 From the hundreds of plays on the Pioneer Drama website (and you will look here first, right?), how do you choose the one that is right for you and your actors? Selecting the right play for your particular group will make your job easier and ensure the success of the production. Keep the following in mind when considering plays: 1. Start with your actors. Are there more girls than boys, as is often the case in school drama? Make sure the script reflects that, unless your girls have already agreed to dress as boys for male parts. Even if you have three amazingly talented boys, doing a traditional Robin Hood or Tom Sawyer or Three Musketeers relegates most of your girls to minor roles and leaves too many out all together. Many Pioneer Drama plays are written knowing your bind. You just can’t judge a book by its cover—or its title. For instance, look closely at Pioneer’s The Masked Musketeer: the three musketeers are male, but the rest of the cast, including some large roles, is primarily female. Pioneer Drama also carries a vast number of plays with “flexible” casts, meaning several roles can be played male or female. 2. Decide if you want to do a musical or straight play. Think of how much rehearsal time you have. Musicals take many more hours of rehearsals than straight plays. In addition to the scene work, the kids have to rehearse singing and choreography as well. If you only do one production a year, doing a musical could also deny the opportunity to kids that want to act but can’t sing or dance. On the other hand, musicals give all actors more stage time, even if their roles are small, thanks to large chorus numbers that have the entire ensemble onstage. 3. Are there a decent number of lines for each part? Pioneer Drama puts all of their cast lists on line, and for those plays published in the last three years, you’ll even see the number of lines for each character! Pioneer Drama strives to publish plays that avoid the weight of the show being on just one actor’s shoulders. (Check out any Charlie Lovett play for impeccable equality with the lines!) There is nothing wrong with small parts—in fact, you probably want some for beginning actors or for those who can’t make all the rehearsals. However, typical kids don’t want to rehearse for weeks to only get couple of minutes onstage. Kids are line counters (as are some adult actors), and they will feel insignificant if they only have a handful of lines. Plus, unoccupied actors can be a problem just waiting to disrupt a rehearsal. If you like a script but there are too many small parts, see if you can do some doubling—having one actor play two roles that are never onstage at the same time. Musicals also are a great way to get all actors more stage time, as pointed out above. 4. Is the production a fundraiser? Shakespeare may not be your best choice here. Keep it light and fun, such as a comedy or a funny murder mystery. If it’s appropriate for all ages, you’ll have a bigger audience and raise more money! 5. How much help will you have with building the set? If you’re on your own, choosing a play with a unit set (only one set for the whole show) could well save your sanity. And your wallet. Most Pioneer Drama plays have a single set or simple representational sets. 6. Google it! You’re looking at the catalog—you’re overwhelmed. Help is on the way! Google a couple of the play titles that sound right for you and find out where other productions have been done. This will sometimes take you a school’s website, most likely with the name and email of the drama teacher. Or you’ll find a community chat room of other school drama or community theater groups. Shoot an email to them and ask questions. YouTube is loaded with plenty of scenes from Pioneer Drama plays as well! 7. Commit to investing in some reading copies. Face it, choosing a show is a big deal, so you don’t want to cut any corners. Get your list narrowed down to four or five shows and buy reading copies of each. I know it’s tough on the budget, but it’s cheaper than buying a whole set of scripts that you end up hating. Besides, developing a library of reading scripts will give you a resource to tap into in the future. A play that’s not right one year might be perfect for a different year’s group! Pioneer Drama has the musical perusal program to help you look at musicals in a cost-effective manner. And for non-musicals, make sure you take advantage of Pioneer Drama’s “Buy-Four-Get-One-Free” offer! 8. Call Pioneer and ask for help. The staff at Pioneer Drama is great and loves to help customers! They know the plays and can tell you what types of groups have produced the play in the past. They also know which are their best-selling plays and can point you to the ones that will best suit your needs. Happy shopping! | 
