Discovering Rogue

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.

The issue-based high school drama, Discovering Rogue by Christian Kiley, is an awesome character piece with something extremely relevant to say to today’s teen. Rogue has the best beachfront property ever. Right on the ocean – location, location, location. Her home happens to be a cardboard box but she doesn’t mind. Others, though, mind very much. They want Rogue to leave the beach. Now. But she isn’t budging. Rogue isn’t just running away from home; she’s running away from herself. Director Michael Yoson and the incredible students from Piscataway High School in Piscataway, New Jersey enjoyed the messaging and the creative flexibility that is part of this play. As well, the students were able to explore their characters in depth, while being exposed to more abstract forms of storytelling: “As a teacher and director, I enjoyed working on this play. I think the play offers a positive message, and it allows for creative staging. Our production approach was inspired by the idea that with the power of the imagination, a cardboard box could become anything. So all of the scenic and prop pieces were made out of cardboard and recycled materials. This allowed students to think outside the box and challenged them creatively while working on the tech elements of the show.”

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Discovering Rogue by Christian Kiley is a showdown of stereotypes and self-identity and an issue-based drama that your high school performers can truly relate to and connect with. Rogue has the best beachfront property ever. Right on the ocean – location, location, location. Her home happens to be a cardboard box but she doesn’t mind. Others, though, mind very much. They want Rogue to leave the beach. Now. But she isn’t budging. Rogue isn’t just runni away from home; she’s running away from herself. Why did we publish this play? I love how Christian writes for teens. He always opens theatrical doors that shed new light on to topics, and that’s what we have here in Discovering Rogue. The play is about perception. How others perceive us and how we perceive ourselves. Rogue isn’t just running away from others, she’s running away from herself. How many of you know teenagers who desperately want to run away from themselves? This is an awesome character piece with something extremely relevant to say to today’s teen. Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play? I have often felt like (and I’m sure others have too) I am so far from perfect that I will never reach the magical place where unrealistic expectations dwell (imagine a high, high mountaintop). I wrote this for my daughters, in large part so that they could be proud of who they are without trying to obtain this unrealistic level of perfection that is present in spoken and unspoken forms throughout our lives. Rogue is a really thoughtful young person who has to come to terms with who she really is (and is ready to destroy the expectation of unobtainable perfection). 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. At some point you are going to have to decide who you really are and in doing so, you are probably going to have to destroy the unrealistic expectations that are in the way. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? Part of it is the setting. The beach. More specifically, the box that Rogue calls her temporary home and the flag that she makes to put on it. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Really investigate what unrealistic expectations can do to you, people in general, the members of your cast. I talk to students on a regular basis who feel immense pressure to do so much, achieve so much, accomplish so much. The staging is so simple because Rogue is running away from the crazy complexity of her life. I think the key is in the connection to the stress that comes from trying to be perfect. The comedy comes from that as well, because you can have fun overplaying many of the characters (Perfect, Teacher, Students 1-4, Dad, and Mom). 5. Why is this play great for student performers? It comes from a very real energy I feel and experience with the students I teach. As a parent, I know I can do better in helping quiet those expectations for my children. And I hope as a playwright I have done that with this play. The characters are engaging and fun. And they are grappling with real stresses and problems that young people face today.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About…Dramas. Issue plays that don’t talk down to your students. Theatrical explorations of serious topics. Read one, read them all! 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! Look Me In the Eye Teenagers in the future are obedient, polite, and respectful. Everything about their life is black and white, right or wrong. This is due in large part to the government-required “Observation Sessions.” But there is a dark underside to this utopian vision. Sometimes life is grey. Chemo Girl 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. Chicken. Road. Why did the chicken cross the road? Why is the sky blue? What’s two plus two? Why did he kill himself? A group of teenagers grapple with unanswered questions as they struggle to understand why someone who seemed to have it all would commit suicide. Have You Heard Everybody knows a secret. Some keep them quiet. Some let them loose. This monologue-based play 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? Upon a Sea of Dreams: A Journey on the Titanic An amazing character-based drama with a unique look at this infamous event. In a tiny third class cabin sisters plan for a new life in America. Suddenly the ship stops moving and sirens blast. The girls are told to stay in their cabin. Another passenger says the ship is sinking. The Waking Moment Julie would do anything to be just like her best friend Rhonda. She gets her wish when she wakes up one morning in Rhonda’s bed – but nobody seems to notice. Julie quickly realizes that Rhonda’s perfect world is actually a nightmare. Deals with sexual abuse. Anonymous We all have our stories. “New and old, complete and untold.” Anonymous is a story of every teenager: the new kid trying to fit in, the best friends, the love interests, the kid in the corner with their secret, the group of individuals each trying to belong. The teenagers of Anonymous have no names because they are “Me” and “You.” They are everyone. Discovering Rogue Rogue has the best beachfront property – right on the ocean. Her home is a cardboard box but she doesn’t mind. Others, though, mind very much. They want Rogue to leave the beach. Now. But Rogue isn’t just running away from home; she’s running away from herself. Breathless – Three girls named Summer. Three races of discovery. Will they crash or fly? A beautiful character piece with strong female leads. Clowns With Guns (A Vaudeville) – A theatrical and absurd look at the repeated and seemingly endless cycle of school violence. This story is mean. There are guns. BONUS! NEW DramaThe Blue and the Grey – Charlie is surrounded by ghosts: her father, a classmate’s sister, and the grey. Haunting, exhilarating, theatrical. 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.

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