What do you think?
Rate this book
Thirty Short Comedy Plays for Teens
Teens love to act crazy, push boundaries, take chances, and explore opportunities, so why not channel their energy and excitement onto the stage? These 30 short plays, ranging in length from three to seven minutes, give actors the opportunity to create outrageous characters in the context of situations they know so well. With natural dialog and believable situations, young actors will love that there are no complex issues to deal with and no lessons to learn -- just real life teen dilemmas presented in a comedy format. Written for mixed casts of two to six actors, each play is complete with stage directions, simple props, and a setting. Contemporary situations enable students, actors, and the audience to relate easily to the material, such as Un-Identical Twins, Four Boyfriends, Last Free Summer , and The Babysitter. Suitable for all ages, even inexperienced young actors will have the opportunity to entertain audiences a they show off their talents and do what teens do best -- laugh!
172 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2007
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 22, 2010
Genre: Drama (Plays)
Award: There were no awards listed for this book.
Star Rating:Three Stars
Grade level(s):6-9th grade The language is easily accessible for most students. Within this age range, students still love to get up and do a well written skit. The play allows students to visualize the experiences of the characters, while simultaneously delving into the issues that are discussed by young people at school and at home and all of the ramifications that were involved in survival during this turbulent growing period.
Summary: There are thirty of them. None are quite the length of formal plays, so each entry could best be described as a playlet or vignette. Each discusses a real life adolescent issue written as comedy. Students will most likely connect with the characters, as each presents a new challenge and pushes the actors to characterize and address issues that many might have experienced or only just imagined.
The plays are for varying troupe sizes from two character dialogs to six actors. At times, the situations are crash and the dialog sarcastic and sardonic, but this very element makes its youthful appeal all the more evident.
Evaluation: Thirty Short Comedy Plays for Teens is a good example of the use of the drama genre in young adult literature. This compilation of plays has realistic themes and topics (e.g. relationships, struggling for or dealing with increased freedom from significant adults) to which most young adults can easily relate. Young adults will easily be able to understand the language and communication, both verbal and nonverbal, and these are similar to their own. The drama should provide real pleasure for young adults as they either watch or participate in the action. The drama is cognitively appropriate in content and action, neither so low-level that young adults consider it “elementary” not too advanced for young adults’ thinking capacity.
Description of the ending(s): The ending each of these individual plays is either closed, semi-closed or open. All of the plays broach subjects such as individuality, peer pressure, relationships, etc., thus resolutions of each play are not necessarily easy or pretty, and often have an ultimate conclusion or space for creative theories.
b. Choice Young adult Books
1. Suggestions This book of plays would be useful in teaching these elements:
1. Students to analyze text (e.g., word structure, context clues).
2. Students to select appropriate strategies to develop and enhance reading comprehension.
3. Students to identify the characteristics of various literary genres, movements, and critical approaches.
(As all of the formats are plays, students are allowed to employ kinesthetic movement into their repertoire of tools to analyze, interpret and critique literature.)
2. Read Aloud “The Kissing Booth” pg. 47 Carla: And we do appreciate you supporting our club. Ken: What club is that? Carla: The Matchmaker Club. Ken: What’s that about? Alex: I know. It’s a club whose main objective is to help people find true love, right? Carla: I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. Ken: Good guess, though. Alex: OK, then what are matching up? Stacy: Animals.
“Four Boyfriends” Pg. 135 Lisa: Brooke, I’ve heard of a two-timer before, but this is going way too far! Brooke: Lisa, you just don’t understand! Eric, James, Danny, and Phillip all think they’re the only one. Lisa: But four boyfriends? Four? Brooke: What’s the problem? They’re happy, I’m happy. And believe me, with four boyfriends, I’m really happy. Lisa: I’m warning you, Brooke, you’re going to get caught.
