Shakespeare for Kids BooksBrendan is the main creative source and author behind Playing With Plays and the infamous Shakespeare for Kids series. You can typically find him inventing by day, playing with his family by night, and writing by very late night.
Part 9 of the 12-part series Part 9 of the 12-part series: Why Drama is so important in School. – ENUNCIATION This one is near and dear to my heart, as I have a son who didn’t speak until he was 3 and a half years old. We are still working on some of his speaking challenges today,…
Over years of writing and directing Playing With Plays scripts and working with directors all around the globe, there are several tools that I’ve learned directors love to use. I’m consolidating them here in this simple Director’s toolbox. Please note, most of these tools are specific to directing Playing With Plays scripts. First: Cast size…
Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest playwrights in history. His plays have been performed and studied for hundreds of years, and they continue to be a cornerstone of theatre and literature education. But why is it important to introduce Shakespeare to kids? More importantly, how can it benefit their education and personal growth? First…
Playing With Plays scripts are designed to be flexible. You have a small class, a large class, or somewhere in-between, we have a script that can be adjusted for you! Each book comes with 3 plays for 3 different group sizes: small, medium, and large. I designed these because I used to teach afterschool programs…
Here at Playing With Plays, we are known for highly flexible casts from very small to quite large. I get questions all the time as to what plays work for smaller groups. Well, this is a great list to get an idea of what plays, from the Playing With Plays plays (say that three times…
On occasion, I get requests asking about female-centric plays. Plays with several girls in the cast. Unfortunately, many classic stories are based around the male. However, not all. Here’s a short list of plays that have more female roles than typical. As well, if you know of a classic story with females that you would…
The beauty of Playing With Plays scripts is they are designed to be flexible, having 3 different cast sizes allowing the teacher and/or director to have a few or many kids. However, regarding the large cast size in each book, there are a few that have 20 or more characters. Allowing you to have larger…
Have you ever been in a position where you have some decent actors that have maybe one, two, or possibly no lines? You want to give them a little more meat for the play, but you don’t quite have the material to fit in those extra kids? Well, a homeschool mom gave me an idea…
When it comes to Caesar and the Ides of March, you wonder how things would have changed if he only listened to the soothsayer and his wife and stayed home. But hey, greed and fame can do wonders on the psyche. Maybe if Julius played some of these Ides of March activities, he might have…
If you are one of the many theatre teachers that have to go out and teach drama in-person, it can be stressful and full of anxiety. For both you, your kids, and their parents. Data shows less than 20% of parents want to go back to full-time right now. But, if you are going back,…
