Home of the Brave

The military has its own language, with many short ways of saying long things. PCS means Permanent Change of Station, or “to move.”

The young teens in Home of the Brave PCS a lot. How do the children of military families deal with the constant moving, worrying about deployed parents, best friends who PCS overseas, and never knowing how long they’ll be in a particular school? Sometimes, you have to make a home wherever you end up.

An excellent character-driven piece for middle school students.

Inspired by interviews with hundreds of military dependents and their families, teachers, principals, counselors as well as active duty and veterans from all branches of the service.

Drama

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

Running Time

About 30 minutes

Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes

Cast

8 Characters

4 M 4 F

Set

Simple set

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

8 Characters

4 Males
4 Females

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

JOHNELLE 80 lines

Female Eighth grader, Army family, sensitive, tired of moving.
BRADY 54 lines

Male Seventh grader, Navy family, bossy, confident.
JADA 100 lines

Female Fifth grader, Army family, sunny, spunky, optimistic.
TY 53 lines

Male Eighth grader, civilian family but parent works on base .
MARCUS 125 lines

Male Sixth grader, Navy family, a rascal.
MOM 2 lines

Female Marcus & Brady’s Mom.
DAD 14 lines

Male Marcus & Brady’s Dad. Currently deployed.
THE PRINCIPAL 2 lines

Female The Principal of the School.

Praise for Home of the Brave

Jared Griffin

Pittsfield Middle High School

We performed this play for our State One Act competition, and the response was powerful. Veterans told me how much it resonated, and one teacher - an Army Brat - was brought to tears. As an Air National Guard member, I was deployed for 100 days during rehearsals. My students felt that absence and used my real stories to connect with their characters. My daughter, who played Jada, even used my actual deployment duffle bag and uniform on stage. We also dedicated a U.S. flag flown over Iraq to the cast - now part of our set. This play hit home for all of us.