Issue-Based Plays
Body image, bullying, and suicide are only a few of the teen-centred issues explored in this category.
darklight
An examination of depression and anxiety in teens.
- About 35 minutes
- 2 M + 4 F + 10 Any Gender, Plus THOUGHTS (10 to 20 actors)
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 38 pages
Discovering Rogue
Rogue lives in a cardboard box but she doesn’t mind. Others want Rogue to leave but she isn’t budging. It's a showdown of stereotypes and self-identity.
- About 30 minutes
- 2 M + 4 F + 6 Any Gender
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 29 pages
Drum Taps
A theatrical adaptation of a selection of Walt Whitman's civil war poems. See the words, the war, the blood come to life.
- About 35 minutes
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 66 pages
Everyman
A modern translation of the original text
- About 30 minutes
- 17 Any Gender
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 24 pages
Fidget
Kids are constantly being told to hold still. But that’s impossible when all they want to do is move forward at warp speed.
- About 30 minutes
- 6 Any Gender, Expandable to 28
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 27 pages
Finishing Sentences
A play that forces us to consider the human side of the people we often dismiss.
- About 35 minutes
- 4 M + 6 F + 8 Any Gender, Easily expandable
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 44 pages
Flaky Lips
Two girls live in two communities that have been separated by a wall for a hundred years.
- About 45 minutes
- 2 F
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 30 pages
Floating on a Don't Care Cloud
An emotional tug of war between a sister and brother and what really happens in the world of teenage marijuana use. A vivid personification of drugs.
- About 40 minutes
- 3 M + 5 F + 7 Any Gender
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 42 pages
Funhouse
This middle school play looks at the bullied, the bully, and the bystander through mostly non-verbal vignettes.
- About 30 minutes
- 4 M + 16 Any Gender
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 33 pages
The Happiness Shop
Why aren't middle school students full of smiles, hugs and hi-fives? They’re too young to have problems.
- About 35 minutes
- 6 M + 9 F + 13 Any Gender
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 43 pages
Have You Heard?
This monologue-based play explores what happens when rumours and secrets spin out of control. What makes a secret more powerful: when it's true or a lie?
- About 45 minutes
- 2 M + 3 F
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 24 pages
Hoodie
This middle school vignette play examines self-image and appearance.
- About 35 minutes
- 4 M + 7 F, Expandable to 18F 13M
- Simple Set
- Recommended for Middle Schools
- 38 pages
Inanimate
Life is a little different for Ani. She talks to inanimate objects and the object talk back. Is she living in a happy, carefree kids’ show or is it something more serious?
- About 25 minutes
- 2 F + 16 Any Gender
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 18 pages
Just Girls Talking
A drama for six women that will have your audience talking long after they leave the theatre.
- About 30 minutes
- 6 F
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 30 pages
Letters
For many wars, letters home were the only form of communication between soldiers and their loved ones. This play brings those letters to life.
- About 25 minutes
- 9 M + 12 F
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 23 pages
Look Me in the Eye
In the future teenagers are obedient and polite. But this behaviour comes at a price. A thought-provoking harrowing tale.
- About 25 minutes
- 2 M + 3 F + 2 Any Gender
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 23 pages
Mírame en los Ojos
A Spanish translation of Look Me in the Eye.
- About 25 minutes
- 2 M + 3 F + 2 Any Gender
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 23 pages
Monster Problems
The transition from middle school to high school can be filled with problems. Monster problems.
- About 40 minutes
- 9 M + 13 F + 2 Any Gender
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools & Middle Schools
- 40 pages
neeT Teen
A vignette play about teen life – backwards, forwards and inside-out. Told through a variety of forms: kitchen sink, absurd, movement and song.
- About 35 minutes
- 4 M + 6 F, Easily Expandable
- Simple Set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 40 pages
Not Going Anywhere
A Mexican family struggles to get by while ICE attempts to tear them apart.
- About 30 minutes
- 2 M + 3 F
- Simple set
- Recommended for High Schools
- 25 pages
