Center Stage Kids!

Need a play that kids can perform for kids? Need a play that has appropriate language and characters for kids? Need a play for kids that is entertaining for the audience and fun for the kids to perform? Having trouble finding one?

I did too!

I'm a professional playwright and summer theater camp teacher. I studied playwriting, acting and directing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Tx. I lived and worked in theater in Chicago for six years, and before you ask (because people always do) -- YES, I am published. I also write and perform one-woman shows for children at day cares and libraries around Texas.

There are lots of playwrights out there, many writing for young actors to perform. However, I teach theater at Esperanza Summer Camp and was having trouble finding interesting stories that were appropriate for the kids to perform. Many of the plays I read were too 'childish' for the kids to perform or had totally inappropriate language. For example, we don't allow the children at Esperanza to call each other names, such as 'idiot'....yet, the new plays for kids I found had that kind of language in it.

I also had a great deal of trouble finding plays with enough roles for everyone. Our program started out with just a few kids, but has quickly grown over the last seven years to nearly 30 kids that all want roles! Some of the kids just wanted to be on stage and not have any lines. Other kids wanted lots of lines! It was tough to find a play that would incorporate all the elements I needed to balance.

I realized I should probably write the plays myself, thereby controlling the language, number of roles and quality of storytelling & characters.

I have several plays for large cast youth to perform. Roles range from beginning levels to more experienced youth actors. Some of the plays are published and you will need to contact and pay royalty to the publisher. Other plays are still royalty free if you can meet the criteria (easy).

Peruse the play descriptions and let me know if you'd like to view a script. I can be reached at: cherduffin@sbcglobal (dot) net