Dreamzzz…& Other One Act Plays for Schools & Theatre

By Shobha Chanana

One-Act Plays for School and Theatre is dedicated to children of all ages. This fountainhead of its kind inspires a new way of seeing and saying. Its a journey for students to theater kingdom with themes that are topical the world over.
A string of eight plays is categorized for each age group comprising of 811, 1214, and 1517 years. This helps the theater person to put in minimum efforts for selection and presentation of the play with the appropriate age group of children. Hence plays for the first group focus on their curiosity and imagination (i.e., thinking skills) and being able to communicate. The most sensitive age group, 1214, interacts with the world around. They are given enough space to create and construct the script and also to innovate on the stage. With their collaborative skills, they confidently initiate smooth changes without disturbing the theme.
In the third group, the young adult Naturals to the core are allowed to own interactive ability. The young adult is ready to execute in an eloquent voice and commanding stage presence. They learn from each other while analyzing characters and story elements that focus on social causes, thereby creating and shaping relationships that are therapeutic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Apr 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482817690

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Shobha Chanana.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-1770-6

                 eBook         978-1-4828-1769-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

To order additional copies of this book, contact

Partridge India

000 800 10062 62

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www.partridgepublishing.com/india

CONTENTS

Preface

Foreword

All Roads Lead To Salvation

(One Act Play dedicated to the children of the Nation)

One Act Plays for Age Group 8 to11 yrs

1.   Gurupdesh

2.   A Visit To The Village

3.   All Is Not Lost

4.   Dreamzzz… .

5.   Earth Born Again

6.   It’s Fun To Be Away From Classes

7.   Jiggle Jewel

8.   Values Of Life

One Act Plays for Age Group 12 to14 yrs

9.   Sujalaam Suphalaam Malayaja Shiitalaam

10.   Monsoon Magic

11.   Mera Bharat Mahan

12.   Guess Who

13.   Haha! Haha!

14.   Clouds At Noon

15.   1St June 2005

16.   Heritage India

One Act Plays for Age Group 15 to17 yrs

17.   The Dumb Wife

18.   Discover India Discover Yourself

19.   Finishing School For Boyz

20.   An Alliance For Humanity

21.   Line Of Control

22.   E_shakespeare.com

23.   The Fibrous Currency

24.   We Are The World

They Say… .

To my mother

PREFACE

I have always been a gentle observer, a fair witness of my inner life and of the world around me. I sit and observe my mind trips—I listen to my inner dialogues with sustained effort. I evolved a lifestyle that allowed different experiences happen to me. As an older member among equals, I persuade the inhibited ones to take part in the plays-whether stage or radio. Theatre is a multipurpose task, which encourages children in developing interpersonal relationships and at the same time polishes their communicative skills. Every time I script and direct a play I spot a quasar. The dim lustre of the inhibited ones did not need to be polished but wail (act) like Singing Sands. These quasars(children) seemed to be a mystery but surprisingly rippled like stringed instruments, boomed like low organ notes, chimed like bells and thundered like drums. I try to elevate their characters, even if it is for a moment, with catchy dialogues. They feel important and I feel satisfied. (I convince them—I am writing another one you can judge the better one).

SHOBHA CHANANA

March 2011

FOREWORD

M ark Twain said " Classic—a book which people praise and don’t read" . I don’t think this is a classic by Twain’s standard. It’s a classic of a different kind. Mrs Shobha Chanana’s classic of do-able plays!! A giant leap straight from the heart of a teacher. Having seen her enthusiasm as an English teacher, it comes as no surprise to me-that she attempted this task of writing her theatrical experiments with truth. Single handedly trying to make students undergo a theatrical journey—while handling regular teaching assignments is never an easy job—Mrs. Chanana has managed to achieve both these things beautifully. This book is just one mask which hides her other capabilities.

Plays done in an educational environment can appear preachy and teachy!! While I must warn the reader that this might not fulfill everyone’s urge of craftily written plays—it certainly fulfills the criteria of do-able plays, especially in an educational environment. Students and teacher who have not tried their hand at plays can safely attempt these socially relevant topics. For those interested in taking the road of theatre-in-education, this collection provides a good curtain raiser—to get into the creative hearts and minds of the emerging generation.

The eternal conflict of the theatre is whether the playwright or the director is more important. Mrs Chanana might not have this conflict because she continues to wear both hats—as the thank you notes from children keeps encouraging her.

This book is poised to pose a fresh challenge to emerging playwrights, directors and performers—to bring do-able children’s theatre ALIVE—in an era where we tend to call every face a book and every act a performance.

Sibu B Vaz

Director

Script Peoples Theatre

www.scriptpeoplestheatre.com

March 2011

This Play is dedicated to the children of our Nation

ALL ROADS LEAD TO SALVATION

R espect for each other’s religion is a must that children should realize and accept. The characters in the play belong to different faiths, but the warmth in their interaction and understanding of each other’s problems is spontaneous. One could not ask for a better handling than the one presented here. People belonging to different sections of society are intuitively warm in their interaction. This is the kind of commitment our faith expects of us. This is the commitment, the characters in the play have understood and realized that faith is essential for a person’s moral development more than anything else we all believe that faith protects one from hopelessness and loneliness.

(sparsely furnished stage, a small makeshift book cupboard on one side an easy chair, a table with papers inkbottles etc. An 11’’x 9’’ size picture of different religions—a small photo of Infant Jesus on the makeshift wall/ cupboard dividing the stage. Overhead clothesline running on one side of the stage with towels shirts being dried/ hanging, a small divan. Parvathama coming towards the table holding plates and tumblers keeps them on the floor clears the table arranges the plates—noise of scampering heard looks up to see the children in neat uniforms pushing each other coming towards her)