Big Dramas: New edition - 12 plays

Big Dramas is ideal for drama and English classes and for anyone who loves plays that are simple to stage while offering performance, design and directing challenges. The scripts explore complex personal and social dilemmas, have dynamic plots with memorable characters and draw on a range of theatrical traditions. A classic set of plays, updated!

• easy-to-stage scripts
• large cast plays
• monologues
• comedy
• drama
• strong female roles
• production notes
• extension exercises
• glossary
• bonus material on plays in the classroom and staging plays.

In this new edition, Sue Murray has tweaked to some scripts, replaced two of the original plays with scripts from Real Dramas and Mega Dramas, and added two monologues from Cooking With Hamlet.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Plays in the classroom
• Staging Plays
• Home Sweet Home  This farce revolves around the efforts of the conservative son of unconventional parents to keep his private life private. Things go from bad to worse with every ring of the doorbell and phone. Cast: 6
• Macbeth Inc  A modern adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy set in a world of corporate raiders and futures traders. The stakes are high – high finance that is – and the weapons are not swords but mobile phones. Cast: 11
• Scrambled Eggs  Students have to 'care' for an egg for a weekend in this comedy. Over-helpful mothers, difficult sisters and careless carers mean that not every egg survives, and everyone learns surprising lessons. Cast: 11
• Face Value  Linked monologues show the different memories people have of the same event. The truth about a mysterious fire at a school is finally revealed, as is the impact on the lives of a range of people. Cast: 11, all female
• The Princess and the Nag Hag  The plot revolves around the tensions existing in blended families, particularly between a stepdaughter and her stepmother. A thoughtful, character-driven piece, this play does not offer simple solutions but ends on an optimistic note. Cast: 7, all female
• Circular Breathing  In this soliloquy, 20-year-old Marnie faces a difficult decision. She looks back on her life, much of which was spent with her grandmother, who Marnie still turns to for guidance, even though Marnie has been on her own for a few years now. Cast : 1
• Wheeler Dealer  What do you do if you're stuck in a wheelchair, your mother isn't coping and you're starting at a new school? You become a wheeler-dealer, of course. In this comic play, serious themes underline the action; and action-packed it becomes. Cast: 10, all female
• Out of Your Mind  This script allows us to hear the thoughts of an assortment of commuters at a train station. We see and hear their dreams, hopes and fears. The results, while funny, are also thought-provoking. Cast: 27+ (17 speaking, 10+ movement and mime group)
• Cooking with Hamlet  This modern tragi-comedy is set during the filming of a TV cooking show presented by Hamlet, whose hopes of inheriting the world-famous restaurant, Elsinore, have been dashed. It turns out that revenge isn't a dish best served cold, or when drunk. Cast: 1
• Ring a Rosie  It is Rose's eightieth birthday. She slips from the present to the past and back, recalling treasured moments with her lifelong friend. Cast: 9
• Why Are You Here?  This play is in the tradition of theatre of the absurd. What happens when people turn to a psychiatrist for help, only to find that the psychiatrist is crazy? It's a mad, mad world. Blackly comic, this play is fast and furious, hard-edged and full of fun. Cast: 19+ (9 major and 10 or more extras who play an assortment of roles)
• Word Play  A playful play, which plays with the nature of theatre itself. It's a hilarious lesson in that fundamental truth: plays are written to be performed. In this play, eight very different groups of characters perform the same lines, playing with text, subtext and context. Cast: up to 25, doubling is possible
• Glossary