School Daze by Lindsay Price - Theatrefolk

School Daze

Recommended for Middle Schools

School Daze

by Lindsay Price

Middle school is the tricky tightrope between being a kid and being a teenager. The characters try to keep their balance on the first day of middle school.

 About 30 minutes

Times given are approximate and do not include intermissions/scene changes/breaks

 54
16 M | 24 W | 14 Any Gender, Doubling Possible

Simple Set

 28 pages

Comedy Choral Work Vignettes Young Audiences

Average Producer Rating:

Reviews from Past Producers

"We're standing here like idiots and the whole cafeteria is filled with people talking and laughing and everyone has friends and everyone's in little groups and I like brown bread peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches! There I said it! Shun me if you must!

You remember middle school. That first day can be a funhouse or a hall of horrors. Will I fit in or be left behind? Did I wear the right clothes? How will I find the right class? Why do those eighth graders look so big...

Middle school is the tricky tightrope between being a kid and being a teenager. How did you fare? Did you fall off the tightrope? Did you hold on?

See the characters in School Daze try to keep their balance on the first day of middle school.

Free Classroom Study Guide

Click here to read production tips for this play.

This is a vignette play! What is a Vignette Play?

Awards and Accolades

  • University School of Nova Southeastern University invited to perform at Florida State Junior Thespian Festival
54 Characters
16 M, 24 W, 14 Any Gender, Doubling Possible

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.

Guys
Dad 8 lines
Can’t find the camera.
Big Kid Two 5 lines
Proud of his Evil Laugh.
Jimmy 2 lines
Knows Grade 7 is the perfect grade.
Fear Boy 5 lines
Hates being the new kid.
Positive Boy 3 lines
Can’t wait to go to different classes.
Negative Boy 5 lines
A glass-half-empty kind of guy.
Forward Boy 1 line
Hates being treated like a kid.
Backward Boy 7 lines
Misses recess.
Locker One 6 lines
Fears the inevitable.
MacDougal 28 lines
Thinks that it’s a fine day for a race.
MacGregor 19 lines
Agrees.
Johnson 1 line
Is gonna go out hard.
Bully 8 lines
Is a coward, as all bullies are.
Invisible 8 lines
Wants to go unseen.
Marty 18 lines
Can’t believe their starting a project on the first day of school.
Edwin 19 lines
Can’t believe he’s paired with Marty.
Girls
Lacy 13 lines
Has a zit.
Mom 13 lines
Has an overreacting daughter.
Mary-Jean 2 lines
Dresses differently than the other girls. One monologue.
Fear Girl 5 lines
They say everyone can chose to live in hope, or fear. She doesn’t choose hope.
Positive Girl 9 lines
A glass-half-full kind of gal.
Negative Girl 7 lines
Hates school. Doesn’t mind the flute. One monologue.
Backward Girl 3 lines
Misses her old classroom.
Forward Girl 2 lines
Can’t wait to leave all that kid stuff behind.
Locker Three 5 lines
Walks a razor’s edge between Lockers 2 and 4.
Locker Four 7 lines
Loves lockers. But then, who doesn’t?
Announcement Girl 5 lines
Tries not to be a woman of success, but a woman of value. One monologue.
Baranova 1 line
Definitely has a lock.
Stewart-Rosen 1 line
Never gets detention.
Cara 18 lines
Once a friend of Amee. Not so much anymore.
Tammy 16 lines
Another of Amee’s abandoned friends.
Amee 10 lines
Used to be okay. Now what’s her problem?
Snobby Friend 4 lines
You know how everyone has that one snobby friend? This is that friend.
Girl One 3 lines
Thinks that Middle School is different, when it comes to clothing choices.
Girl Two 4 lines
Agrees with Girl One.
Girl Three 2 lines
Agrees with Girl Two.
Girl Four 2 lines
Concurs with the three previous girls.
Home Ec Two 2 lines
Isn’t afraid to make some big statements, like “blech.”
Crush One 13 lines
Likes Joey Delson. But then, who doesn’t?
Crush Two 12 lines
isn’t so big on the whole “Joey Delson” thing.
Either
Big Kid One 8 lines
Wants Jimmy to be afraid.
Big Kid Two 5 lines
Working on his evil laugh.
Eighth Grader, (One through four) 0 lines
Locker Two 5 lines
What if they forget their locker combo?
Sam 22 lines
Not freaking out. One monologue.
Pat 21 lines
Wants to know if Sam is freaking out.
Short One 7 lines
Also has a short attention span.
Short Two 6 lines
Impressed by mustaches.
Frustrated 1 line
Doesn’t like spit balls. Hey, I get it.
Home Ec One 2 lines
Asks the big questions, like “why blech?”
Defensive 1 line
Doesn’t have time for homework.

Subgenres
Issue-based

Settings
Present day

Dress
Contemporary costumes Simple costumes

Audience
Pre-teen Teen

Features
Variable Cast Size Poetry Tableau Ensemble

Set
Simple set Interior set

Themes
Adolescence Childhood Friendship Self-image Bullying

Other uses
Audition material Class work Scene work

Awards & Accolades
Plays with Awards & Accolades

Prop List

Book bags, Cafeteria trays, Lunch bags, Lunch boxes, A book for Mary Jean, A class schedule and textbook for Baranova

Production Photos

Multimedia

Related Titles

Customer Comments

I wanted to let you know that we just finished our production of School Daze. My middle school students performed it at an in-school assembly (audience was K-8) and it was wildly popular. The staff and parents loved it was well. I had several people who stopped by to tell me that they particularly loved how "real" the play was. Characters like Marty/Edwin, MacGregor/MacDougal and Cara/Tammy allowed my students to go full out with characterization.

Thank you for stocking plays like this - large and flexible casting, lots of short scenes, quick and active, with content that doesn't talk down to my students. These plays are hard to come by, especially with content appropriate for a public middle school.

Eden Rush
School of Arts & Sciences
Tallahassee, FL

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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.

We accept orders worldwide using the following payment methods:
Purchase Orders accepted from US and Canadian Schools.
Info for your purchasing department.

A vignette play is a collection of short scenes on a theme. You'll love working with the variety and flexibility of the scenes. Your actors will love the fast pace and fun characters.

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