Stand up E-Book

John Reed Middleton

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 54

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Stand Up is a play for students in Years 8, 9 or 10 (Level 4). It is designed for a normal-sized English class and for students with varying interests in acting. Since there are 41 roles - none of which are really minor - students who enjoy acting can perform in several scenes and play to their heart's content, whereas students who aren't particularly keen on acting only have one role to master in one single scene. Every scene deals in a very special way with the question of moral courage and the many challenges young people face in our modern world when it comes time to stand up for what is right. There are monologues, dialogues and scenes with as many as eight or nine performers. The themes are geared to extreme situations which confront students nowadays - such as peer pressure, cyber bullying and gender-related bullying, exploitation, unprovoked violence, self-destruction and rejection - and offer young actresses and actors the opportunity to discover a wide range of relevant dramatic topics and expression while performing.

Leseprobe

Other plays from THE PLAYLET SERIES by John Middleton:

EVERY DAY – a play in 10 scenes about EVERYDAY LIFE for Years 2, 3 and 4 (Level 1/1)

FRIENDS – a play in 9 scenes about FRIENDS for Years 3, 4 and 5 (Level 2/1)

NEW KEY CHAIN – a play in 15 scenes about KEYS for Years 6, 7 and 8 (Level 3/1)

LUCKY CHARMS – a play in 10 scenes about LUCK for Years 6, 7 and 8 (Level 3/2)

FEAR – a play in 7 scenes about FEAR for Years 9, 10 and 11 (Level 5/1)

MONOLOGS FOR YOUNG ADULTS – 25 scenes for Years 11 and 12 or for university students (September 2020)

CONTENTS

Foreword

Scene 1 OWN IT

Patricia – a girl, the victim

Liv – a girl bully

Jan – a girl bully

Emma – a girl bully

Kellie – a girl bully

Amber – a girl bully

Justin – a boy bully

Keanu – a boy bully

Brad – a boy bully

Scene 2 BE TRUE

Liam – a boy bully

Paul – a boy, the victim

Noah – a boy bully

Ethan – a boy bully

Lucas – a boy bully

Logan – a boy bully

Amy – a girl, special agent

Holly – a girl, special agent

Scene 3 OPEN YOUR EYES

Jake – a boy bully

Mike – a boy, good school citizen

Matt – a boy, good school citizen

Ben – a boy, good school citizen

Jade – a girl, good school citizen

Claire – a girl, good school citizen

Alexandra – student body president

Ms. Griffith – Jake’s mother, voice

Scene 4 BE YOURSELF

Chris – a transgender teen

Person in a hooded sweatshirt

Scene 5 STAND UP

Speaker 1 – a girl bully

Speaker 2 – a boy bully

Speaker 3 – a girl bully

Speaker 4 – a girl bully

Speaker 5 – a bystander (girl/boy)

Speaker 6 – a bystander (girl/boy)

Speaker 7 – a bystander (girl/boy)

Scene 6 SORRY, I CAN’T

Cynthia – a girl dancer

Sarah Black – a dancing instructor

Fat Fairy – a fairy, clumsy and fat

Ryan – a hip-hop boy

Scene 7 UNTOLD MISERY

Jackie – a girl, the victim

Sandy – a girl, a Samaritan

Scene 8 SPEAK UP

Ron – student body president

FOREWORD

STAND UP is a play for students in Years 8, 9 or 10 (Level 4/1). It is designed for a normal-sized English class and for students with varying interests in acting. Since there are 41 roles – none of which are really minor – students who enjoy acting can perform in several scenes and play to their heart’s content, whereas students who aren’t particularly keen on acting only have one role to master in one single scene. Every scene deals in a very special way with the question of moral courage and the many challenges young people face in our modern world when it comes time to stand up for what is right. There are monologues, dialogues and scenes with as many as eight or nine performers. The themes are geared to extreme situations which confront students nowadays – such as peer pressure, cyber-bullying and gender-related bullying, exploitation, unprovoked violence, self-destruction and rejection – and offer young actresses and actors the opportunity to discover a wide range of relevant dramatic topics and expression while performing. The plots are believable and understandable, the language is idiomatic and easily accessible for English learners. STAND UP works well when performed for smaller audiences: parents and other classes. But it can also be highly entertaining for a large audience. Performing time: about one hour. Of course, it is also possible to select individual scenes and perform them as simple skits outside the context of STAND UP. In that case it is still recommendable to create a suitable setting for presenting the skits to an audience. The true joy of performing a foreign-language play is to feel it click, to realize that the people watching the performance don’t only “get the picture”, they are also delighted to see a story come to life when presented in English by non-native performers.

– John Middleton, Hamburg, 2019

SCENE 1 OWN IT

(Patricia is on her way to school. She crosses the stage and stops at center stage. She pauses for a moment, then turns to address the audience. In the background – stage right – a boy, Paul, is sitting on a bench reading.)

PATRICIA

I’m scared… I’m on my way to school… It’s a normal school day, this is a normal road in a normal town, I’m a normal schoolgirl, and I’m scared… So what am I scared of?... Well, let me tell you, this is the 21st century, so there are no wild animals that might attack me. There are no savages or pirates that might torture me or throw me to the sharks. There is no real physical danger I might be scared of. But I’m scared.

(Two girls, Jan and Liv, approach Patricia from stage right. Liv stops beside Patricia. Jan walks past Patricia, stops and turns to face her.)

LIV

Hey, Patty, I saw you in the Special Education room yesterday with all the retards.

JAN

Oh really? With all the retards? So that means you’re a retard, too?

PATRICIA

During my lunch break I work with kids who have disabilities.

JAN

You work with retards and cripples? How disgusting!

LIV

I just thought you were a nerd – which is bad enough. But that you spend your lunch breaks with all the dumdums…

JAN

You know, Liv, it all kinda makes sense now. Her baggy clothes…

(Jan tugs at Patricia’s sweater.)

LIV (pulling Patricia’s hair)

And her greasy hair.

JAN

And her body odor!

(Jan holds her nose with one hand and waves her other hand as if fanning away the stench.)

LIV

That girl really stinks like a retard.

PATRICIA

Don’t call them retards. They are special children with special needs, children with disabilities.

LIV

The only special need they have is the need to get a good shower.

JAN

Like you.

(Jan takes the bottle of water she is holding and pours it over Patricia’s head. Jan and Liv laugh.)

LIV

She looks like a drowned rat now.

JAN

You mean a drowned retard.

LIV