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They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras by Dara Murphy play script cover

They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras

by Dara Murphy Canadian Author

The field believes in uniformity. Lovely rows of blades all the same height. Lovely rows of blades exhibiting standard behaviour of green grassness.

Nothing stands in the way of their orderly life. Until they wake up one morning to see a yellow dandelion in their midst. Sunny (that’s the dandelion) is bright and warm and just wants to be friends. The field wants nothing to do with her nonstandard, non-green ways.

A dandelion will turn their orderly way of life upside-down. A dandelion must be destroyed. Isn’t that what you do when something is different?

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

At a Glance

Running Time
About 25 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
11 Characters
11 Any Gender
Productions
Produced by 190+ schools
Licensed by schools and youth theatres around the world
Set
Simple set
Length
30 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.

11 Characters

  • 11 Any Gender

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.

  • SUNNY Any gender 117 lines
    A dandelion
  • BROWN Any gender 40 lines
    The oldest
  • GRASS ONE Any gender 24 lines
    Knowing
  • GRASS TWO Any gender 31 lines
    Playful
  • GRASS THREE Any gender 74 lines
    Sunny’s neighbour
  • GRASS FOUR Any gender 32 lines
    Follower
  • GRASS FIVE Any gender 44 lines
    Negative
  • GRASS SIX Any gender 41 lines
    Motherly
  • GRASS SEVEN Any gender 33 lines
    Ideas
  • GRASS EIGHT Any gender 54 lines
    Grumpy
  • GRASS NINE Any gender 27 lines
    Clueless

Praise for They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras

5 out of 5 stars
Elena Krueger
Athol Murray College of Notre Dame
Audiences enjoyed the humour as well as the play’s messages and themes. Students enjoyed the challenge of acting and expressing emotion while remaining stationary. It was a fun and rewarding experience!
5 out of 5 stars
Susan Nieten
Noblesville High School
This one-act play is an amazing ensemble piece that shares a very important message about accepting those who are different from us.
4 out of 5 stars
Jennifer Walker
St. Boniface Diocesan High School
Very easy to blend characters or divide characters if you suddenly have more or less students than intended.

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