instead of one multi-act play, what would you think of staging two single act plays? I’m thinking this would be nice because it gives more students a chance to participate in the play and assuming you aren’t casting anyone for both plays, it’s less lines for them to learn. It also opens up a lot more plays for you to work with.
If you do that, I recommend This is a Test by Stephen Gregg.
posted by emilynoa at 11:13 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
If you do that, I recommend This is a Test by Stephen Gregg.
posted by emilynoa at 11:13 PM on October 5, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have no idea about high school theater, but Qui Nguyen has a lot of fun plays, some serious, some goofy and full of (probably too old for your students) pop culture references, including sci-fi and horror.
I've seen The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G in two different productions and one was pretty much just projected photos onto white columns as a set, so I think that might meet your simple visual means requirement.
Also, what about Scotland, PA if you want Macbeth but don't have actors who can pull it off? It's a pretty silly adaptation (though I love it) so would presumably be more flexible with the talent needed (the theater version is a musical, the film version isn't).
posted by snaw at 4:42 AM on October 6, 2021
I've seen The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G in two different productions and one was pretty much just projected photos onto white columns as a set, so I think that might meet your simple visual means requirement.
Also, what about Scotland, PA if you want Macbeth but don't have actors who can pull it off? It's a pretty silly adaptation (though I love it) so would presumably be more flexible with the talent needed (the theater version is a musical, the film version isn't).
posted by snaw at 4:42 AM on October 6, 2021
The Wolves? No reason the team has to be all girls, right?
posted by Bron at 7:03 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Bron at 7:03 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Bald Soprano
posted by all about eevee at 7:23 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by all about eevee at 7:23 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
(I can’t believe I didn’t think of this yesterday:)
Dance Nation by Clare Barron
posted by minervous at 7:57 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Dance Nation by Clare Barron
posted by minervous at 7:57 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Came in to say All In The Timing, so consider it seconded
posted by Mchelly at 8:40 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Mchelly at 8:40 AM on October 6, 2021 [1 favorite]
Any interest in them playing another generation? Escaped Alone by Caryl Churchill is phenomenal, though only four parts and they're all women. All in their 70s. Some of it is the four women sitting in a garden talking - kind of an every day scene, although the dialogue is stripped back to a level I've never seen before and is really something else, I think it would be tremendous fun to perform, if you could get them doing it pacily enough.
Those scenes are interspersed with Mrs Jarrett stepping out of frame and delivering almost poetical monologues describing surreal, absurd scenes of apocalypse and social breakdown. I've not read it since Covid started, but I really must. I think it'd have even more resonance after the past couple of years' both pandemic and politics. Possibly slightly challenging for an audience of unprepared parents, given that there's no obvious link between the two elements of the play (garden/apocalypse) - it's all just left hanging. But it sounds like the unsettling weirdness of it might tickle your students.
The original Royal Court production had a naturalistic garden set, then when Mrs J. stepped forward it blacked out and she entered a very brightly lit frame right at the front of the stage. You could easily just have her step forward into a bright spotlight while the garden went dark.
Have a read, anyway, it's a blinder of a play even if you don't decide to put it on!
posted by penguin pie at 8:55 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
Those scenes are interspersed with Mrs Jarrett stepping out of frame and delivering almost poetical monologues describing surreal, absurd scenes of apocalypse and social breakdown. I've not read it since Covid started, but I really must. I think it'd have even more resonance after the past couple of years' both pandemic and politics. Possibly slightly challenging for an audience of unprepared parents, given that there's no obvious link between the two elements of the play (garden/apocalypse) - it's all just left hanging. But it sounds like the unsettling weirdness of it might tickle your students.
The original Royal Court production had a naturalistic garden set, then when Mrs J. stepped forward it blacked out and she entered a very brightly lit frame right at the front of the stage. You could easily just have her step forward into a bright spotlight while the garden went dark.
