[eighteenSmiles]

Sorry if this dosent belong in this section, i dont know where to put it!...

So i need to find a short play (30 mins to an hour) for a youth group that i help run. Having never done drama at school I have no idea where to begin looking and have no plays in mind because i dont really know any!

Does anyone have a recommendation of something that they have done at school? The children are aged 10-14 so something that you did perhaps in year 7 or 8? Theres 14 people, so anything with up to 15 characters because they could double up on some. Preferably a comedy or something light hearted and fun and not to complex so they could learn it in one or two nights.

Any suggestions welcome!

[Acaila]

I think you'd really struggle to find anything that could be learned in couple of nights! At that sort of age it would take us weeks to learn shows!
I'd look into national connections stuff, maybe look on the Samuel French website.
I did a heap of stuff of that length when in high school, but certainly nothing that could be learned that quickly so I loathe to recommend something for only a couple of nights.

[hang_your_heart]

I was about 12 when I did Our Day Out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Day_Out_(play). It was a fairly impromtu thing but we all really enjoyed it.

[Oogamy]

Hm. Waiting for Godot is out of the question, then.

[maxi321]

Yeah i was about to suggest our day out. its good for that age grop, relatively short and easy to learn.

[lemoncheesecake]

Long play's better. You get twice the recording time.

Really, why are you still using a VCR though? That's like so last millennium.

[eighteenSmiles]

(Original post by Acaila)
I think you'd really struggle to find anything that could be learned in couple of nights! At that sort of age it would take us weeks to learn shows!
I'd look into national connections stuff, maybe look on the Samuel French website.
I did a heap of stuff of that length when in high school, but certainly nothing that could be learned that quickly so I loathe to recommend something for only a couple of nights.

It isnt for a big production or anything, its just an activity which will spread over a couple of nights! They aren't showing it to an audience or anthing, and wont be learning it of by heart in that time obviously, its just for fun. If you know some please suggest!

[ChannieAlana]

The Insect Play... that could be shortened?

[eighteenSmiles]

(Original post by hang_your_heart)
I was about 12 when I did Our Day Out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Day_Out_(play). It was a fairly impromtu thing but we all really enjoyed it.

Excellent that looks really promising thankyou

[Dumdedoobie]

If its short enough Bugsy Malone.

Leaving it a little late though, Eh?

[Acaila]

If it isn't for performance then what is it for? A couple of nights wouldn't allow for much more than a read through and a first run.

Perhaps you might be better looking for scenes from plays and possibly splitting the class into groups. Shorter to read through and they can do much more with it in the time.

Side note: while I think it could be shortened, I really hate the insect play (got given it amusingly as something that would be good to do with little rehearsal on a project that went tits up anyhow)

[eighteenSmiles]

(Original post by Acaila)
If it isn't for performance then what is it for? A couple of nights wouldn't allow for much more than a read through and a first run.

Perhaps you might be better looking for scenes from plays and possibly splitting the class into groups. Shorter to read through and they can do much more with it in the time.

Side note: while I think it could be shortened, I really hate the insect play (got given it amusingly as something that would be good to do with little rehearsal on a project that went tits up anyhow)

Its a youth group and they got to pick what they want to do this term and they all said they wanted to do drama at put on a play! Its not for serious performance its for a bit of fun! If i was to split them into groups there would be like 4 or 6 in a group, not enough. Im just looking for a play which people have done at school or something. Ive never done drama as i said and i thought on here people would have more knowledge than i do.

[sweetlovinchick2k1]

(Original post by hang_your_heart)
I was about 12 when I did Our Day Out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Day_Out_(play). It was a fairly impromtu thing but we all really enjoyed it.

We did that too! I loved that play!

OP, I suggest that play to, kids love it, it's great fun and suitable for their age.

[eighteenSmiles]

I think im going to go for Our Day Out so thankyou to everyone who suggested it!

Just from reading the wikipedia article, theres quite alot of characters; will it be pretty easy to cut down/double up?

[hang_your_heart]

definitely easy to double up - there are only about 8/9 main characters so the other 5 people could each take two of the minor roles as there aren't many scenes with everyone. I'm sure a couple of the really minor characters could be cut out completely if necessary without affecting the storyline.

[Acaila]

(Original post by eighteenSmiles)
Its a youth group and they got to pick what they want to do this term and they all said they wanted to do drama at put on a play! Its not for serious performance its for a bit of fun! If i was to split them into groups there would be like 4 or 6 in a group, not enough. Im just looking for a play which people have done at school or something. Ive never done drama as i said and i thought on here people would have more knowledge than i do.

Most plays you could take scenes from have casts of about four or six, that's hardly not enough That also enables everyone to have a sizeable part, rather than one or two leads while others just have one line. Then they could perhaps show their work to the other groups. There's also the potential to do something devised as that sometimes works better in a limited time. I'm attempting to use my knowledge as a theatre practitioner to help you here, and saying that trying to take on an actual scripted play for a cast of about 14 kids, partic if they're not experienced and disciplined, in a couple of sessions isn't going to work.

[eighteenSmiles]

(Original post by hang_your_heart)
definitely easy to double up - there are only about 8/9 main characters so the other 5 people could each take two of the minor roles as there aren't many scenes with everyone. I'm sure a couple of the really minor characters could be cut out completely if necessary without affecting the storyline.

Thats great to hear thanks for your help! :-)

[happydinosaur]

(Original post by Acaila)
Most plays you could take scenes from have casts of about four or six, that's hardly not enough That also enables everyone to have a sizeable part, rather than one or two leads while others just have one line. Then they could perhaps show their work to the other groups. There's also the potential to do something devised as that sometimes works better in a limited time. I'm attempting to use my knowledge as a theatre practitioner to help you here, and saying that trying to take on an actual scripted play for a cast of about 14 kids, partic if they're not experienced and disciplined, in a couple of sessions isn't going to work.

Totally agree. Working in smaller groups is more manageable and offers an audience (the other groups) so that the little performances can all be shown at the end of the project. Devised is also better in my experience with kids that age, they normally have such good imaginations that they come up with vivid stuff. In the past I've worked on introducing kids to devising by giving them a selection of stories or situations and characters to use as a starting point. That said, Our Day Out is a fairly easy play and good for that age. We worked on it in drama class in year 7 however some kids won't have much to do really and its quite long so you might want to just take a section of it and work really hard on that. Good luck, plays and kids can be a hellish combination and I'm thinking of the kids I used to know with supposed stage discipline.