Carrying the Calf

March 8th is International Women’s Day – and what better time to highlight some amazing women within the Theatrefolk community. Join us in celebrating these phenomenal playwrights and authors and their incredible contributions to the world of student theatre. Plus, keep reading to see our Top 10 Plays for Female Casts at the end of the post! Rachel Atkins • Baalzebub (and One Act Version)

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For…Small Casts. Sometimes you need something small. Not everyone needs the cast of thousands. Or maybe you have so many great students, you want to give a group something substantial to work on. All of these plays are one acts and call for a cast of 5 or less. 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! Better Than the Movie Cast Size: 3 First dates can be the worst or the best. Especially when you’re on a date with the guy or girl of your dreams. Will the giant soda cause bladder issues? Will the Heimlich manoeuvre be needed over a popcorn kernel? Will the guy in the back ruin everything? Ellenalicemonajune Cast Size: 4 Ellen, Alice, Mona, and June share those uncomfortable truths that only close friends can tell each other, particularly regarding a boyfriend who wears red leather pants. A great character piece for four actresses. Flaky Lips Cast Size: 2 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. A small cast but a challenging acting opportunity. Carrying The Calf Cast Size: 4 A teenager fed-up with being bullied drags her reluctant friend to a self-defence class. But more important than the karate training, the instructor challenges the group to find self-confidence, independence, and to choose their own destiny. Diverse roles. Prom Night Cast Size: 3 An unlikely pair meet in the woods – the uncool Catholic girl and the linebacker Prom King. Neither wanted to go to prom and neither wanted to be with their dates. Truth and secrets come out in this gem of a small cast play. Power Play Cast Size: 5 A gunshot is heard. Which of the five characters did it and why? Was it the Goth girl? The football star? What are the realities and the stereotypes of high school violence? Violence is about power. So is high school. Stressed Cast Size: 4 Stress is driving this quartet of teen characters crazy – so much so they can’t stop talking about it. This play is a symphony of sound and character. Little Nell and the Mortgage Foreclosure Cast Size: 5 A delightful small cast melodrama replete with broad comedy, memorable characters, and plenty of booing and hissing for the stovepipe-hat-wearing villain! Master of Puppets Cast Size: 3 Mrs Slattimore speaks to teen couples about communication. She wants Joanie to see she wears bossy pants and Chuck already has a mom. Soom the big guns have to come out – Truth puppets. That’s right, puppets who tell all. Underneath Cast Size: 5 Brittany is depressed and can’t hide it. Echo is excited but doesn’t want anyone to know. Trina has a secret and she wants to tell the world. It’s hard to keep emotions clamped down, even in winter. The snow is piling up as secrets rise to the surface. Need more? Check out some of these additional options too!Mummu Cast Size: 4 Mummu is here to bring you a story. A good story with a great emotional landscape. Even deities who exist on an eternal plane don’t have time for bad theatre. Franz Kafka Cancels His Cell Phone Plan Cast Size: 5 A modern absurdist play that puts elements from three of Franz Kafka’s works into the context of the everyday absurdities of our 21st century lives. Hamlette Cast Size: 5 Hamlet is played by a girl in this twisty-turny comedic interpretation of the classic Danish tale. Sweep Under Rug Cast Size: 5 In the future the issue of poverty is solved through separation and subserviance. A teen causes trouble simply because she wants to better herself.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For…All Girls! You have an abundance of girls in your program and you want good parts for everyone. With all of these plays either all the characters are girls or gender-flexible. 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! Ten Minute Plays: All Girls Juliet and Ophelia in the afterlife. An eggplant in a bridesmaid dress. Seeing the light about your best friend and then joining the Slow Songs Make Me Puke Club. A collection of short plays with interesting, engaging, and vivid parts for girls. Every one is a winner. Just Girls Talking What starts as a meeting to finalize frivolous graduation ceremony details ends with one young woman faced with a life-changing decision. Five girls on five different paths hit head-on in a collision of values that leaves the viewer asking: What would I do? Nice Girl Mia does her friends’ homework, lets people cut in line and pretends to be someone she’s not. Being nice requires a lot of sacrifice and frustration. Mia reaches her breaking point as she tries to find the balance between being her true self and being “the nice girl.” Typecast Ms Thespis casts by look and personality – the students are okay with their set roles. Until one show when Ms. Thespis is away and all the girls are cast against type. They’re forced to learn to play the roles they’re totally wrong for. Smarty Pants All the parts in this play are gender neutral with names provided. Dallas can’t wait to show off in her new Advanced Placement class. But there’s more Play-doh than Plato and more colouring than Van Gogh. What kind of advanced class is this? Will Dallas figure out Kindergarten High or will she flunk? Who’s the real smarty pants? Flaky Lips 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. A small cast but a challenging acting opportunity. Carrying The Calf A teenager fed-up with being bullied drags her reluctant friend to a self-defence class. But more important than the karate training, the instructor challenges the group to find self-confidence, independence, and to choose their own destiny. Diverse roles. They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras All the parts are gender neutral in this look at conformity and individuality through the metaphor of grass and a single dandelion. A dandelion will turn the field upside-down. A dandelion must be destroyed. Isn’t that what you do when something is different? Virtual Family In the Virtual Family, you don’t need to go outside, or do chores, or even have a real family. When technology takes away all your ills, conflicts, and concerns, you become a happier human being. Right? All the roles are gender neutral. Ten/Two Ten short two-person plays (inspired by the numbers 10 and 2!) in a variety of themes and lengths. Excellent for classwork and for competition. 8 of the 10 plays are either for 2 women or have “either” characters.

