Facebook Pixel Skip to main content

📣SCRIPT SALE! Treat yourself to an easier Fall. Save 30% on 5+ perusal scripts with code SPRING30 before May 3 and head into summer stress-free.

Tuna Fish Eulogy

Tuna Fish Eulogy

by Lindsay Price

This is a play for advanced actors in which the tragedy of a young boy's death is examined. As the story unfolds, the mysteries start to pile up: Was it suicide? Could it have been prevented? Who is responsible? His mother? The babysitter?

Written in the unique Ladder Play format, the text runs in vertical columns to allow for fuller choral work. If you are looking for a challenge for your students, this is the play for you.

Drama Character Study Choral Work Experimental Form

Average Producer Rating:

Recommended for High Schools

Running Time
About 40 minutes
Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes
Cast
4 Characters
1 M2 F1 Any Gender, Easily Expandable
Set
Simple Set
Length
40 pages
Free Excerpt

What to order?

Not sure what you need to order? Check out our pricing and ordering guide.

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.

4 Characters
1 M, 2 F, 1 Any Gender, Easily Expandable

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.

WOMAN ONE [F]
Plays Ms. Scully, Albert’s Mother. Several monologues.
MAN ONE [A]
Plays a host of characters surrounding the family: A Mediator, a Reverend, a Boyfriend, and others. Several monologues.
WOMAN TWO [F]
Plays Cherry, a young woman and friend of the family who does not approve of Albert’s upbringing. Several monologues.
MAN TWO [M]
Plays Albert, the child himself, now deceased. Several monologues.

Praise for Tuna Fish Eulogy

Bailey WilliamsBailey Baas-Williams
Western UniversityWestern University
We had a great experience with this play! We spent a lot of time working with the vocal choreography and it does not require tons of blocking to get the message across. This production forces you to convert emotion, events and feelings through your voice and voice only.
Tyler Shores
North Stafford High School
Great challenge for high school and one acts.

More Plays Like Tuna Fish Eulogy

Stroke Static

by Lindsay Price

The heartbreaking look at dementia from the inside. The struggle between real and fantasy. Past and present. An award-winning theatrical experience.

Intersecting stories reveal teens under relentless pressure to achieve, belong, and be perfect, while they are still figuring out who they are and what it means to feel safe and seen.

This character-driven piece explores the most important relationships in life: friends, family, and love.

Jane wants to break out of her box. Colour cows green and the sky purple. She wants a deep poetic journey into something. The problem is she has no idea where to start.

The lives of seven teenagers become intertwined in this humorous and oftentimes bittersweet collection of ten minute plays. Multiple lengths available.

Chemo Girl and Other Plays

by Christian Kiley

A collection of plays that examine the impact of cancer as seen through the eyes of teenagers. Can be performed as a full length or one acts.

From the Drama Teacher Learning Centre

Theatrefolk’s Top Program-Building Plays
New Drama Teachers

Theatrefolk’s Top Program-Building Plays

Time for a Tfolk Top Plays List For….Building a Theatre Program. You’ve had a large group of seniors graduate. You’re starting at a new school that doesn’t have a theatre program You’re taking over a program that needs some serious love. What plays should you choose to build your program? Click the link and you’ll be taken to the webpage for each play. There you’ll get the details and read sample pages. All the best with your search – and with building your program! Choose a play with a familiar link that people know. Use the familiar as your hook.
What Play Do I Do Now?
Production

What Play Do I Do Now?

Some drama teachers have their whole production year figured out before the first day of school. If you’re doing a big musical, you need to get that paperwork started way in advance. Or maybe you need to coordinate using the theatre space with other departments – you need to know what you’re doing and when. Or, if you’re lucky, you have an engaged drama club and they’re reading the plays and deciding what they want to do ahead of time. But sometimes all that planning goes out the window. You choose a play, hold auditions and the actors you think you’re going to have don’t show up. Or you choose a small cast play and are faced with a flood of wonderful auditions. And sometimes, just the act of choosing a play is the issue. It can be an overwhelming and frustrating experience. Auditions loom and you still haven’t chosen a script. If you’ve stared at a stack of play catalogues with panic in your eyes, we here at Theatrefolk are ready to come to the rescue! Ok. We’re not a superhero. But we can give you some guidance to what we have available and how you can swiftly navigate our catalogue. If you’re frustrated with your search, or if you have to make a last minute decision NOW, have a look at the following plays. With each play there’s a link to the website page where you can read free sample pages. Enjoy! Top SellersWant something popular? Try these! Hoodie by Lindsay Price Hands down, our most popular one act. Hoodie is a middle school play about self image and appearance. Great for classes, and the kind of play that lets you cast every kid who auditions.
Theatrefolk Podcast: A Student Director Shares
Podcast

Theatrefolk Podcast: A Student Director Shares

Episode 68: A Student Director SharesEmma is in the middle of directing my play Tuna Fish Eulogy. She shares her vision, her struggles and what she’s hoping for with her production. Every teacher who has student directors will want their students to hear this!
Theatrefolk Podcast Q&A: You ask, We answer
Podcast

Theatrefolk Podcast Q&A: You ask, We answer

Episode 65: Theatrefolk Q & A: You ask, We answerLindsay and Craig sit down to answer questions and address comments that came up from our recent customer survey. Topics include: Can students directly contact us? What social issues do we cover? And do we sell plays?
Exercise: Play Trailer
Classroom Exercise

Exercise: Play Trailer

I received the trailer below for a production of Tuna Fish Eulogy and I think it’s great. It’s basically a commercial for the show, but also gives a clear indication of the style of the production, how the play is being interpreted, and provides a bit of a tease for what an audience can expect. A trailer is an excellent exercise to see if your class fully understands a text. Can they condense a text into a commercial form – letting the audience know what’s to come, providing a tease but not giving away the whole story? Can they highlight the themes visually? Can they determine a style for the work? A trailer also allows students to explore a different medium with a text- they are transforming the text, moving beyond simple comprehension. Exercise:In groups, take a text and create a commercial for it. Groups are responsible for the writing, acting in, and filming of their commercial. The commercial must be 30 seconds in length and explore the following elements: • highlight the main theme of the text visually. • Provide a set up for the story, but not give it all away. • Provide a tease so that an audience would want to see more
Tuna Fish Advice
Featured Plays

Tuna Fish Advice

How do you rehearse a play like Tuna Fish Eulogy?Head over to the sample pagesto see what I’m talking about. This is no walk in the park. The play is in a ladder format, which means the actors read their lines from top to bottom instead of left to right. It’s a great way to showcase choral speaking because it’s clear when characters speak at the same time. But the format is a challenge. Elmira District Secondary School took the notion of “challenge” to a whole new level when they took a play written for four actors and turned it into a play for 18. Now 18 people have to figure out who’s speaking what and when. I talked to the cast about their experience and what advice they would give to other casts.
Spread the Love: Tuna Fish Eulogy by Lindsay Price
Production

Spread the Love: Tuna Fish Eulogy by Lindsay Price

This week on Spread the Love, Craig and Lindsay talk about Tuna Fish Eulogy, a ladder play for high school students. Filmed live on location next to the the sea. Well, it’s actually a lake, but use your imagination.
We accept

In addition to the above payment methods, Purchase Orders are accepted from US and Canadian Schools.

Info for your purchasing department