Samantha's Theater Kit

American Girl: Samantha

by American Girl, Valerie Tripp

Direct and act in "Actions Speak Louder Than Words," a 20-minute play about Samantha's life in 1904. This kit contains four Play Scripts and a Director's Guide that includes tips on costumes, scenery, and more!

Genres: Childrens, Plays, Historical Fiction, Theatre

48 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

UNCLE GARD: By Jupiter, Sam! What a fine sampler! What does it say?

SAMANTHA: (proudly) It's going to say "Actions speak louder than words."

This American Girl Theater Kit contains four scripts along with a Director's Guide for a play focusing on the plot of Meet Samantha.

The Scripts

In this play, Samantha longs for a friend her age and meets Nellie, the new girl in the neighborhood. However, Samantha soon realizes that Nellie has a very different sort of life.

GRANDMARY: (firmly) My dear, Nellie has a responsibility to the Rylands. You won't be a good friend to her if you keep her from her work. (gently) Do you understand?

Nellie works for a living as a maid, and while it is hard work...it helps her family and allows her to stay out of the dangerous factories. But then tragedy strikes.

NELLIE: (sadly) I wish I were good at being a maid. I try, but I'm just not strong enough. ... She said if she heard me cough one more time, she'd send me back to the city.

And Samantha must decide what her action should be when her words do not work.

Honestly, it's a fairly well-done play - it's short, sweet and a bit serious. It deals with real issues that children were facing in Samantha's era.

In this play, there are five acts and six main characters (Samantha, Grandmary, Nellie, Uncle Gard, Eddie Ryland and Mrs. Ryland), though in a pinch a couple of the characters can be doubled up.

There's enough stage direction so the actors know what to do but it also gives them leniency on how to play the role.

The Director's Guide

One thing that I thought was super cool about this theater kit was the director's guide.

This guide begins with an introduction to Samantha and her world - to provide some framework for what the play is based upon. From we learn about 'planning the play' - providing a quick summary of the play and then it goes into what parts need to be played and what else needs to be done for a play to be successful.

There's a brief section about the characters - providing background for each of them like their age, personality, and behavior - and then we learn about the director's role. I really liked how this guide focused on how a director helps build the play (rather than criticize or control the actors).

There's an overview of how the Stage works for the play (explaining basic things such as what "stage left" means.)

From there we learn about Props, Sets, and Costumes that relate to this play (though, the kit does mention that you don't need to do these for a fun night, these are optional extras). And finally, the guide ends with a hairbow tutorial and mustache tutorial.

Overall - WOW!

This is my first time exploring Samantha's world through the theater kit and (much like all the companion books), I was really impressed by the attention to detail and dedication to the craft.

I can't say that I would really want to put on this play as a child - it is more serious in tone than the stuff I was interested in at that time - but it is really well-done.

More Reviews in the Samantha-verse

Main Series:
Meet Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha Learns a Lesson - ★★★★★
Samantha's Surprise - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday, Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha Saves the Day - ★★★★★
Changes for Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Boxed Set - ★★★★☆

Best Friend Book:
Nellie's Promise - ★★★★★

Short Stories:
Samantha's Winter Party - ★★★★★
Samantha Saves the Wedding - ★★★★☆
Samantha and the Missing Pearls - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Blue Bicycle - ★★★★★
Samantha's Special Talent - ★★★☆☆
Samantha's Short Story Collection - ★★★★☆

Mystery Books (My Order):
The Curse of Ravenscourt - ★★★★★
The Stolen Sapphire - ★★★★☆
Clue in the Castle Tower - ★★★★☆
Danger in Paris - ★★★☆☆
The Cry of the Loon - ★★★★☆

Additional Historical and Activity Books:
The American Girls Cookbook - ★★★★★
The American Girls Party Book - ★★★★★
Samantha's Cookbook - ★★★★★
Samantha's Cooking Studio - ★★★★★
Samantha's Craft Book - ★★★★★
Samantha's Friendship Fun - ★★★☆☆
Samantha's Ocean Liner Adventure - ★★★★★
Samantha's Theater Kit - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Valentine Crafts - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha's Wedding Memories - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha's World: A Girl's-eye View of the Turn of the Century - ★★★★★
The Titanic (American Girl: Real Stories From My Time) - ★★★☆☆
Welcome to Samantha's World · 1904 - ★★★★★

Beforever (Re-Release of Main Series in mid 2010s):
Manners & Mischief - ★★☆☆☆
Lost and Found - ★★★☆☆

Abridged Version (Re-Release of Main Series in 2020s):
Samantha: The Gift - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha: Lost and Found - ★★★★☆

Beginner Reader & Picture Books:
Samantha Helps a Friend (Step Into Reading) - ★★★☆☆
Happy Birthday! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Happy Holidays! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★★
Making a Difference (Little Golden Book) - ★★★☆☆
Time for School! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆

[Faith Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a play, what a kit, and what a shame it is no longer in print! The instructions encourage creativity, imagination, and even (although not directly) hard work (as it discusses making props and the set). Basics about theatre are given in the instructions, along with a few fun facts about Samantha's time and how theatre is done. The story itself is based heavily off of Meet Samantha, but it is not identical, so it is great fun to read what feels like a whole new story for Samantha, yet one that is simultaneously nostalgic. No, there are not costumes or props included--but if there had been, the kit would have been extravagently expensive. Whether you have tweens who enjoy American Girl and theatre or you are an American Girl fanatic, this is highly, highly recommended!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This theater kit is based mostly on first Samantha book, though it has a few scenes from the second book mixed in to smooth over parts of the original book that skipped over how Samantha and Nellie became friends and give it a happier ending, rather than a hook to the next story.

Besides the script, it also contains a Directors guide with helpful tips for any production and some history of theater in 1904.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play lightly adapts Meet Samantha: An American Girl, and the cast, stage settings, and props are limited enough to make it feasible for girls to put the play on by themselves with little to no adult supervision.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute, it reminded me of all the American Girl books I used to read! If I'm not mistaken, I think Samantha's play is based off of her first book? If not, I clearly must have read the skit before. Either way, very cute, I enjoyed a trip down memory lane.

[Rivkah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little play for girls to put on.

[Juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun. Basically it's a whole kit for putting on a show. It has a program and different scripts for the actors/actresses to read. Fun!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samantha's Theater Kit by American Girl – I think my grandmother bought me this one summer, but I never had a theatre nerd friend who would act it out with me. Happy Reading!