TWO ACTORS "The Last Can" A short play about two people in love. "Wishing" - Monologue from a published play - Female * Three Actors * Four Actors * Five Actors * Six Actors However, there’s an error on page 12 where Don Pedro enters and speaks to Claudio, except he’s not quite on stage yet.Small Cast Plays (free scripts for 1 to 5 actors) So you get the script with the dozen typos though most are very minor. I went back to fix them and the original version that wasn’t pdf was missing and editing from the pdf was difficult. Note: There are a few typos in this script. We also had Beatrice sing Shakespeare’s “Sigh No More, Ladies/Hey, Nonny Nonny” at the start of the show. We staged our version in the 1920’s with music, but you could stage it in any era. Also, Leonato’s condemnation of Hero is greatly softened, as is Hero’s alleged betrayal. Innuendo likely to be understood by children has been removed from this version. This play is often not performed by children because of it has more innuendo than some of the other comedies.
It includes many roles, but some can be condensed for a smaller cast. It could be a good script for a classroom or co-op performance since it’s of a much more limited scope. This script was cut extremely short specifically for performance in the twenty minute time limit set by the Folger Library’s Children’s Shakespeare Festival. However, I’ve also cut two plays for us to use ourselves and thought I’d provide those scripts here for anyone to use. From that, I edited the scripts by taking some of the text away (for The Tempest) or adding some back in (for A Midsummer Night’s Dream). They’re short, with lots of roles for a large group, and with Shakespeare’s original language throughout, except for a narrator. Both ways can work.įor elementary schoolers, I found Shakespeare with Children by Elizabeth Weinstein to be the best source of scripts. However, there was something nice about keeping costs low and having other parents pitch in to help bring everything to fruition. It was nice not to have to scramble for spaces and afforded us some amazing set and costume help. This year, I decided to approach the theater where Mushroom has done a couple of shows and see if they’d like to work with me to try and expand their homeschool program. And we’ve performed in two local professional theaters, a church stage, and a big meeting room. We’ve used someone’s home, a church gym, a local historic building, and a theater space to rehearse. The biggest challenge for me has consistently been finding rehearsal and performance spaces.It can work with a ton of cool set things or nothing but a few simple props. I’ve had four productions, all with massively different types and amounts of set pieces and costuming. Don’t be afraid to be creative with sets and costumes.Saying a long Shakespeare line – no problem! But remembering not to do it with your back to the audience and standing behind your best friend – that’s hard. Don’t underestimate how hard it is for kids to learn blocking.Give them some time to learn the lines after handing out roles and then get started, with everyone off book all at once. Before about that age, the majority of kids can’t really act and hold a script and read lines all at the same time. If you’ve got kids under age 10, have them learn their lines before beginning rehearsals in earnest.Kids learn things like blocking and projecting their voices that way, plus thinking of rehearsal as a fun time can be important. Don’t underestimate the need to play theater games and have fun, even right up to the wire.Most homeschoolers are practically begging to have their kids have an opportunity to do some meaty Shakespeare. The kids, the scripts, and even the spaces can all fall into place. The most important thing you need to direct a Shakespeare show with kids is the will to do it.We’ve now done this four different ways and I through all that, I stand by all that advice. We just wrapped up Much Ado About Nothing, which was by far our most elaborate production. It’s from as we were gearing up to perform Macbeth a couple of years ago. And here it is:Īdvice for Any Foolhardy Shakespeare Directors Out There We’re definitely reaching the stage of homeschooling where I can look back through this blog and find exactly the thing I’d like to write again about what we’re up to. I haven’t been posting much in the last few weeks because two events have taken over our lives – Destination Imagination (more on that in a post soon) and Shakespeare. Three of the fabulous actors from our Much Ado show hanging out backstage (via Highwood Theater)