Have a read, anyway, it's a blinder of a play even if you don't decide to put it on!
posted by penguin pie at 8:55 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
Another Sarah Ruhl play that is beautiful, funny, and full of pathos (plus with Classical bona fides): Eurydice. This one is great for high schoolers, especially if you have some creative thinkers helping with set design.
posted by Spinneret at 9:10 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Spinneret at 9:10 AM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
And mods please delete if this is too OT, but I'm so hoping you do eventually get to do some Shakespeare with your kids in the future. Blood-soaked Julius Caesars, gory Macbeths, haunted Hamlets, the whole nine yards. Even if you have to edit them down.
Comedy is different, of course, but nobody thought my rural high school in the middle of a literal cornfield could pull off A Midsummer Night's Dream, and nobody and their brother thought that the audiences would understand or enjoy it, but we did it, by gum, and they got it and liked it (so much that we had to add extra performances). I haven't kept up with most of my schoolmates, but I do know that my Oberon went on to work as a professional actor, and this teenage Titania still does Shakespeare in the Park for whatever that's worth, and even the kids with no lines playing enchanted trees had a blast. The right kids will come along, and it makes me happy just to think about it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:59 PM on October 6, 2021
Comedy is different, of course, but nobody thought my rural high school in the middle of a literal cornfield could pull off A Midsummer Night's Dream, and nobody and their brother thought that the audiences would understand or enjoy it, but we did it, by gum, and they got it and liked it (so much that we had to add extra performances). I haven't kept up with most of my schoolmates, but I do know that my Oberon went on to work as a professional actor, and this teenage Titania still does Shakespeare in the Park for whatever that's worth, and even the kids with no lines playing enchanted trees had a blast. The right kids will come along, and it makes me happy just to think about it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:59 PM on October 6, 2021
Caryl Churchill in general hits on a lot of your requirements, but might be too much for high school.
David Ives shorts are just great fun in general.
What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton is madcap, ribald and easily queered.
Noel Coward plays work really well with this approach too.
Six Characters in Search of an Author is a stone cold classic and surprisingly dark and meta for how old it is.
Buried Child and The Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard have some pretty horrifying elements.
Angels in America is another masterpiece (and explicitly queer in the text), but if you're looking for something shorter that's probably a no-go.
Shakespeare lends itself easily to queering, as mentioned above with comedies like Midsummer, Much Ado, and As You Like It. But if you're looking for something more shocking that still hits a nerve today, then Othello or Merchant of Venice (which has the closest thing to an explicitly gay relationship in a Shakespeare play) will do it.
The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge is quite funny and surprisingly dark, though the language might be a bit dated and obscure. There was an excellent modernization made in 2007-2008 but I don't know if it's readily available.
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh is very dark, very funny, absurd, has no sexual violence, and would probably work for high school students. Of all my suggestions I think it lines up best with what you asked for above.
posted by Ndwright at 8:24 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
David Ives shorts are just great fun in general.
What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton is madcap, ribald and easily queered.
Noel Coward plays work really well with this approach too.
Six Characters in Search of an Author is a stone cold classic and surprisingly dark and meta for how old it is.
Buried Child and The Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard have some pretty horrifying elements.
Angels in America is another masterpiece (and explicitly queer in the text), but if you're looking for something shorter that's probably a no-go.
Shakespeare lends itself easily to queering, as mentioned above with comedies like Midsummer, Much Ado, and As You Like It. But if you're looking for something more shocking that still hits a nerve today, then Othello or Merchant of Venice (which has the closest thing to an explicitly gay relationship in a Shakespeare play) will do it.
The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge is quite funny and surprisingly dark, though the language might be a bit dated and obscure. There was an excellent modernization made in 2007-2008 but I don't know if it's readily available.
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh is very dark, very funny, absurd, has no sexual violence, and would probably work for high school students. Of all my suggestions I think it lines up best with what you asked for above.
posted by Ndwright at 8:24 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
I saw a really good high school production of Arsenic and Old Lace once.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:28 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:28 PM on October 6, 2021 [2 favorites]
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My friends and I, for fun, did a table read of Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl and loved it. I think it checks a lot of your boxes but 6 cast members might not be enough for you.
My wife, who was a high school theater nerd in her day, loves Christopher Durang and he's written a ton of stuff, almost all of which is edgy and absurd and funny.
posted by goingonit at 7:55 PM on October 5, 2021 [3 favorites]