“The Class Clown” Pg. 17 Mr. Pruitt: Do you realize how hard it is to teach a class when you have one disruptive, rude, and immature student? Wesley: (Smiles.)But don’t you think that every class needs a class clown? You know, add a little fun to the room? Mr. Pruitt: Oh, you think so? Wesley: Honestly . . . yes. Mr. Pruitt: OK, then I have an idea. For a major grade in my class, you can teach the class today. (Hands him the book.) Chapter twenty-five. “The South and the Slavery Controversy.” Wesley: But . . . but . . . Mr. Pruitt: Stand up, stand up! Wesley: But . . . Mr. Pruitt: And if you blow it, Mr. Hollis, it’s a zero for you . . . and you’ll be on your way to the principal’s office!
Award: There were no awards listed for this book.
Star Rating:Three Stars
Grade level(s):6-9th grade The language is easily accessible for most students. Within this age range, students still love to get up and do a well written skit. The play allows students to visualize the experiences of the characters, while simultaneously delving into the issues that are discussed by young people at school and at home and all of the ramifications that were involved in survival during this turbulent growing period.
Summary: There are thirty of them. None are quite the length of formal plays, so each entry could best be described as a playlet or vignette. Each discusses a real life adolescent issue written as comedy. Students will most likely connect with the characters, as each presents a new challenge and pushes the actors to characterize and address issues that many might have experienced or only just imagined.
The plays are for varying troupe sizes from two character dialogs to six actors. At times, the situations are crash and the dialog sarcastic and sardonic, but this very element makes its youthful appeal all the more evident.
Evaluation: Thirty Short Comedy Plays for Teens is a good example of the use of the drama genre in young adult literature. This compilation of plays has realistic themes and topics (e.g. relationships, struggling for or dealing with increased freedom from significant adults) to which most young adults can easily relate. Young adults will easily be able to understand the language and communication, both verbal and nonverbal, and these are similar to their own. The drama should provide real pleasure for young adults as they either watch or participate in the action. The drama is cognitively appropriate in content and action, neither so low-level that young adults consider it “elementary” not too advanced for young adults’ thinking capacity.
Description of the ending(s): The ending each of these individual plays is either closed, semi-closed or open. All of the plays broach subjects such as individuality, peer pressure, relationships, etc., thus resolutions of each play are not necessarily easy or pretty, and often have an ultimate conclusion or space for creative theories.
b. Choice Young adult Books
1. Suggestions This book of plays would be useful in teaching these elements:
1. Students to analyze text (e.g., word structure, context clues).
2. Students to select appropriate strategies to develop and enhance reading comprehension.
3. Students to identify the characteristics of various literary genres, movements, and critical approaches.
(As all of the formats are plays, students are allowed to employ kinesthetic movement into their repertoire of tools to analyze, interpret and critique literature.)
2. Read Aloud “The Kissing Booth” pg. 47 Carla: And we do appreciate you supporting our club. Ken: What club is that? Carla: The Matchmaker Club. Ken: What’s that about? Alex: I know. It’s a club whose main objective is to help people find true love, right? Carla: I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. Ken: Good guess, though. Alex: OK, then what are matching up? Stacy: Animals.
“Four Boyfriends” Pg. 135 Lisa: Brooke, I’ve heard of a two-timer before, but this is going way too far! Brooke: Lisa, you just don’t understand! Eric, James, Danny, and Phillip all think they’re the only one. Lisa: But four boyfriends? Four? Brooke: What’s the problem? They’re happy, I’m happy. And believe me, with four boyfriends, I’m really happy. Lisa: I’m warning you, Brooke, you’re going to get caught.
“The Class Clown” Pg. 17 Mr. Pruitt: Do you realize how hard it is to teach a class when you have one disruptive, rude, and immature student? Wesley: (Smiles.)But don’t you think that every class needs a class clown? You know, add a little fun to the room? Mr. Pruitt: Oh, you think so? Wesley: Honestly . . . yes. Mr. Pruitt: OK, then I have an idea. For a major grade in my class, you can teach the class today. (Hands him the book.) Chapter twenty-five. “The South and the Slavery Controversy.” Wesley: But . . . but . . . Mr. Pruitt: Stand up, stand up! Wesley: But . . . Mr. Pruitt: And if you blow it, Mr. Hollis, it’s a zero for you . . . and you’ll be on your way to the principal’s office!
July 21, 2012
Great choice of short plays for all ages, 11-16!
March 21, 2014
It is really funny
December 21, 2010
good humourous book
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews