10 GREAT PLAYS FOR HIGH SCHOOL ONE ACT PLAY COMPETITIONS

This is me, your friendly host, Bobby Keniston

Hello, everyone!  With school starting right back up, and drama teachers all over the country (all over the world, in fact) will be wanting to order their plays for the year, if they haven't done so already.  That's why today I decided to do a post where I tell you about some plays that are perfect for high school one act play competitions. 

How do I know these plays I'm about to list are perfect for high school play competitions?  Because I wrote them!

Now, before you get the idea that I'm some kind of self-serving playwright, I want to assure you that I am also high school drama teacher who LOVES one act play competitions.  I always participated in them when I was a student, and I find the program incredibly valuable now.  One Act plays provide a deep potential for the education of student actors.  And I wrote each of these plays I am about the list with the intention of them being solid One Act competition plays. 

Heck, I wrote them to be WINNING competition plays! 

So, the title of each play will also be a link to read more or order the play.  If you like the synopsis, click on the play title to go to its official page and read a script preview if you like. 

Note:  I am listing these plays in the order in which I wrote them, not in any other kind of "superlative" order.

CONFESSION:  KAFKA IN HIGH SCHOOL
* available from Playscripts, Inc.  5 males, 4 females, simple unit set
Model student Connor K. wakes up one morning to find himself in his high school's conference room, being interrogated by the principal. How he got there, Connor doesn't know, but the principal is insistent that the only way out of the room is for Connor to confess to a crime that he couldn't have committed -- in fact, he doesn't even know what he is being accused of! Only ever meaning to be a good student, he learns that sometimes you have to speak up for yourself against injustice. This new twist on Kafka's The Trial brings the absurdism and existentialism of his work to high school with keen insight and dark humor.
Note:  This play has been used to great success in one act competitions in the U.S. and Canada since 2010!

CITIZEN'S ARREST
*available from Brooklyn Publishers   Flexible cast of 20, simple set
Dennis, an average guy, is caught littering by Dana, a “concerned citizen” who places him under Citizen's Arrest. While Dennis attempts to keep friendly about the situation, Dana stops every passerby to play a part in her "citizen's trial." Before he even knows what's happening, Dennis finds himself facing an out-of-work actress District Attorney, an ornery office temp Judge, a Jane Austen-obsessed construction worker Bailiff, and his own coffee shop employee Defense Attorney. As the "trial" progresses, a disgruntled tour group becomes the jury. Will Dennis be found not guilty at his "citizen's trial," or will he become victim to the will of the people? With plenty of laughs, mild social commentary, and a surprise ending, "Citizen's Arrest" is a perfect competition piece for high schools, and yet is simple enough to delight even at the middle school level. With twenty lively characters and one simple set, “Citizen's Arrest” is easy to stage and a hoot to perform!
Note:  Perfect to accommodate a large cast!

I DON'T MIND THAT YOU'RE UGLY
* available from Brooklyn Publishers  4 males, 5 females, simple unit set
Clyde is waiting at “The Only Fancy Restaurant in Town,” anxious to propose to his beautiful girlfriend, Kira. There is only one problem: Clyde is a very average-looking guy. When Kira arrives, looking stunning, Clyde's night is thrown into a whirlwind when everyone in the restaurant wants to gawk at his bride-to-be. When Kira accidentally makes the comment, “I don't mind that you're ugly,” to Clyde, the night really takes off in an unexpected direction. Will Clyde marry the girl of his dreams, or will his relationship be ruined at this wacky restaurant? Including several colorful characters, this one-act romantic comedy is sure to delight and make you say, “Awwww,” all at once!
Note:  One of my most produced one acts!

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP BEING AFRAID OF MY GYM TEACHER
*available from Eldridge Plays and Musicals  5 males, 7 females, 4 either, doubling possible, simple sets
Forget the school yard bully! There's always one teacher who can intimidate us! Will, an average high school freshman, used to love going to school…until he stumbled upon the terror of gym class under the formidable Mr. Breakwater's rule. Will's coddling mother and nervous wreck of a father (who hides out in the bathtub) are worried. Will's friends, who call themselves the Geek Squad, want to devise a plan to take Mr. Breakwater down. Can Will find a way to stop being afraid of his gym teacher? With a romance novel-obsessed principal, a jock chorus, and an unorthodox child psychologist, "How I Learned to Stop Being Afraid of My Gym Teacher" is a hilarious comedy with a touching and poignant ending.
Note:  My Number 1 produced play across the country!

