Chorus Member Joined: 11/1/04
What are good comedies for high school student to put up? Something along the line of Rumors???
When I was in high school we did a little know Neil Simon play called "Fools" about a town cursed with stupidity. Hysterical!! I played the female lead.
Chorus Member Joined: 11/1/04
Not another SImon play like Rumors, too boring
"Don't Drink the Water"
Updated On: 6/29/05 at 12:03 PM
"Fools" is a good comedy. As well as "Arsenic and Old Lace".
Noises Off
Lend Me a Tenor is absolutely hilarious! Some minor things to get approved in it though.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/29/05
I second Noises Off...hysterical.
Can definitely be done by a high school with funny performers and a director with a sracastic sense of humor!
Updated On: 6/29/05 at 04:41 PM
I have to disagree about Simon's plays (especially Rumors) being boring. It's my favorite production I've ever done. I think it's hysterical...
"Barefoot in the Park" is extremely fun to do. If you have a more advanced theatre program, I recommend "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" by Steve Martin or "Savage in Limbo" by John Patrick Shanley. Both great plays.
Stand-by Joined: 1/27/05
We recently performed "You Can't Take It With You" at my high school, and it was hilarious, good fun. The cast all enjoyed it, and the audience loved it.
I can't remember the author, but "Black Comedy", if you can find it, is another funny one. It requires some skilled people to work lights, but the cast is simple and the show is funny.
a funny thing happened on the way to the forum
Understudy Joined: 1/14/05
I saw fools done by a professional company last year it was hilarious!!!
Understudy Joined: 12/31/69
Dracula-- Just make sure that your Lucy wears underwear and could at least pretend to act.
I also second You Can't Take It With You and Lend Me A Tenor, my school did both, very funny!
We also did Harvey...I dunno, it seems like it shouldn't be for HS but I was production assistant...and we had sooo much fun in that show. It is quite long and needs to be shrunken, and might not have appealed to audiences so much but I really love it. Probably being biased, the two above prob are a little more appropriate for High school in terms of at least appeal.
Chorus Member Joined: 1/29/05
Broadway Star Joined: 2/7/05
a one act play by Steve Martin called WASP. if you go to samuel french, you should find it. its hysterical!
Our Town is a classic that is very popular in high schools. Some Shakespeare comedies can work as well, especially the "ensemble" ones with lots of good parts like Midsummer Night's Dream.
I would steer clear of Greek tragedy. When I was in high school, we tried Antigone and it wasn't very popular with anyone, even the large number of people studying Latin and Greek.
if you want a comedy, try "the curious savage." we did it last spring at our high school and it was hilarious. the ending is also very sweet. "the miser" is also a good bet.
Swing Joined: 6/29/05
the problem with our town by wilder is that to many high school audiences it is too boring. also the problem with shakespeare is that unless the cast is open to an analytical approach to the production, a lot of the true greatness of shakespeare would be lost. with that said, i would suggest doing the play star-spangled girl from simon. its a 3 person cast, and the characters work well together
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Swing Joined: 6/20/05
I once produced an "Evening of Melodrama" that the kids enjoyed. I bookended a couple of long one-acts with some period songs as an interlude.
Musical Comedy Murders of 1940
OUr High School did Marvins Room and it was AWESOME..but.. of corse we had to edit some things. LOL
If done well, Shakespeare does work. I did A Midsummer Night's Dream in 11th grade, and the audiences ate it up. It was pretty hard for even the cast to keep from laughing.
My school recently did "Seussical the Musical". It was so much fun to be in it. We cut the song A Day For the Cat in the Hat and part of Havin a Hunch. It's a cool show to perform.
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