This week on Spread the Love, Craig talks about Carrying the Calf, a drama by Shirley Barrie.

Our website lists all of our plays with social issue themes but it struck me that they’re only lumped as “issue plays” without a good guide to sorting out which title addresses which issue. So I’ve categorized them for you to hopefully give you a helping hand in your quest to find the perfect script for your school. Check them out. As usual, all of the titles have extensive free sample pages for you to read. I think you’ll find the writing honest, fresh, and believable – three qualities sadly lacking from a lot of “teen-issue” plays out there in the world. Alienation / Feeling Alone in the World• Anonymous by Allison Green • The Art of Rejection: Two One Act Plays by Christian Kiley • A Box of Puppies by Billy Houck • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • Huge Hands by Billy Houck Body Image• Body Body by Lindsay Price • The Four Hags of the Apocalypse Eat Salad at their General Meeting by Lindsay Price • The Battle of Image vs. Girl by Johanna Skoreyko • Hoodie by Lindsay Price • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin Censorship• Censorbleep by Lindsay Price Human Rights• Look Me in the Eye by Lindsay Price • Sweep Under Rug by Lindsay Price Racism• Flaky Lips by Lindsay Price • With Liberty and Justice For All by Jeyna Lynn Gonzales • Not Going Anywhere by Emma Fonseca Halverson • The Burgundy Letter by Kirk Shimano • Let Me In by Sholeh Wolpe *** Rumours and Lies• Have You Heard? by Krista Boehnert • The Redemption of Gertie Greene by Taryn Temple Individuality• Hoodie by Lindsay Price • Virtual Family by Christian Kiley • The Happiness Shop by Lindsay Price • A Deep, Poetic Journey Into Something by Forrest Musselman • Carrying the Calf by Shirley Barrie • Monster Problems by Lindsay Price • Stereotype High by Jeffrey Harr • Sixteen in 10 Minutes or Less by Bradley Hayward • Nice Girl by Amanda Murray Cutalo • Pressure by Lindsay Price • They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras by Dara Murphy • The Super Non-Heroes by Taryn Temple • Smarty Pants by Bradley Hayward Identity• Box by Lindsay Price • Labeled by Lindsay Price • We Are Masks by Lindsay Price • Stressed by Alan Haehnel • Anonymous by Allison Green • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • The Super Non-Heroes by Taryn Temple School Violence• Huge Hands by Billy Houck • Power Play by Lindsay Price • Clowns with Guns (A Vaudeville) by Christopher Evans • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley • Life and Death in an Empty Hallway by Christopher Evans • Water. Gun. Argument. by Alan Haehnel Sexual Abuse• The Waking Moment by Bradley Hayward • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin Substance (alcohol & drug) Abuse• Bottle Baby by Lindsay Price • Floating on a Don’t Care Cloud by Lindsay Price • One Beer Too Many by Billy Houck Suicide• The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note by Lindsay Price • Chicken. Road. by Lindsay Price • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley Teen Pregnancy• The Pregnancy Project by Lindsay Price • Among Friends and Clutter (one scene) by Lindsay Price Illness/Health• Chemo Girl by Christian Kiley • The Other Room by Christian Kiley • Red Rover by Christian Kiley • Waiting Room by Christian Kiley • Breathless by Wendy-Marie Martin • Shreds and Patches by Robert Wing • Inanimate by Christian Kiley • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck Depression/Anxiety• darklight by Lindsay Price • Fidget by Bradley Hayward • Among Friends and Clutter (one scene) by Lindsay Price • Constantly, Incessantly, All The Time by Billy Houck • who are we, who we are by Forrest Musselman Bullying• Finishing Sentences by Scott Giessler • Funhouse by Lindsay Price • Power Play by Lindsay Price • The Redemption of Gertie Greene by Taryn Temple • Sixteen in 10 Minutes or Less by Bradley Hayward • Carrying the Calf by Shirley Barrie Divorce• Split by Bradley Hayward Gender• Life, Off Book by Scott Giessler • Anonymous by Allison Green • Baalzebub by Rachel Atkins (Baalzebub – One-Act Version here) • Completely, Absolutely Normal: Vignettes About LGBTQ+ Teens by Bradley Walton • Finding Jo March by Laramie Dean • Thought Traps by Lindsay Price Empathy• Discovering Rogue by Christian Kiley • Boat by Lindsay Price • We Are Masks by Lindsay Price • The Butterfly Queen by Christian Kiley Dependence on Technology• Virtual Family by Christian Kiley • Inanimate by Christian Kiley