THE DARK TOWER
* available from Eldridge Plays and Musicals, 5 m, 7 w, or with doubling 5 m, 4 w  Simple sets
Roland, a warrior and perhaps the son of a king, has reached the Dark Tower. After years of eschewing death, he seeks nothing but sweet release after lifetimes of wandering the Earth. At the Dark Tower, he is confronted by Three Sisters, each in her own window. While the Amber Sister taunts him, and the Silent Sister pities him, the Dark Sister encourages him to release his burdens by sharing his life story. As Roland travels through his memories, we meet classic characters such as Merlin and Nimue (the Lady of the Lake), as well as his wife, friends, and family that Roland has lost to the Dark Tower. Told in lyrical language and staged simply with theatricality, this adaptation traces the story back to its original roots, incorporating elements of the Arthurian legends, giving a depth and completeness to the tale that has never been seen before.
Note:  Also a great piece for community theatres!

FRANKIE AND THE GINGERBREAD BOY (ONE ACT VERSION)
* available from Brooklyn Publishers, 6 females, 5 males, simple settings
Frankie is an outcast, constantly put-upon by her peers. She is the quintessential loner. The only peace she finds is from her baking. One day Frankie decides to bake herself a companion, a perfect love who shares her soul and gives her joy. When her creation follows her to school one day, the social order of the high school is threatened, and the cruelty Frankie has known reaches new heights. Told by an energetic high school Chorus, this is a play that employs rhythm, dark humor, and high theatricality to tell its gripping story. With nods to Frankenstein, the Pygmalion myth, and even the Gingerbread Man nursery rhyme, this play will leave audiences riveted with its poignant tale of love, creation, cruelty, satire and tragedy. This one-act version of Frankie and the Gingerbread Boy is the perfect length for high school competitions.
Note:  Perfect social awareness play in regards to bullying!

MY PROM DATE WAS A FELON
available from Brooklyn Publishers, 4 females, 3 males, 1 either, 2 simple sets
Noah doesn't have a date to the prom, which, according to some, means he is missing out on one of the great milestones in his life. Feeling sorry for himself on Prom Night, he decides to get dressed up in a makeshift tuxedo (including the bow tie he has to wear for jazz band), and go out to a fancy restaurant, confronting what he's missing head-on. After a run-in with a rude waitress, he meets Indigo, a girl in a leather jacket and boots who decides to invite herself to dine with him. Indigo is a strange, sweet girl, who may or may not have just broken out of a juvenile detention facility. After Indigo helps him deal with a nasty bully, a smitten Noah asks her to go to the prom. Has Noah finally found the high school sweetheart he's been looking for, or will his prom date be escorted away by the police?
Note:  Can be a companion piece to How I Learned to Stop Being Afraid of My Gym Teacher, or stand alone.  I have seen this performed at one act competition, and it did very well.

AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA
available from Brooklyn Publishers, 2 females, 3 males, simple settings
A Good Doctor travels to an Unnamed Country that is in desperate need of help. He quickly learns that the government of this country distrusts all Americans, and that he is in great danger from the one called Peacemaker. After a bombing in the streets, the Doctor desperately tries to save the life of an injured girl, only to be apprehended by the Peacemaker on suspicion of terrorism. He is subjected to the questions of a sinister interrogator and then placed in a cell, alone, with only his thoughts of life back at home and the girl he tried so hard to save. This dramatic fairy tale is an emotional story of what it means to be good, and the strength we all have within, even when faced with dire circumstances. Perfect for one act play competitions!
Note:  I personally took this play to competitions with my school group to great success (2 acting awards, and a lighting award)

