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They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras

They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras

by Dara Murphy

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?

Comedy

Average Producer Rating:

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

Running Time
About 25 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
11 Characters
11 Any Gender
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 [A] 117 lines
A dandelion
BROWN [A] 40 lines
The oldest
GRASS ONE [A] 24 lines
Knowing
GRASS TWO [A] 31 lines
Playful
GRASS THREE [A] 74 lines
Sunny’s neighbour
GRASS FOUR [A] 32 lines
Follower
GRASS FIVE [A] 44 lines
Negative
GRASS SIX [A] 41 lines
Motherly
GRASS SEVEN [A] 33 lines
Ideas
GRASS EIGHT [A] 54 lines
Grumpy
GRASS NINE [A] 27 lines
Clueless

Praise for They Eat Sunshine, Not Zebras

Joseph Murphy
Rogers Middle School
I think it's a great piece. I really love the message of the play.
susan pendleton
Surrey Youth Theatre Company, BC Canada
Fun, yet with a social message, which I like to include in our work. And it was a perfect choice for Zoom in Gallery!
Beth goodwin
Central High School Drama Club
It was great to do a "not normal" play during these not-normal pandemic times! Funny, memorable, serious, great roles for actors to develop the blades of grass' personalities and quirks. This was the first time since last March that we had been able to practice and perform together and it was marvelous. This play was perfect!

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