Plays for Young People

   The Wise Gardener - Ten Ten-Minute Plays
   A Medley - Four Plays and Four Adaptations

A Medley

These plays and adaptations offer a wide variety of choices for almost any program, audience, time frame, school or community. The medley includes historic biography, contemporary American, fable, adventure, romance, humor and fairy tale. The plays are especially suitable for ages 17-24, and offer unique and challenging roles for both actors and actresses. All plays have single or unit sets.

The Appointment, Young Michael Faraday

This play is set in London, England, from December 1812 through March 1813. The action follows the momentous time in the young scientist's life when he made the transition from journeyman bookbinder to laboratory assistant for the renowned chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, at the Royal Institution.

The Saint Leger Incident

Brian Corelli is a student majoring in criminology and works part-time as a P.I. (private investigator). Involved in a missing persons case - a government employee - he is led to an office in the abandoned Saint Leger Building to witness payoffs through the window of a nearby warehouse. He has settled into a tiresome night of surveillance, when who should enter but the Detective, saving Brian's life, drawing a parallel between the missing client and Saint Leger, and revealing aspects of his own mysterious Being. Contemporary American; cast of 3, and a running time of 25 minutes.

The Man in the Mirror

Bobby Joe, a "bohemian" artist, unlocks and enters his aunt's jewelry shop on a holiday. Already agitated and desperate, he is further upset when Sylvie, an employee, enters unexpectedly. The drama intensifies as he seeks to avoid his shame and guilt with increasingly angry, accusative and threatening behavior. At the height of the action Sylvie faints, and a Grotesque Man enters, speaking in strange rhymes. With shock, Bobby Joe recognizes the deformed little man as an aspect of his own self; thus he is prevented from "crossing his Rubicon" into crime. When Sylvie recovers, she relates a dream about Bobby Joe's higher self, and the two begin to form a strong, affectionate bond. American, 1950's; a cast of 3; 25 minutes long.

The Phoenix, A Fable

Brother Dog, Sister Bird and Brother Mule meet on a country field and discuss the lamentable experiences of most creatures in the USA today. Brother Man, they decide, has created an unnatural, mechanical world, weaving more entrapping webs than Sister Spider, with none but himself the victim. They resolve to circulate a Declaration proclaiming that the human kingdom has sunk below the level of the animal kingdom. But then the magnificent Phoenix appears. A cast of 4; 7 minutes long.

The Sea Chest

This play is adapted from the first six chapters of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Captain Bill Bones, hiding a treasure map in his old sea chest, attracts an assortment of equally disreputable buccaneers to The Admiral Benbow Inn, at Black Hill Cove, near Bristol, England. Young Jim Hawkins is caught up in action filled adventure, and triumphs over great dangers - and the malicious Pew, a blind man - acquiring the map of Treasure Island for himself and his new friend, Doctor Livesey. This adaptation follows the book faithfully and the dialogue captures Stevenson's masterly mix of literary English with the salty idiom of the buccaneers. The time is January 1763; the cast numbers 8, and the running time is approximately 50 minutes.

The Transferred Ghost

Adapted from a whimsical short story by Frank R. Stockton, this play is set in a country home in New England in the late 1890's. Arthur Downes is the guest of the formidable John Hinckman, who is away traveling, and falls in love with his niece, Madeline. Arthur decides to court Madeline, but is greatly alarmed to encounter the ghost of John Hinckman. The ghost explains that he took on the ghost assignment precipitously and Hinckman survived after all; thus he is seeking an opportunity to transfer to another ghostship. He requests Arthur's help with his transfer and offers in exchange to help Arthur win Madeline. A cast of 3, 20 minutes long.

The Agricultural Editor

Adapted from a short story by Mark Twain (How I Edited an Agricultural Paper), this play is set in an office in a rural midwestern town in 1870. The Editor has cause to regret his choice of temporary replacement for a farmer's paper when the ire of the country folk is raised considerably by the young man's writing: "Turnips should never be pulled, it injures them . . . send a boy up and let him shake the tree." "The guano is a fine bird, but great care is necessary in rearing it. It should not be imported earlier than June or later than September . . ." A faithful adaptation capturing Mark Twain's broad, satiric humor. A cast of 6, 15 minutes long.

The Three Green Twigs

This play is adapted from Grimm's Fairy Tales. The pious old Hermit has been living in the forest for many years, carrying water up a mountain for the plants and animals, accompanied by his Angel. But one day a few unkind words escape him and as penance he goes out into the world to beg his bread, carrying with him a piece of wood given him by his Angel. When he saves the souls of the three Sons of an old Woman, three green twigs sprout from the wood and the old Hermit "is received once more into the favor of the Lord." A cast of 7, 13 minutes long.

See also: Illustrated Plays and Three Plays.