Labeled

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Labeled by Lindsay Price can definitely be labeled a fantastic dramedy for high school students. It’s easy to stick a label on someone. You’re late, you’re a loser. You’re in detention, you’re bad. You’re slow, you’re not smart enough. We do it every day. We’ve done it in the past, we’ll do it in the future. And these are the kinds of labels that are near-impossible to remove. In three separate but connected scenes, characters push against the labels stuck on them by others. Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play? Being Labeled is something students have had to deal with since the beginning of time. I thought about backtracking on that statement, but I think it’s true – looks label you, actions label you, relationships label you, where you live, who your parents are, all these things can slap a sticky reputation on your back whether you deserve it or not. That’s important to write about and it’s important to show students fighting those labels in a variety of ways. It’s interesting to note that I actually wrote one of the scenes for a different play. When that play didn’t work out (which happens all the time) I didn’t want to let go of the characters in the scene. Sometimes the play you start writing, isn’t the one that ends up in the finished product. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. How do you survive your label? 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? A character stands on a chair and shouts “The Titanic is fake!” It’s a great surprise moment, a great visual, especially in the response of the other characters, and a great story after the outburst. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? When you do the scene with the semi-circle of chairs don’t catch sitting-itis. No one wants to watch a scene where people sit for 10 minutes. Find out the different ways your character would use a chair, climb over a chair, get protection from a chair and so on. Think about the pictures you’re creating in your staging – you want the audience to be engaged. 5. Why is this play great for student performers? The characters are telling student stories. Everyone in the cast and every one in the audience will connect to not being heard, to being dismissed, to being misunderstood, and wanting something more.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays To….Stretch your tech. ** We pride ourselves at Theatrefolk that you can produce most of our plays with two cubes. And you could take away one of the cubes if you had to. But what if you want to stretch your tech? What if you’ve got a production class with kids who must design for more than two cubes? Wonder no longer. **Here are 10 plays that will Stretch your Tech. 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!

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