Large Cast

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Middle school: a wild mix of excitement, nerves, and really big eighth graders. With a large cast and relatable characters, School Daze by Lindsay Price is an ideal choice for middle school performers navigating their first day of school. You remember middle school. That first day can be a funhouse or a hall of horrors. Will I fit in or be left behind? Did I wear the right clothes? How will I find the right class? Why do those eighth graders look so big... Middle school is the tricky tightrope between being a kid and being a teenager. How did you fare? Did you fall off the tightrope? Did you hold on? See the characters in School Daze try to keep their balance on the first day of middle school. Let's hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play?When I’m writing or thinking about writing, my number one method of finding play ideas is observation. Looking at what’s happening around me, listening to conversations, and most importantly, listening to my customers and my audience. Before writing School Daze, I had only written plays for high school students and never considered middle school. After a trip to a conference in Texas, I met so many middle school drama teachers who were looking specifically for plays written for middle school performers and dealing with middle school issues. And the big thing they told me middle school students didn’t want was fairy tales or similar childish stories. I took on the challenge and this play was actually the first of many middle school pieces. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences?Middle school is a tricky tightrope. How do you manage the first day successfully? 3. What's the most important visual for you in this play?I love the image of Sam and Pat standing with cafeteria trays trying to figure out how to navigate this new world. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be?Avoid blackouts. Blackouts take the audience out of the world of the play and if you have one after every scene, the play is going to feel quite choppy. Using staging and music to move from scene to scene. Keep scene changes to a minimum and focus on keeping the play moving! 5. Why is this play great for student performers?I’m thrilled at how schools respond to this play. Some schools present it year after year to their feeder schools as an introduction to Middle School. And because it’s in the vignette format, it’s easy to rehearse with a large cast because you can have several scenes practicing at once. Perfect for Middle School classrooms. 6. Who is your favourite character in the play?I love the race scene because it takes a typical middle school event, moving from class to class, to the extreme. It also gives actors a lot to play with — there’s the humour of the characters and the physical action of the slow motion running. Every time I’ve ever seen the play, this scene has always been a highlight. 7. What is your favourite line in the play?"Everyone at my old school hates Skinny Marie and I know, I just know, she's going to try and be my friend because we're the only ones who know each other."

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. The one-act noir comedy, Tough City, Prone to Rain by Alan Haehnel, is perfect for a competition piece – easy to stage, with a large cast and fun to play! In a city like this one – cold, dark, cynical, and often rainy – there are more places to hide than to be found. And let’s not forget about the shark-infested waters. Donna Rockbridge needs the women (not dolls, dames, or sweethearts) from the Broadly Speaking Detective Agency to find her twin brother before trouble does. They’re ready to take on the case. Just don’t ask their secretary to answer the door; he hasn’t quite mastered doors and phones yet. Why did we publish this play?This play is absolutely delightful from beginning to end. Film noir is a great genre for educational theatre and Alan hits it so strongly. We also love that there are so many women characters (the Detectives of the Broadly Speaking Detective Agency are not dolls, dames, or sweethearts) and there are a number of characters that could be played by any gender. Awesome for competition and easy to stage, get your copy today! Let's hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play?This play came about as a collaboration with Trina and David Byard. I had put out an invitation to write new shows for people who might have concepts that they were having a hard time finding scripts for, and David contacted me with Trina’s idea of a cartoonish, comic noir that would allow her to do a costume and makeup design she’s long dreamt of. We tossed around several ideas. One of the most compelling was “Dick Tracy meets Bullwinkle.” Over several weeks back and forth, the play was born! 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences?This is less a theme-driven piece than a style-driven one. It’s all about noir, really pushing that genre to a comic level. Of course, noir is all about smoke and back alleys and trusting no one–which turns out to be a blast to treat in an unserious way. We also slipped in the powerful women, which was a nice twist for an era that generally didn’t honor women as we might have hoped. 3. What's the most important visual for you in this play?The ensemble dressed in those cartoon-inspired costumes, especially the three women of the Broadly Speaking Detective Agency. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be?Study the noir style and push it hard. 5. Why is this play great for student performers?The characters are fun stereotypes with a lot of history, particularly in American film. Students can quickly identify and latch onto the types and then make them their own. 6. Who is your favourite character in the play?I most identify with Earl, and I would love to find ways to make him both fit with the genre and stand out comically. 7. What is your favourite line in the play?This one came early in the process and really drove the creation: “Whose says gumshoes can’t wear high heels?”

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For…Large Casts! Maybe your policy is to give a part to everyone who auditions. Or maybe your drama club is bursting with students. Either way, you need plays with a lot of characters. And not just characters who stand in the background holding up the scenery. Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the best with your search! The Pauper Princess Cast size: 10M+28W+34 Either A twist on The Price and the Pauper with two girls in the lead roles and Elizabethan England as the location. The Princess is Princess Elizabeth and the Pauper is a girl hiding as a boy in a location theatre production. A huge cast with roles for everyone who tries out. Rebootilization Cast size: 13M+15W+25 Either, Expandable to 85+ Stories all over the world are under attack. Pages are going blank in a pandemic so big, the government’s involved. SynCryn has the original narrative DNA for every story and it’s an easy reboot process, so long as…. nothing goes wrong. Parts for everyone. The Absolutely Insidious and Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair Cast size: 8 Either, Plus ensemble of 8-100 A hilarious piece with an insanely large cast. How will you theatricalize cat hair that is plotting the downfall of humanity even as we speak? Personification at its best. Circus Olympus Cast size: 6M+9W, expandable to 12 M+20W A gleeful celebration of greek myth with excellent large cast expansion and parts for all abilities. Circus elements are optional and are suggested for each myth. Being Bianca: The Semi Complete Guide Cast size: 2M+10W+38 Either When told she should engage in volunteer work, Bianca decides on a great service to mankind: She will teach us all how to “Be Bianca.” (the semi-complete guide). Every life step is Bianca-ized! It may not be the best idea, but it is the most entertaining. The Myths at the End of the World Cast size: 2M+3W+2 Either, Expandable to 30 Four campers are not only lost in the wood, they are lost at the edge of the world with no land, water, stars or sun. The only thing to do is to release stories from around the world and from the wind. Excellent opportunities for mask and movement. A unique cross- curricular storytelling adventure. The Art of Rejection Cast size: The Art of Rejection 1M +1W+14 Either, Chaired 13 Either Two plays that look at being alone – whether it’s the only letter in a sea of numbers, or alone in making the right decision to sit or stand. A combination of humanity and the avant-garde the two together make for a great competition piece. The Canterbury Tales Cast size: 4M+4W, Easily Expandable to 16+19W Chaucer’s classic collection of tales comes to life in a full-length adaptation. Great characters, lots of humour, and strong ensemble work. Text uses modern English. Cobweb Dreams Cast size: 2M+17W+7 Either Cobweb Dreams is a fun-filled fantasy that runs parallel to the events of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Cobweb is not having fun in Titania’s train. She dreams of a life where she plays pranks all day long and doesn’t have to be a stuffy, stuck-up fairy in waiting. Oh will this midsummer night never end? The Snow Queen Cast size: M+20W+31 Either A magical theatrical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a sister’s love, an ice cold heart, and a fantastical journey. It’s the original Snow Queen story brought to life.

This week on Spread the Love, Lindsay and Craig talk about The Absolutely Insidious and Utterly Terrifying Truth About Cat Hair, a brand new play by Bradley Walton. Recorded live high above Times Square.