Nice Girl

March 8th is International Women’s Day – and what better time to highlight some amazing women within the Theatrefolk community. Join us in celebrating these phenomenal playwrights and authors and their incredible contributions to the world of student theatre. Plus, keep reading to see our Top 10 Plays for Female Casts at the end of the post! Rachel Atkins • Baalzebub (and One Act Version)

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. Nice Girl by Amanda Murray Cutalo is a great play for female performers that asks the question “Is there such a thing as being ‘too nice?’” Mia, a teenage girl at an all-girls school, knows how to be a confident and assertive young woman who is not afraid to stand up for herself; the only problem is she can only act this way in her fantasies. In Mia’s reality, she is the kind of girl who does her friends’ homework, lets people cut in front of her in line, and pretends to be someone she’s not in order to get a boy to like her. As she repeatedly learns, being the “nice girl” requires a great deal of sacrifice and, often, frustration. As Mia eventually nears her breaking point, she decides the time has come for her fantasies to become reality. Why did we publish this play? This is such a relevant middle school topic: Girls who think being nice means you get more friends, especially when being “nice” means you don’t stand up for yourself. The main character in Nice Girl has quite the dilemma and it’s the reason we chose the play. We want to show middle school-aged characters going through middle school problems. Not high school problems adapted down. Not only do the characters have to face the dilemma of sacrificing character to be “nice” they also make mistakes, and deal with those mistakes. All in a lovely theatrical package. A great show. Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play? I am an English teacher, so I’ve taught many “nice girls” over the years. The inspiration for this play came from a conversation that I had with one of my students. She approached me at the end of a group assignment, feeling frustrated that she had done the bulk of the work and that her friends had taken advantage of her. She felt voiceless and powerless. I related to this struggle, specifically the pressure that girls and women often feel to be nice, or risk being called shrill, aggressive, difficult to get along with, or other words that I’m not sure I’m allowed to write here. To demand respect means to be unlikeable. I wrote this play because I wanted to explore what it looks like to confront these pressures and redefine a healthier sense of self, which leads to healthier relationships with others. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. It’s a play about redefining female identity by challenging the mask of the “nice girl” that girls and women often feel pressured to wear. 3. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Have fun with the fantasy scenes! (When Mia says exactly what she’s thinking, completely unfiltered, and in one instance even punches Jen and grabs Maggie by the hair). Besides using different lighting to distinguish between fantasy and reality, it definitely helps for the acting to be as over-the-top and exaggerated as possible in these scenes. 4. Why is this play great for student performers? I hope that student performers will see pieces of themselves in each of these characters and be able to think more about what it really means to be a “nice girl” and what it means to be friends with one.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About….Friendship. Bonds are important. Community is important. Having someone to rely on is important, so is being that person for someone else. What does it mean to be a good friend? We’re talking support, empathy, and thinking about someone other than yourself. There’s no better way to start that conversation than with a play. 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…All Girls! You have an abundance of girls in your program and you want good parts for everyone. With all of these plays either all the characters are girls or gender-flexible. 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! Ten Minute Plays: All Girls Juliet and Ophelia in the afterlife. An eggplant in a bridesmaid dress. Seeing the light about your best friend and then joining the Slow Songs Make Me Puke Club. A collection of short plays with interesting, engaging, and vivid parts for girls. Every one is a winner. Just Girls Talking What starts as a meeting to finalize frivolous graduation ceremony details ends with one young woman faced with a life-changing decision. Five girls on five different paths hit head-on in a collision of values that leaves the viewer asking: What would I do? Nice Girl Mia does her friends’ homework, lets people cut in line and pretends to be someone she’s not. Being nice requires a lot of sacrifice and frustration. Mia reaches her breaking point as she tries to find the balance between being her true self and being “the nice girl.” Typecast Ms Thespis casts by look and personality – the students are okay with their set roles. Until one show when Ms. Thespis is away and all the girls are cast against type. They’re forced to learn to play the roles they’re totally wrong for. Smarty Pants All the parts in this play are gender neutral with names provided. Dallas can’t wait to show off in her new Advanced Placement class. But there’s more Play-doh than Plato and more colouring than Van Gogh. What kind of advanced class is this? Will Dallas figure out Kindergarten High or will she flunk? Who’s the real smarty pants? Flaky Lips Two young women live in separated societies. One skin colour on this side. One skin colour on that side. They have never seen what the other looks like, until circumstances throw them together. A small cast but a challenging acting opportunity. Carrying The Calf A teenager fed-up with being bullied drags her reluctant friend to a self-defence class. But more important than the karate training, the instructor challenges the group to find self-confidence, independence, and to choose their own destiny. Diverse roles. They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras All the parts are gender neutral in this look at conformity and individuality through the metaphor of grass and a single dandelion. A dandelion will turn the field upside-down. A dandelion must be destroyed. Isn’t that what you do when something is different? Virtual Family In the Virtual Family, you don’t need to go outside, or do chores, or even have a real family. When technology takes away all your ills, conflicts, and concerns, you become a happier human being. Right? All the roles are gender neutral. Ten/Two Ten short two-person plays (inspired by the numbers 10 and 2!) in a variety of themes and lengths. Excellent for classwork and for competition. 8 of the 10 plays are either for 2 women or have “either” characters.

Episode 150: Using Drama In Other ClassesToday we have two playwrights who also happen to be two teachers: Amanda Murray Cutalo is an English teacher (Nice Girl, Typecast) and Taryn Temple is a Spanish Teacher (The Redemption of Gertie Greene) Both Amanda and Taryn use drama in their classrooms and believe in the power of theatre for their students. There is a place for theatre everywhere.

Episode 52: Best OfThis week we look back at an episode from the past year. “How do I get published” is the question that every writer asks and yet it’s the wrong question. It’s also the worst question a beginning writer can ask an established writer. If you have a play script burning in a drawer, listen to learn what questions to ask.

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