BETTY LOU TWINKLE'S TABLOID SCANDAL
* available from Brooklyn Publishers, 4-5 females, 3-6 males, simple settings
Betty Lou Twinkle wants to be a normal teenage girl and play soccer. Unfortunately, her mother has other ideas. Ever since Betty Lou was a toddler on “Divas in Diapers,” her mother has dragged her to every pageant or reality show she could find, determined to make her little girl the brightest star in the world. After winning “America’s Future One-Hit Wonders,” Betty Lou’s mother hires an obnoxious “Fame Mentor” who claims the only way to stay famous is to have a scandal in the tabloids. Tired of it all, Betty Lou escapes to the park to meet with her secret friend who hides under the bandstand, and appreciates Betty Lou for who she really is. Will Betty Lou find comfort and peace with her secret friend, or is this friend the very tabloid scandal Betty Lou’s mother has been waiting for? This laugh-out-loud satire targets the very notion of teenage fame, stage mothers, and the exploitative nature of the media.
Note:  New this school year!  You could be the first to produce it!

AVOIDING THE PITFALLS OF HIGH SCHOOL DATING
*available from Eldridge Plays and Musicals,  5 males, 5 females, simple unit set
Welcome to "Avoiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating," a seminar for high school students who have trouble going on dates. Your hosts for the evening are Lucky Daye and Starry Knight, two people who have invested their entire life savings into creating this simple system of five "never-fail" rules for dating success. Lenny and Matilda, two outcasts, have been brought in to demonstrate the system by going on a series of speed-dates to bring the five simple rules to life. Through a series of humorous and humiliating scenes and hilarious one-liners, we will see if the system is really all it is cracked up to be, or if Lucky and Starry are in for a long, long night. This one-act comedy is simple to produce, and will keep the audience rolling in the aisles-- even if they came without a date!
Note:  Brand new and lots of fun!

Thank you for reading my post today!  If you choose to utilize any of the plays on this list for your high school one act play competitions, let me say thank you in advance, and feel free to contact me at theater.is.a.sport@gmail.com with any questions or comments!

Have a great school year, and remember--- theater is a sport!

If you're interested, I've started a blog where I'm going to write a story every day for a year.  Each story will be between 100-250 words.  I call it Micro Fiction Experiment or Bobby's Short Shorts.
CLICK HERE TO READ IT!

A Full List of My Published Plays

Today at Theater is a Sport, I am going to take the opportunity to answer a few questions I receive in one giant swoop.  The questions are:  
1.  How many plays do you have published?,
and
2.  Who publishes them. 

I am grateful for these questions, because it shows an interest in my work, and I honestly appreciate that.  And, hey, what's the point of a blog if you don't toot your own horn once in awhile? 

Each of my titles will also serve as a link to go and read some about them (all of them have a script preview as well). 

I hope you enjoy.... (Oh, P.S.... I have tried to list them in order of acceptance for publication, but I may have goofed a few... particularly "Little Spaces").

1.   Rumplestilskin the R-Dawg, Hip-Hop Minstrel  (Brooklyn Publishers)

2.  Confession:  Kafka in High School  (Playscripts, Inc.)

3.  Death and Pez  (Brooklyn Publishers)

4.  Sky Baby and the Bedtime Story  (Brooklynn Publishers)

5.  Citizen's Arrest  (Brooklyn Publishers)

6. I Don't Mind That You're Ugly   (Brooklyn Publishers)

7.  You Take it From Here  (a theater book of improv starters from Brooklyn publishers, co-authored wih Geff Moyer, Bradley Walton, Jerry Rabushka, and Chris Stiles)

8.  How I Learned to Stop Being Afraid of My Gym Teacher  (Eldridge Plays)

9.  Forgetful Remembrance  (Brooklyn Publishers)

10.  Frankie and the Gingerbread Boy (Brooklyn Publishers)

11.  The Dark Tower  (Eldridge Plays)

12.  The Girl I'm Gonna Marry  (Heuer Publishing)

13.  Little Spaces  (Brooklyn Publishers)

14.  Falling (And Not Getting Up)   (Brooklyn Publishers)

15.  My Prom Date Was a Felon  (Brooklyn Publsihers)

16.  Aeroplane Over the Sea  (Brooklyn Publishers) 

17.  Frankie and the Gingerbread Boy, One-Act Version   (/Brooklyn Publishers)

18.  End of the Movie  (Brooklyn Publishers)

19.  Bees are in the Park  (Brooklyn Publishers)

20.  The Limping Wolfman  (Brooklyn Publishers)

21.  Actor's Choice:  Monologues for Teens, Volume 2   (Collection of monologues from Playscripts, Inc.)

22.  Betty Lou Twinkle's Tabloid Scandal   (available now from Brooklyn!)

I have three other plays right now under consideration.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

