The Battle of Image vs Girl

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!

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. The Battle of Image vs Girl by Johanna Skoreyko is a moving duet piece about female body image. One Girl. One Mirror. Against the world. Why did we publish this play? We have a long history with this play. It was originally published as part of a collection of student writers. When that was discontinued, we asked to publish it in a collection of short plays for young women. When that was discontinued we wanted to continue to have the play available because it is a script that does not and cannot let go. It is intense, it is uncomfortable, it is raw and authentic. Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play?I wrote this play as an assignment for a High School English class. I remember that I brainstormed ideas for my play until a few days before the deadline for the assignment-- nothing felt quite right. Finally, with the pressure upon me, I sat down and the whole play just poured out of me. The conversation that the main character has with her mirror self was in many ways an authentic conversation I was having in real time as I wrote it. It was very cathartic. I had just returned from a year as an exchange student in Germany, where my host sister (who I was very close to) had anorexia and bulimia, and I was still processing the conflicting emotions I had: fear and worry for her, and jealousy of her extreme thinness. Although I didn't have an eating disorder, I thought constantly about what I ate and exercised obsessively. I was very critical of my body. I wanted to be healthy and strong, but I also completely understood why she starved herself, and that scared me. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences.Control is the opposite of self-acceptance. 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play?The smashed mirror at the end. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be?Update the references and the language in the play to make it reflect the way teenagers talk today. I think it should sound current. 5. Why is this play great for student performers?I think it's visually striking, easy to produce, and I like that it's an opportunity for two actors to get really deep into character study together, and maybe to dissect their own critical internal voices too. And I love that it has the raw, dramatic emotionality of a real teenage voice. 6. Who is your favourite character in the play?When I performed this for my High School Drama class, my sister took the role of the main character, and I played the mirror. It was a very powerful release to speak the vicious meanness that I heard in my head. Letting it out revealed how absurd and how wrong the voice was. 7. What is your favourite line in the play?The final line of the play, "It's only a phone," (which was "It's only a camera" in 2001). The character's anxiety about her lost phone was an example of the anxiety she felt about not being in control, and her eating disorder was born of a desire to get that control back. Letting go of the phone and just going to bed was a really important symbolic gesture, and I like the simplicity and lightness with which it ends this really intense scene.  Get your copy of The Battle of Image vs Girl right here, right now!

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)

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