Chemo Girl and Other 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!

Welcome to "Playwright Spotlight" — your exclusive backstage pass to the creative minds crafting the incredible plays featured in our Theatrefolk catalogue. Discover the magic, quirks, and genius of the playwrights who help bring the stage to life. Let's meet one of these exceptional playwrights who offers the chance for your student performers to shine in their spotlight. What inspired you to start writing plays specifically for high school & middle school students?As a new Drama teacher (in 2005) I needed a play that served my students. After a fairly exhaustive search trying to find a play that would be dynamic, safe, and appropriate for high school while also being challenging. Metaphorically I created a meal myself since I couldn’t find a restaurant. And then of course I fell in love with playwriting. Can you share a bit about your creative process when developing plays that resonate with students?I’ve become a much better actor because I am around talented young people consistently. The same principle is true with writing. Being immersed in school life and observing the issues and challenges young people face on a daily basis. Are there any challenges you face when writing for student performers, and how do you overcome them?I am old. Cough, cough. Older than the students I serve. I’m aware I can easily backwards hat, cringe dad joke guy. See I did it there. What themes or messages do you aim to convey through your plays?I aim to consider the emotional and mental health challenges that face young people. There is a hero in each young person I serve. If something I write can help a young person have the courage to find and enhance their inner hero. How do you balance education and fun in your scripts?Imagination is an amazing connector. By stretching my own imagination I hope I challenge the creatives to do the same. Can you share a memorable experience or feedback from a student performance that left an impact on you?I had the opportunity to see a performance of Chemo Girl and Other Plays. As a person who won a battle with cancer watching this production was immensely powerful for me. After the curtain call the cast brought me up on stage and gave me a cactus. I planted it my front yard. A cactus can survive in the the most harsh environments. And I/we did too. Any advice for teachers or directors looking to choose engaging and age-appropriate plays for their student performers?Take a risk. Not just in the play(s) you select but in the way you produce the play(s). Reconsider your use of the fourth wall, encourage the audience to react/respond, connect with your love of the play and each other. What is your favourite play you've written so far?Who’s my favorite child? How dare you! Haha. Discovering Rogue. I feel it. Every single time. Anything else you'd like students and/or directors to know about you as a playwright?I am available to be a part of your process and depending on Southern California traffic attend your production.

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Chemo Girl and Other Playsby Christian Kiley is an incredible dramatic collection of plays that can be performed as a full night of theatre or as a cutting for competition. 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. Why did we publish this play? We are incredibly proud to publish Chemo Girl and Other Plays. Not only do we respect Christian Kiley as a writer, we love that he trusted us with this particular work as it comes out of his own fight against cancer. Christian has fully theatricalized “the C word” and examines the impact of cancer through the eyes of teenagers – that’s a perspective we don’t often see with this disease. Let’s hear from the author!1. Why did you write this play? In May of 2012, I got really sick and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I wanted to do something meaningful, powerful even, while I was undergoing chemotherapy. I started writing “Red Rover” and I realized that I had a story to tell. One that I hoped would give people insight into the experience of battling cancer and maybe even inspire people to fight. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. Chemo Girl and Other Plays is a look at the resiliency people, particularly young people, have in fighting cancer. We are strong, stronger that we know, and we have to dig deep to find the courage to overcome life’s biggest challenges. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? I have been amazed with the artwork, photographs, and moments in productions that I have seen of Chemo Girl and Other Plays. I love this question because my answer can change based on a production I have not seen yet (a version of the play that has yet to be produced). My favorite image in the collection of plays is when Camille swims down to attempt to cut the red wire. This is an image that exemplifies the bravery and resiliency required to overcome one of life’s biggest challenges. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? I know this is true for Theatre in general too, but, push the limits, explore your imagination. Experiment, explore, and say yes to creative ideas! One of the things I am most proud of with this play is that it relies almost entirely on the actors individually and as an ensemble to create the world of the play. It is a great challenge for a group of dynamically talented actors to rely on themselves. Embrace the challenge! 5. Why is this play great for student performers? It hands the issue, the fight, over to talented young people. They are the ones that very soon will have their hands on the wheel that guides the direction of our future, our planet. For me, Jasmine Hamming (the very talented student director) guided the production of Chemo Girl (2012) so beautifully when I was out, not at school, receiving treatment, and returned to see the product, I honestly said what I honestly felt, that I could not have done a better job. I was honored and humbled that a student could convey such love and respect to a mentor/teacher in such a profound way. In the handful of productions of Chemo Girl and Other Plays that I have seen in Southern California (and they have been high-quality productions), I have been struck by how much the experience has meant to the students. Our young people want to fight for noble causes, they want to make the world better. This play is my small contribution to the myriad of possibilities available for artist-students to fight the good fight.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About….Empathy. Based on the idea that empathy is the act understanding and sharing another person’s experience, these plays open the door to looking out to others rather than looking in. Use these plays to spark to an empathy discussion. Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. Hand this list over to your student directors and see what they think. All the best with your search!

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For…Advanced Actors. You have students who can go to the next level. They are ready to tackle scripts beyond the norm of character development and realistic story lines. You want to raise the bar and we want to help you do that. Check out our top ten plays for advanced actors. It’s a great mix of issue driven, ensemble driven, character driven work. 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! Clowns With Guns A theatrical and absurd look at the repeated and seemingly endless cycle of school violence. This story is mean. There are guns. This play packs a theatrical punch. Censorbleep The Bleep Bleep Girls are the greatest group in school. They know what’s best. And when students try to stand up for themselves, or don’t do the “right” thing, they get dealt with. A great character driven piece where teenagers are turned into garbage and disappear. Breathless Three girls named Summer. Summer Adams is looking for love in all the wrong places. Summer Robertson is hanging on through her battle with cancer. And Summer Davis refuses to lose, even at the expense of her body and her friends.Three races of discovery. Will they crash or fly? A beautiful mature character piece with strong female leads. The Blue and the Grey Charlie is surrounded by ghosts: her father, a classmate’s sister, and the grey. Who are the grey? Civil war soldiers. A chance for an ensemble to build a haunting, exhilarating, and theatrical landscape. Power Play 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. This play has absurd moments, vivid characterization, and a powerful message. Stroke Static Russ is an eighty-three year-old man in a nursing home struggling with multi-infarct dementia. But in his mind he sees himself as a boy of eighteen, and thus is played by a young actor. The ensemble plays a variety of real and imaginary characters in Russ’ mind. A heartbreaking look at what goes on in the mind of someone who can’t communicate. Tick Talk The teenagers in Tick Talk have a lot to say, but no way to say it. Most characters are limited to only ONE WORD for the whole play. A fascinating challenge for actors: What happens when a character has just one word to express hopes, fears, and frustrations? What if they have something terribly important to say but can’t? Emotional Baggage One of the most unique plays we sell. There’s no dialogue. The play is based solely on non-verbal storytelling through mask and movement. Seven strangers meet in a train station. Instead of luggage, they all carry their own “emotional baggage.” Chemo Girls and Other Plays A collection that examines the impact of cancer through the eyes of teenagers. Characters deal with the difficulty of saying the word out loud, the difficulty of admitting a friend or family member has cancer, and the difficulty of finding the energy and the attitude needed to fight. Have You Heard? A play formatted solely in monologue. The story follows what happens in a school when rumours and secrets spin out of control. What makes a secret more powerful: When it’s the truth? Or when it’s a lie?