So thanks for reading Theater is a Sport.  Tomorrow is lesson number three in the online playwriting tutorial.  You won't want to miss it.

Until then, this is Bobby Keniston reminding you that theater is not only an artform and craft--- it is also a sport.

HIGH SCHOOL IS KAFKAESQUE: How and Why I Wrote "Confession: Kafka in High School"

From a production of "Confession: Kafka In High School" by Aitkin High School

I love every play I have written.  They are all flawed, of couse, but each one is special to me.  However, if I was forced, absolutely life-dependent on an honest answer, I would have to say that, in my heart, I believe "Confession: Kafka in High School" to be my best published play so far. 

So, I was living in Dover-Foxcroft, and had finished directing and starring in a production of "Little Shop of Horros" at the Center Theatre (a production I'm very fond of).  I met a great deal of people who were interested in reading my plays and who began to encourage me to submit my work.  In truth, I hadn't finished a new play for quite some time, but, after fixing up my play RUMPLESTILSKIN THE R-DAWG, HIP-HOP MINSTREL and submitting it, I decided it was time for me to start working on another play.  After all, it had been at least two or three years since I had written a play.  But I had friends now, people who were genuinely interested, people I wanted to impress (which can be a great motivating factor), and a desire to really see if I could, after wasting so much time, actually pursue what I had studied at Bennington. 

So, one night in late December, after I had already submitted Rumplestilskin to a few places, I found myself with a bout of insomnia.  I had been hired to direct the one-act plays for Foxcroft Academy, where I had been a student once upon a time.  I started to think of my own life in high school and how, so often, I felt pretty much powerless, like just another cog in a machine I had no real control over.

I have insomnia intermittently, and often it is a terrible experience not being able to sleep.  But I am truly thankful for this particular bout of insomnia.  I opened up my laptop, opened up a new document, and made a title page:  CONFESSION, a one-act absurdist play by Bobby Keniston.  And then I wrote the play in about two and a half hours.  And then I slept pretty well afterwards.

"Confession" (the original title) poured out of me as a fully-formed idea, so I have to believe that aspects of the play had been forming in my subconscious for some time.  I know I wanted to write a play that could be used for high school one-act competitions.  But the story itself?  I had no idea it was waiting around in my brain, looking forward to being typed out.

Confession: Kafka in High School is about a young man named Connor K (huh... get it?) who wakes up in the conference room of his high school, still in his pajamas, sleeping on a table.  He is greeted by his Principal, the formidable Ms. Delisle (rhymes with Bell Isle), who offers him some breakfast before accusing him of a crime.  The problem is, Ms. Delisle will not tell poor Connor what crime he supposedly committed.  But it seems pretty serious.  Ms. Delisle makes it clear that Connor will be in very big trouble until he confesses.  Along the way, Connor is confronted by his parents (his mother a weeping mess, and his father only able to say the words "You.... you!"), a peer mediator, the gorilla-like assistant principal, and, finally, three representatives of the "Free Connor K" campaign. 

Connor, who had always kept his head down at school and avoided any kind of cofrontation, now appears to be the center of the high school universe, all because of some incredible act of rebellion he performed.  Only, he can't get anyone to tell him what he did, and is pretty sure he didn't do anything. 

I had a great deal of fun writing the play.  I am fond of the characters, and the absurd touches in the script.  I absolutely love Connor's father who only speaks in variations of "You...you!", and Mr. Demetri, Ms. Delilse's yes-man assistant (she literally makes him perform a gorilla dance and make sounds like an ape).  I giggled a great deal while writing it, but I also felt a genuine connection with Connor's predicament, and enjoyed watching him go from confused and scared and pass through a variety of emotions toward anger, and ending with a monologue that strengthens his resolve to confess nothing. 

Certainly I was inspired by Kafka while writing the play, but there were so many more of my favorites who kept creeping into my mind--- Edward Albee, Ionesco, Pinter--- just to name a few.  As I read it now, I am proud of creating a work that I think helps take the absurdity of those writers, often with their existential themes, and makes them relatable to high school students. 

A production of "Confession: Kafka in High School" performed by Wellington Heights Secondary School

Why is it my favorite?  Well, there's the gorilla dance of course.  But aside from that, I think I'm so fond of "Confession: Kafka in High School" because it says a lot of what I feel about education (both from the student and administrator's perspective).  I think the character of Ms. Delilse is one of the finest parts I have ever written for an actress.  She truly has some lines that still surprise me when I read them over, such as, "No, Connor, my favorite thing about your generation is how easy it is to separate your from your ideals.  My generation didn't give up our ideals until the world crushed us down, or we grew tired of sharing apartments with twelve other people who couldn't pay rent because there was no market for their free verse protests.  Your generation loses its ideals with the next commercial break."

By the way, I had a lovely fourth grade teacher named Miss Belisle, and my Ms. Delilse is in no way based on the kind teacher I was fortunate to be instructed by in her reading class. 

I think the reason it truly shines through as my favorite of my own is because, of all my published plays so far, I think it has the most palpable dramatic arc (something I'll be talking about in my playwriting tutorial), and is just the right length.  Nothing seems gratuitous to me.  I think the structure works, absurdity or not. 

After that night of insomnia, a very dear friend read the script out loud with me.  She loved it, too.  I changed exactly one line, and then submitted it. 

Incidentally, the day after Rumplestilskin was accepted for publication by Brooklyn Publishers, Confession was accepted for publication by the good folks at Playscripts, Inc.  Talk about a great couple of days!  To have the first two scripts I submitted in quite some time picked up by two different publishers was pretty amazing.  Playscripts is a great company, and were very kind about my script.  They did ask me to change the title to something like Kafka in High School or something along those lines.  I compromised by making that the subtitle, but now, looking back, I wonder if perhaps they hadn't been right.  Maybe I should have thought of something like High School is Kafkaesque or Kafka for the High School Experience, but at the time, "confession" just seemed so vital to me.  Of course, I'll never know if it would have sold better otherwise, so I guess it's not important. 

Along thse lines, while I am grateful for every production the show has received, I do feel perhaps it is a bit of an underutilized gem (though I have absolutely no complaints at the many ways Playscripts has helped to promote it, and, it has received more than one production every year it's been in print, something I can't say for all of my plays).  I don't know--- in a way, I thought it had some of the same interesting humor that a play like "This is a Test" used to great success. 

I'm a little worried that this post is coming off as a bit self-congratulating, but I'm really not trying to.  In a way, because of the manner in which the play is written, I sort of still feel surprised that I wrote the thing whenever I take a look at it.  I can almost read it like I would read a friend's play and say, 'Wow.  Great job."  Considering how critical I am of most of the stuff I write, I can't feel too guilty about really liking this one a great deal.

If you have any other questions about Confession:  Kafka in High School, feel free to comment below or contact me at theater.is.a.sport@gmail.com  If you would like to read a script preview or order a copy, please visit this link:  http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=2076

Also, I was quite proud to learn that Playscripts chose to include Connor's monologue from the play in their collection Actor's Choice:  Monologues for Teens, Vol. II.  I don't feel bad plugging this book, becaue it contains wonderful monologues by so many talented writers.  I was truly surprised and honored to be included in the volume with them.  You can take a look at that book here:  http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=2495

Okay, thanks for reading this edition of Theater is a Sport!  If you would like to learn more about who I am, you can visit my facebook playwright page--- https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Bobby-Keniston-Playwright-Page/148232788536601  And if you want to become a fan of Theater is a Sport on facebook, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheaterIsASport

Thanks again for reading.  See you tomorrow with a blog post about whatever I desire...

Until then, remember:  theater is a sport.