Pressure

As you start planning for the new school year, why not explore some incredible issue-based plays? These thought-provoking scripts tackle real-world challenges and spark meaningful conversations in your classroom or on stage. These plays are perfect for fostering meaningful discussions and bringing diverse voices to your stage or classroom. Add them to your collection and watch your students engage with drama that truly matters!

Pressure by Lindsay Price is not your average “teen angst” play. It’s theatrical. It’s character driven. Some of the teenagers succeed with dealing with their pressure, and some don’t. That’s the way life works. Four teenagers struggle with life. Alex is a refugee. Tera is faced with an unpopular decision when all she wants to be is popular. Penny is getting up at five in the morning just so she can accomplish all she has to do in a day. And Kyle can’t live up to his parents’ expectations. It is the week before the prom and for these four characters, everything is coming to a head. This play is candid and uncompromising, with no easy answers or neat and tidy endings. The script is ideal for groups who have varying degrees of ability. There are parts for both novice and advanced actors. David Heywood and the students from Black Hills High School in Tumwater, WA didn’t feel the pressure when it came to their production of Pressure. Student director, Logan Hyer-Long shared thoughts on the group’s interpretation of the play and the successes and challenges of bringing one’s own ideas as a student director to a production: “Copyrighted in 1997, Pressure’s themes still resonate with today’s teenagers. Typically a phrase like “still resonates” would be used in reference to a classical piece of literature (or something at least written more than 22 years ago), but nowadays, society is changing quickly and drastically. This play was written before social media. Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and even Myspace had not been injected into teen culture at this time. The clear theme of this piece is pressures, but when I read it I knew it was missing today’s biggest one: social media. I was not initially drawn to this play, but when I saw the part of “The Mob”, I started to envision the possibilities: Incorporating phones as light sources that only revealed part of an actor; having a sound that is both random and cacophonous; people moving in patterns, with the same motions, but never crossing paths. All of these ideas reflected my opinions of social media. The Mob started to turn into a metaphor for the world that happens on our phones: incomplete, chaotic, and impersonal. While the general narrative can be seen as taking place in the pre-digital-age, our direction of “The Mob” is our way of incorporating the digital era. We suggest as you watch scenes from Pressure to ask yourself, “Would this interaction happen in person today?”. Or try, “Would this monologue instead be a post to social media?”. How would this narrative be different if people had not reached out to someone else? In some instances, how would it be different if someone had? In general, how would this story be different in 2019? Unfortunately not all of my ideas made it into the show. Some ideas made it, but did not happen how I had hoped. Others made the cut, but changed as rehearsals went on. Art is seldom complete; artists simply decide when their work is ready enough to be presented. I find it hard not to cling onto the frustrations throughout this process. This is what Alex and I have created. We created something, and that alone is something anyone should be proud of.”

Time for a Tfolk Top Plays List For….Building a Theatre Program. You’ve had a large group of seniors graduate. You’re starting at a new school that doesn’t have a theatre program You’re taking over a program that needs some serious love. What plays should you choose to build your program? 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 – and with building your program! Choose a play with a familiar link that people know. Use the familiar as your hook.

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About…Teen Life! These are not your typical teen-angst-woe-is-me stuff. Three dimensional characters. Relevant stories. Each one offers a unique theatrical take. 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! Sixteen In 10 Minutes Or Less The lives of seven teenagers become intertwined in this humorous and oftentimes bittersweet collection of ten minute plays. Puzzle Pieces This play explores teen issues through a series of monologues. The characters speak frankly about their fears, their futures, and how to embrace the day to day. Stereotype High High school is full of stereotypes – or is it? Told in a series of interlaced vignettes, these “stereotypical” teens fight tooth and nail to reinvent themselves. A Deep Poetic Journey Into Something Jane wants to break out of her box. The problem is she has no idea where to start. Will Jane choose to hide inside or change her life? Stressed Stress is driving this quartet crazy – so much so they can’t stop talking about it. This play is a symphony of sound and character. Pressure Alex is a refugee. Tera is faced with an unpopular decision. Penny is getting up at five every morning and Kyle can’t live up to expectations. Candid and uncompromising, with no easy answers. A Box of Puppies We can all relate to feeling small in a big world. These characters share their insecurities, their frailties and their coping mechanisms. Just Girls Talking What starts as a meeting to finalize graduation ceremony details ends with one young woman faced with a life-changing decision. A head-on collision of values that leaves the viewer asking: What would I do? Split Teenagers navigate the winding road of divorce in this honest and theatrical look at the day to day reality of growing up in a family that’s been torn apart. Neet Teen Teen life – backwards, forwards and inside-out. In every form from kitchen sink, to absurd, to movement, to audience participation, to song, to adding your own scene.

This week on Spread the Love Craig talks about Pressure.

I had a very interesting conversation with a teacher who was familiar with Theatrefolk plays and had recently put up Pressure. She had wanted to do Anonymous but it was ‘rejected’ by her administration. You see, she had to vet every play before moving forward with rehearsals. I’m sure many of you must follow the same procedure at your schools. The teacher was able to put on Pressure without issue. This is a play, you may have already guessed, about the pressures that teens face. Some of these pressures certainly aren’t PC, or ‘clean’ as some like their material to be. In Pressure we have: • underaged drinking • it is inferred that a character was forced into sexual activity. • it is inferred that a character succumbs to the pressures she’s dealing with and kills herself. These are indeed tough situations, frankly, as they should be. They are heavyweights which some of the characters deal with and some don’t. So, the admin did not see issue with Pressure. Here’s why they vetoed Anonymous: • the word “God” is used. • the word “gay” is used. • the word “sex-ed” is used. Words. If this teacher wanted to do this play, those words would have to be removed. Thankfully, this teacher refused and did something else. But what a fascinating comparison, huh? Words vs actions. Wouldn’t you assume it would be Pressure that would be nixed? Are the three words above THAT damaging to the teen psyche? What would happen if they heard those words? What is so wrong with using those words? Why do they cause fear? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t understand why or how the removal of words and the removal of topics prepares teenagers for the world at large. What words have been vetoed at your school?

This week on Spread the Love, we talk about Pressure, a drama by Lindsay Price.

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