We Are Masks

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!

Time for a Tfolk Top Ten Plays About….Friendship. Bonds are important. Community is important. Having someone to rely on is important, so is being that person for someone else. What does it mean to be a good friend? We’re talking support, empathy, and thinking about someone other than yourself. There’s no better way to start that conversation than with a play. 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!

Welcome to our Featured Play Spotlight. We are excited to feature We Are Masks by Lindsay Price – a one-act dramedy that challenges performers and audiences alike to examine the masks we all wear every day. We all wear a mask. Some hide for good reasons. Some for self preservation. Even when you’re ready to take off your mask, it’s a hard thing to do. What will happen when the world sees who you really are? Four teenagers wear a variety of masks: Imposter Foster. Persona Paloma. Nolan No-Try. Macy Maintains. Each has to make a choice – show the world their true self, or stay behind their mask. Who will reveal themselves? Who will stay in the shadows? Let’s hear from the author! 1. Why did you write this play? The idea of public persona and private persona is a great one to explore on the stage because unlike real life, you can show both. Anytime we get to see “inside” a character is amazing theatre. It was fun to decide which mask each of the characters would wear, and whether or not they would shed their mask by the end of the play. Not all the characters do. 2. Describe the theme in one or two sentences. We all wear masks. What will happen when the world sees who you really are? 3. What’s the most important visual for you in this play? The masks! Both the ones that the ensemble wear that we can see and the ones the characters wear that are invisible. 4. If you could give one piece of advice for those producing the play, what would it be? Discuss with your students the idea of public and private persona. Your students are going to be able to provide a lot of insight about how the people they see every day wear a mask. How can they take their real world experience and translate to their characters? 5. Why is this play great for student performers? The theme is relevant, and there are awesome physical action possibilities with the ensemble. Everyone wears a mask – what’s yours?

Celebrate the new year with new plays! Over the past few months we’ve added some new scripts to the Tfolk catalogue. So if you’re looking for some new and exciting material to bring to your students, you’ll definitely want to keep reading. Explore themes of anxiety, empathy, expectations and surviving the teenage years – material your students can really understand and sink their teeth into. Click the links to read free sample pages from each play. Explore, Engage, and Enjoy!

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