Deck the Stage!

As December unfolds its festive charm, our focus turns to a collection of plays crafted to bring holiday magic to your stage or classroom. From heartwarming tales to whimsical narratives, these scripts promise to capture the joy and spirit of the season. So bundle up and check out our December reading list. Let these plays be the delightful touch that elevates the season, transforming it into a memorable experience.

Episode 193: Drama Teachers: How do you run an effective Q and A session? In the 21st century, the world is at our fingertips. That means your students can interact with the playwright of their next play through Skype, do a Google Hangout with a professional actor, or talk to a set designer on Facebook Live. But how do you run a question and answer session that’s valuable for your students and gets the most out of your guest? Listen in for some insight and for a Q and A in action!

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. ‘Tis the season to bring some festive fun to your drama group with Deck the Stage by Lindsay Price. This Christmas collection is unlike any other. The show is comprised of six short plays, all of which are inspired by Christmas carols such as: Deck the Halls, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and We Three Kings. The plays can be performed individually, or all together as a complete evening of entertainment. An excellent project for your drama club with parts for everyone at all levels! Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play? Adaptation is my favourite form of theatrical writing. I love taking a text from one genre and finding a way to make it a piece of theatre. Christmas carols often have character and story built into them and it’s a short step to use them as inspiration for modern scenes. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. Some characters search for the true meaning of Christmas of hope, giving, and community. Some characters just want to win the tree picking contest. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? It’s a vignette play so every scene has it’s own visual. My favourite line in the play is a dramatic moment in the scene Still as Stone where a girl shares, for the first time, that Christmas only means that her father “didn’t love my mother and he didn’t love me.” It’s heartbreaking and gets me every time I see it done, even though the play is 17 years old. My favourite comedic visual is when Ms Meyermyer, grade two teacher, has a small melt down over her students not wanting to do her original creation the “Twelve Shames of Christmas” and she gets in the face of Marilo who WILL be Toxic Waste and she WILL like it. It’s that concept of doing things over the holidays for all the wrong reasons, which of course make the best theatre. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Make the transitions between scenes part of the theatrical experience. Don’t go to black each time and leave your audience in the dark during the scene change. Do scene changes in character – have Hans and Johan continue their competitive spirit by seeing who can be the fastest in striking sets. Have one set that all the scenes can be done in front of with a couple of cube changes. Use music to keep the energy up during scene changes. Nothing drags a play more than long, long, long transitions. 5. Why is this play great for student performers? Variety. This play gives students the opportunity to play drama, comedy, physical comedy, otherworldly moments, monologues and more.

We know about ‘decking the halls’ but now is the time to Deck the Stage!. Audiences and students alike will be left feeling holly-jolly with this festive collection of six short Christmas plays by Lindsay Price, inspired by Christmas carols such as: Deck the Halls, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and We Three Kings. Mary Taylor and the drama students at Sunray High School in Sunray, TX got into the festive spirit with these vignette plays inspired by some classic Christmas carols. “All of the parents, friends, and students who attended loved the play. I was able to include a total of 31 students, many whom had never been on the stage. I used this fall play to introduce theatre to freshmen who have never had the opportunity to participate in theatre. Our Culinary Arts and Food Science classes also hosted a dinner in conjunction with the performance. The guests were served during the intermission. This was a first ever event for Sunray High School. _– _Mary Taylor” Way to go, Sunray High!

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays for…Holidays! The holidays are a perfect time to put on a play. And we don’t just stop at Christmas. Since the end of October is a particularly spooky time of year we’re also going to share some of our most spookiest stuff. 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! Deck the Stage Six short plays inspired by Christmas carols. Bittersweet moments. Laugh out loud comedy. And the weirdest 12 days of Christmas you’ve ever seen. The plays can be performed individually, or all together as a complete evening of entertainment. Humbug High: A Contemporary Christmas Carol A new take on the classic Dickens tale! Eddie Scrooge is 17 years old. He hates his parents and his classmates. His only goal in life is to make money and keep his heart ice-cold. This Christmas he’s about to meet the errors of his ways face-to-face. The Snow Queen Kai has been captivated by The Snow Queen. She is frozen in her heart and mind. Gerda will stop at nothing to find her sister. This is a magical theatrical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a sister’s love, an ice cold heart, and a fantastical journey. A great winter themed alternative to traditional Christmas fare. Christmas In July Last Year has handed off the calendar to the New Year and is ready to hit the beach. The New Year is nervous but ready for the challenge. But something goes terribly wrong. Summer starts in November, Easter’s in February and Christmas is in July! The calendar days are all in a tizzy. The First Herald Angel On the first Christmas Eve, a poor shepherd happens across a small child in the hill country about Bethlehem. To the shepherd’s surprise, the child explains she is an angel practicing to be a herald angel so she can announce the Saviour’s birth. Great for concerts or assemblies. The Bottom of the Lake Dani’s out in the middle of the woods at night, alone, without a flashlight. She meets three girls from another camp, and they tell ghost stories to pass the time. A combination of ghost stories, urban legends, teen issues, romance, absurd comedy, and film noir, all in a single play! Close Encounters of the Undead Kind Is that a werewolf at the support group? A child vampire at the front door? A zombie boyfriend? With some close encounters of the undead kind, these plays are far from typical and humdrum! The plays can be performed individually or all together for a ghoulishly delightful evening. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow This new adaptation of the Washington Irving story is excellent for large groups and suitably spooky for Halloween! Icabod Crane is new to Sleepy Hollow and seems to fit right in. But not everyone is happy to see Icabod and they prepare a ghoulish surprise for him. The Haunting of Chip Lake Lodge Four seniors arrive at a country lodge for their prom. But things go askew from the start. They show up at the wrong lodge, their car won’t start, the phone goes dead, and disco music plays inexplicably. The lodge is haunted! It all leads to a bizarre prom night no one will forget. Shuddersome: Tales of Poe Specters, ghosts and ghouls come alive in this vivid theatrical adaptation of some of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known works. His words rise from the page like corpses from the grave. Be careful. Do you hear that tap, tap, taping? Multi-length versions of the script to fit every need. Planning on performing one of these or another Theatrefolk play? Let us know all about it with pictures and highlights – we might even feature you on our site! Click here to submit your story.

