Peg Kehret's middle grade books have won more than 50 state and national young reader awards. So these "scare-free" monologs are perfect for speech contests, acting exercises, auditions, or as part of a performance. Warm and funny, these monologs will feel "nontheatrical," and best of all real! Sixty-five characterizations include 16 written specifically for girls, 15 for boys, and the rest appropriate for either. Published to rave reviews, any young person will relate to these well-written monologs. Sample titles include: My Blankee; Cafeteria Lunches; They'll Be Sorry When I'm Dead; Too Young For This, Too Old For That; The Last Day of Sixth Grade; I Though Ellen Was My Friend; What Will I Be When I Grow Up?; On Being Different.

Winning Monologs for Young Actors

Peg Kehret

Humor & Entertainment

Meriwether Publishing

Written by the leading authority on portable stage sets, James Hull Miller, this book contains his fifty years of experience in design, construction, and application of portable stage sets. Dozens of actual sets and instructions for how to build them are included. This stagecraft text also examines various types of theaters and other playing spaces encountered in traveling productions. There are chapters on folding and clamped sets, stagecraft in schools and recital halls, and small theater designs. This is an indispensable resource for stage crews and theatre students, now in its second, revised edition.

Small Stage Sets on Tour

Miller, James Hull

Includes sixty-three more monologs written expressly for teenagers to use for classroom exercises, speech contests, play tryouts or as discussion starters on many educational themes. The book is divided into three sections: monologs for girls - for boys - for girls or boys. These are all "real talk" monologs portraying both life's funny situations and its pathos, written as teens are thinking today.

Encore! More Winning Monologs for Actors

Kehret, Peg

Literature & Fiction

The great French mime performer, Claude Kipnis, reveals the mechanisms and techniques of mime in an easy-to-understand translation. This theatre book is not a theoretical "art of" book, but a functional "how to" and "why to" instructional guide. Individual exercises are included together with detailed coverage of body movements, the illusion, and how to create a world. We know of no other book that so comprehensively explains how the functions of mime are achieved. Certainly a basic text for any aspiring mime.

Mime Book (Umbrella Book)

Kipnis, Claude

Here is a haven of short one-act plays that are easily adaptable to classroom or stage performance. Enhanced with prop suggestions and simple costuming, the emphasis of each of these shows is on contemporary characters in contemporary situations. There are parts for actors of all ages from teens to middle age, with playing time as short as eight minutes and as long as fifteen minutes. The book is filled with variety, as well: light drama, tragicomedy, and satire. With small cast plays, monologs, and duologs, here is a versatile source book of short plays for many uses.

On Stage! Short Plays for Acting Students

Mauro, Roger

Dramas & Plays

Improvisation is a valuable skill for any performer, even if you plan to use only fully scripted material. There is always a possibility of something going wrong, and improvisation can dig you out of the hole. Likewise, comedy is a great training ground for performers because a good comedy scene has everything a good dramatic scene has, PLUS the humor. This book, therefore, presents fun comic improvisation exercises and structures, ranging from the very simple and basic to the very sophisticated, which require considerable skill to pull off. Many of the improv exercises in this book are well suited to a classroom setting and could be a very useful tool in training actors, while many of the scene structures are designed specifically for use in true performance situations on stage. This comprehensive book has it all: the basics of improv, improvisation in the classroom, simple and advanced improv structures, character improv structures, advanced acting exercises, forming a comedy improv troupe and putting on an improv show.

Comedy Improvisation

Horn, Delton T.

If you're hoping to find that one simple high school text that "tells it all" for your beginning theatre class, then look no further! Marsh Cassady has taught theatre at the high school and college level for many years and is currently a director, playwright and award-winning author whose 20 books are used extensively in schools. Fifteen chapters grouped into five sections present a complete overview of the art of theatre (theatre styles, genres and structures), directing (interpreting a script, casting and rehearsing), design (scenery, lighting, costumes and makeup), acting (imagination, improvisation, body, voice, character analysis) and the history of theatre. The chapters are a good length for student reading, and abundant photos, diagrams and illustrations help explain key concepts. This classroom textbook also includes several plays and scenes to allow students to "flesh out" characters and gain perspective of various types of dramatic works from great playwrights such as Shakespeare, Ibsen and Wilde, as well as several contemporary writers.

The Theatre and You: A Beginning

Cassady Ph.D., Marsh

Children's Books

The growing popularity of Readers Theatre proves you don't need scenery or costumes to create a stirring dramatic performance. This collection of scripts by a nationally-known authority on the subject will add a new theatrical look to your drama program. Their ease of performance makes these scripts ideal for classroom use, as well. A variety of stories from the pens of classical and contemporary writers, journalists, and playwrights, all adapted to readers theatre performance, make this text a truly valuable part of any drama library. The material includes comedy, mystery and suspense, Christmas stories, folklore, and children's classics. Classic and contemporary works by William Shakespeare, James Thurber, Rudyard Kipling, O. Henry, Gordon Bennett, and many more are included.

Reader's Theatre Anthology (Reader's Theater Series)

Melvin R. White

Far from your typical text on speech education, this delightfully illustrated book encourages lively participation in each activity and focuses on the kinds of exercises that are fun for students of all ages. This full year course of creative assignments will aid preparation for any kind of speaking from formal, research-based presentations to casual retellings of personal experience. Sample activities include rap, pantomime, charades, a game show, readers theatre, TV news, a mock trial, talk show improvisation, and dozens more, including a bonus section of extra activities. The ten chapters cover a wide gamut, from interpersonal and intrapersonal communication to impromptu speaking, storytelling, acting, and non-verbal communication. Each chapter contains terms to learn, objectives, assignment instructions, and topic ideas.

The Complete Book of Speech Communication: A Workbook of Ideas and Activities for Students of Speech and Theatre

Politics & Social Sciences

Marrs, Carol

Social Sciences

Costuming can be one of the most difficult aspects of putting on a play. It can also be the most expensive. Here is a do-it-yourself costume maker's guide. This wonderfully practical book literally shows you how to make costumes for plays and musicals at the lowest possible expense! With over 150 detailed illustrations, the book aids all costumers with its easy-to-follow text. Just about every basic period is covered: Biblical to Medieval, Renaissance, Colonial, 1800s to World War I, the Roaring Twenties, and more. This complete text gives many helpful hints and information about modifying sleeves and hems to fit a time period, taking advantage of leftover fabric, aging an outfit, and much, much more. This book will pay for itself with its first use.

Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Dearing, Shirley

Crafts & Hobbies

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