Skid Marks: A Play About Driving

What’s your driving story? With Skid Marks: A Play About Driving and Skid Marks 2: Are We There Yet? by Lindsay Price you can go from your first car to a cross-country road trip and enjoy everything about the teenage rite of passage: the car. When did you get your first car? Did it take more than one try to get your license? Did your dad ever shout, “Do I have to stop the car?” What does the car mean to you? The car is freedom. The car is a trap. The car is your dream. The car is held together by duct tape. The car is being pulled over! The car is lost in the parking garage… somewhere… B10… D27… D37… 47… Drive across country to change your life when you’ve never actually driven farther than the next block. Drive all night for one last fling at the beach. And get completely, totally lost. Drive your obnoxious brother and your doubly obnoxious sister because… because Mom said! The road trip. Ever take one? Ever want to? Ever spent hours trapped in a car with your obnoxious brother eating double double burgers and your doubly obnoxious sister whining, “Are we there yet?” Who let those two in the car?! Let these characters make that road trip for you. Join their journey and see where the road takes them. Are they driving as far away as possible, just to find their way home? Teacher Sherrie Meredith was thrilled to share her group’s award-winning performances of Skid Marks 1&2. The talented team at McNaughton High School in Moosomin, Saskatchewan took these fast-paced, hilarious vignette plays out for a spin and truly shifted into high gear! “We had a fabulous experience – we WON!!!! This is the first time our school has won provincial festival – pretty exciting! The kids had a phenomenal performance on the University of Regina Stage. We also won several other Provincial and Regional awards as well, including: REGIONAL: Best Visual Production, Best Overall Production, Acting Recognition Certificates, Technical Recognition Certificates; PROVINCIAL: Best Overall Production, Best Technical Crew, Runner-up to Best Visual Production, individual Technical Certificates of Merit & Acting Certificates of Merit.”

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays For….Student Directors. Do you have a student directing class? Do you have students who show a knack for taking charge and establishing vision? Then you need plays that are perfect for student directors to tackle. Think short, think active, think character driven. Think plays that can be accomplished from audition to performance within your class periods. 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! Ten/Two Ten plays for two actors. The plays can be performed individually or all together for a full evening of theatre. Excellent for the classroom or competition. This collection is ideal for student directors because they’re contained. Two actors, a complete story from beginning to end with specific characters. Hamlette Imagine if you will that “Hamlet” was not “Hamlet” at all, but “Hamlette” – a woman! This play is a twisty-turny interpretation of the classic Danish tale. If you have a student director who wants to spread their comedic wings, try this piece. It requires a lot of physical action, so it’s more work than it seems on the page, but your students are up to the challenge, right? Hairball A light vignette play about our obsession with hair. I’d highly recommend this for starting directors. Because it’s short scenes based on a theme, it gives a student director something short to find success. You can divide the play up among a number of directors if you have a large class. Or take one scene and see how your directors tackle it. What are the similarities? What are the difference? Smarty Pants Dallas is a real smarty pants and can’t wait to show off. But he’s in for a shock. His new class is very different. This piece gives students directors a chance to explore both character and physical action. Rainbows vs Bunnies: Annihilation A talking bunny. A talking rainbow. Plus annihilation. This piece would be a lot of fun to direct, The challenge here is taking charge of a couple of large groups and staging. If you have students who need to improve their leadership skills as a director, this is the piece to do it. Will and Whimsy Shakespeare’s Sonnets come alive in this play where modern scenes play hand in hand with the original text. With this piece you have the combination of modern scenes and Shakespeare. If you have a student who wants to tackle the bard, give them this play first. Skid Marks: A play about Driving Your first car. Getting your license, Getting pulled over. The relationship between teen and car makes a great backdrop for this vignette play. Vignette plays are always a great place to start with student directors. Ten Minute Play Series (All Girls, Girls & Guys, Be Challenged) These plays offer everything from broad flat-out comedy to quiet, intimate drama. All the pieces have small casts, have modest set requirements and well defined characters. Your student directors will find something they love in one of these collections. EllenAliceMonaJune (in Malled) Ellen, Alice, Mona, and June share those uncomfortable truths that only close friends can tell each other. A lovely four actor piece that dives deep into character. If you have student directors who need to work on bringing out a three dimensional character in their actors, this is the piece. Anxiety is Orange Join the characters in this vignette play as they navigate the world, each other, and the greens, greys, blues, reds, pinks, yellows, and oranges around them. Give this play to one director or divide the scenes up among group of directors.