Smiles, hugs and hi-fives. Isn’t that all it takes for a middle school student to be happy? The Happiness Shop is an excellent class project that explores important issues.
Production Tips for
Ashland Falls
by Steven Stack
A school receives a mysterious script about a girl who died long ago. The director disappears. A new director arrives just in time and knows all about the story of the play. In fact, she seems to know it too well. And how did she get the dead girl’s ring?
Are the students of Herbert Hoover High too wrapped up in miscues, awful accents, and stolen boyfriends to notice? Revenge is coming. Who will pay the price when the real world and the play collide?
Each actor must play two vastly different roles in this spine-tingling comedy thriller. This easy to stage and intense theatrical experience will keep your audience on their edge of their seats. And the twist ending will make them question everything they've witnessed...
Average Producer Rating:
Recommended for High Schools
Tips from the Author
This play takes place in two states: a present day high school and then a play-within-a-play that takes place in 19th century England. Don’t get too caught up in the costumes/set for the play-within-a-play. Remember that the play is being put on by a high school that is putting things together at the last minute. It doesn’t have to be perfect. The ghost story elements are much more important that the authenticity of the set.
Also, don’t give away the ending! Your actors will know what’s coming but the audience should be, to use a phrase, left in the dark. Think of the play as unwrapping a present. Everything happens in layers. You don’t know what the present is until all the wrapping is gone.
