Place a heckler in the audience or bring an audience member on stage. Allow your main character to argue with the narrator. So don’t be afraid to experiment a little with your play! Let the narrator express personal opinions about what's happening onstage.
They've experienced actors who speak directly to the camera, characters who "know" they're in a television program, and games that allow almost-real interaction. Today's kids are used to media that breaks boundaries.
Nothing is more essential to a good play than well-written dialogue!ĥ) Step outside the box.
SHORT PLAYS FOR KIDS HOW TO
Listen to kids talk to get an idea of how to recreate their conversations, read your dialogue out loud with a critical ear, and polish, polish, polish. They use contractions and slang, start new sentences without finishing old ones, and interrupt each other. Real kids don't speak lyrically, reciting over-their-heads vocabulary with perfect grammar. Those parts are usually easy to write! Creating realistic dialogue for contemporary young characters can be much more challenging. Some characters need to sound pompous, old-fashioned, affected, formal, or otherwise theatrical. Other Students: What? Are you kidding? I don't believe it! (Etc.)Īnd most importantly, give secondary characters interesting personalities and some problems of their own – that makes them fun to play and entertaining to watch.Ĥ) Make sure your dialogue rings true. If you use group characters (see #2), give them lines that allow for adlibs so everyone gets to say something. Instead of letting your main character do all the talking, distribute lines among a number of roles. All the actors want to have their moment – and their parents expect to see it. Not only is it difficult for one kid to carry most of a play, it's just no fun. (How many Twitter followers will impress an agent?)ģ) Spread the glory around. When possible, include group characters like "Other Students" or "Rest of Student Council." Use some unisex names for characters or double up on titles, such as "Aunt/Uncle" or "Mr./Ms." Adding a narrator provides a large and handy gender neutral part.
But you can make your play adaptable to various situations by building in some casting flexibility. Of course, you want to follow publishers' guidelines about size of cast and number of female/male roles.
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