July Reading List: Issue-Based Plays

As you start planning for the new school year, why not explore some incredible issue-based plays? These thought-provoking scripts tackle real-world challenges and spark meaningful conversations in your classroom or on stage.

These plays are perfect for fostering meaningful discussions and bringing diverse voices to your stage or classroom. Add them to your collection and watch your students engage with drama that truly matters!

We all have our stories. "New and old, complete and untold." *Anonymous *is a story of every teenager: the new kid trying to fit in, the best friends, the love interests, the kid in the corner with their secret, the group of individuals each trying to belong.

The teenagers of Anonymous have no names because they are "Me" and "You." They are everyone.

The Battle of Image vs Girl is a moving duet piece about female body image.

One Girl. One Mirror. Against the world.

The Burgundy Letter is a comedic retelling of the classic novel The Scarlet Letter set in a high school and reframed for a digital age.

How do we strike a balance between holding individuals accountable while still having compassion for those who apologize for their mistakes?

A collection of plays that examine the impact of cancer as seen through the eyes of teenagers. Characters deal with the difficulty of saying the word cancer out loud, the difficulty of admitting a friend or family member has the disease, and the difficulty of finding the energy and the attitude needed to fight.

Chemo Girl and Other Plays can be performed as a full night of theatre or as a cutting for competition.

darklight examines depression and anxiety in teens. Characters fight their inner thoughts, search for their truths, and have surreal conversations with death. Some fail, some find hope.

This is a relevant and necessary issue to explore.

Flaky Lips is the story of two young women live in separated societies. One skin colour on this side. One skin colour on that side. They have never seen what the other looks like, until circumstances throw them together.

They must choose whether to perpetuate the myths about the other side or to seek out the truth. Are their differences only skin-deep?

Three middle school students find themselves in an odd curiosity shop. They don’t know what it is, where they are, or how they got there. But that’s no surprise. The Happiness Shop is not like any other. It is filled with Roppets.

A Roppet is not quite a robot and not quite a puppet. A Roppet is completely happy all the time. Full of smiles, hugs and hi-fives. Isn’t that all it takes for a middle school student to be happy? They’re too young to have problems.

Blake, Melanie and Wally know that’s not true. They all have pretty big problems. But in the shop they have one question to answer and one question only: What would you do to be completely happy?

Four teenagers struggle with life. Alex is a refugee. Tera is faced with an unpopular decision when all she wants to be is popular. Penny is getting up at five in the morning just so she can accomplish all she has to do in a day. And Kyle can't live up to his parents' expectations. It is the week before the prom and for these four characters, everything is coming to a head.

Pressure is candid and uncompromising, with no easy answers or neat and tidy endings. The script is ideal for groups who have varying degrees of ability. There are parts for both novice and advanced actors.

We all wear a mask. Some hide for good reasons. Some for self preservation. Even when you’re ready to take off your mask, it’s a hard thing to do. What will happen when the world sees who you really are?

In We Are Masks, four teenagers wear a variety of masks: Imposter Foster. Persona Paloma. Nolan No-Try. Macy Maintains. Each has to make a choice – show the world their true self, or stay behind their mask. Who will reveal themselves? Who will stay in the shadows?