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Power Play

Power Play

by Lindsay Price

A gunshot is heard. Which of the five characters did it and why?

Was it the Goth girl? The football star? The super-intelligent geek?

High school violence is a hot media topic, but it is too often simplistically portrayed by putting teens into tidy categories and pointing at the outsider.

Power Play explores the realities and the stereotypes of high school violence - not just the brutal shock of the school shooting, but also verbal harassment and bullying. Violence is about power. So is high school.

NOTE: This play requires the onstage appearance of a gun.

Drama Experimental Form Issue-Based

Average Producer Rating:

Also available in a competition-length version here.

Recommended for High Schools

Running Time
About 55 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
5 Characters
2 M3 F
Set
Simple Set
Length
38 pages
Free Excerpt

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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.

5 Characters
2 M, 3 F

Please see the playwright’s notes in the script for details on gender and casting flexibility.

Bitter [F] 141 lines
A goth girl. Very observant with a sarcastic wit. Three Monologues.
Belly [M] 190 lines
An overweight guy who uses humour as a survival tactic. One Monologue.
Brawn [M] 122 lines
The star football player. King of the castle and knows it. Two Monologues.
Beauty [F] 114 lines
The self-professed “most popular girl” at the school. One Monologue.
Beaker [F] 114 lines
A small Asian girl (Korean). Extremely intelligent, extremely withdrawn. Two Monologues. See appendix for alternate casting suggestion.

Praise for Power Play

Tammy Manning
Kee High School
The play has such a powerful message and allows the actors to develop such enriching characters.

More Plays Like Power Play

The realities and the stereotypes of school violence. Not just the school shooting, but harassment and bullying. Violence is about power. So is high school.

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