This week on Spread the Love, Lindsay and Craig talk about Deck the Stage, a Christmas/Vignette play by Lindsay Price.

Choosing the right monologue can be an agonizing part of the process. How do you know it’s right? And right for you? And right for the situation? The wrong monologue can ruin everything… Monologues are used for a variety of reasons within plays. To share a thought, a story, an emotional outburst. A revealing character moment. A private moment between the character and the audience. Not all monologues make for great competition monologues. You can’t just look for a chunk of text from your favourite character and go to town. Is the monologue story driven, or character driven? Is there an emotional change? What does the character reveal in the monologue? What is the character fighting to achieve? Is there potential action? Here are two monologues. They’re both good pieces but only one of them is right for competition. Which one is it? Answer’s at the bottom! Sweep Under Rug by Lindsay PriceCOUNSELLOR KELLY: Counsellor Kelly here on C-I-T-Y with the evening announcements for Blocks 7A through E. I’m so excited to announce the upcoming plans for the tenth annual Bobby Sue birthday celebration! I can’t wait! Can you believe it’s been ten years? “A Bobby Sue in every home that needs one” has been the motto from the very beginning. We see no reason to change it. When you have a Bobby Sue to tell you what to do, life gets better! Employment is way up; crime is way down. Just the way we like it. Yay! You guys are so good. We’re so proud of you! To help celebrate ten successful years, we’re going to have an extra special celebration. Party hats and noisemakers for everyone! Just remember to treat them nicely, we’ll be collecting them at the end. We’ll do a count down, just like New Years Eve, and we’ll all sing together. Won’t that be fun? And then, very exciting, a confetti cannon! And then we’ll hold a lottery to see who gets cake. I know, I know, I know. Yes it would be great if we could give everyone cake. But in these times, it’s just not possible. What can we do? You don’t have to eat your piece if you get one. You can always share. That would be such a good thing to do! Deck the Stage by Lindsay PriceSHELLEY: You don’t get off that easy. Sit down! I haven’t even started. Sit down. (She holds up a picture) Ask me who’s in the picture. Ask! That’s my dad. Pretty handsome guy don’t you think? Ask where he is. Ask where he is! Come on, you wanted to talk; ask where he is. I don’t know. Isn’t that funny? Isn’t that a scream? I don’t know. Two years ago he went to work on Christmas Eve and he never came home. Don’t be. He stole money from his company and ran away with the boss’ secretary. Merry Christmas! That’s our nearest guess anyway. No one knows for sure because there hasn’t been one word. Not one. Not a letter. Not a telegram. Not a postcard. Not an answering machine message. Nothing. He left us with debts up to our ears, and we didn’t even get a goodbye. How’s your dad? Is he alive? Does he talk to you every day? Well good, ’cause let me tell you, around here there isn’t much talking. Around here, we bounce from apartment to apartment and my mom tries to keep working but she’s not very strong. My dad knew that. And he left. So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m cold, or distant, or pretentious. But my mind’s a little full ’cause I only got three hours of sleep after working the night shift at the 7-11. And I could really give a crap about Christmas because all it means is that my father didn’t love my mother and he didn’t love me. WHICH IS IT? Sweep Under Rug: There is certainly a clear character in this monologue with a specific voice. While there’s the potential to have fun with the characters, there’s also a lot of plot being set up. There’s more storytelling here than any emotional journey – the character’s emotional state is exactly the same from beginning to end and that’s an issue if you’re looking for something to win a competition. It’s much more about the story and much less about the character. Deck The Stage: This is a character driven emotion based monologue. The character is on a roller-coaster of emotion as she not only confronts the person she’s talking to, but reveals some very deep wounds about her dad. Not only that, but there’s specific clues for how to play the character physically – if she works the night shift at the 7-11, she’s going to be exhausted, frustrated, spitting mad. These are great clues toward an award wining performance.