The British Theatre Guide: Plays for performance by schools and youth theatres (13)

School & Youth Theatre

Mark Wheeller has written a number of plays and musicals which have become popular in schools both here and abroad. His web site has further details and regularly updated information… please give it a visit…

In the meantime here is a list of his plays with some brief details about them.

The first six are published by: dbda, who can be found at… Pin Point, 1-2 Rosslyn Crescent, Harrow, HA1 2SB267 Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA3 0HQ. Tel: 0870 333 7772. Fax: 0870 7772 Email: dbda@dbda.co.uk
The final three are published by: SchoolPlay Productions Ltd. 15 Inglis Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 3HU. Tel: 01206 540111. Fax 01206 766944.

Too Much Punch for Judy
Excellent for GCSE/A'level exams/One Act Play Festivals/Youth Theatre/Upper School/Amateur production.
Duration: 40 minutes
Cast: 12 (3f, 3m, & 6) or 4 (2m, 2f) with doubling
Age Range: 14+ (ideal for GCSE or A level groups)

One of the most performed plays ever, having toured schools, colleges, prisons, army camps and the workplace, both here and abroad. It is a hard-hitting Documentary play telling the true life story which warns of the appalling consequences of drunk driving.

"The audience I sat in was patently out for some whooping Friday night fun watching their mates on stage. At the end there was a horrid silence." Nick Baker; Times Educational Supplement

Legal Weapon
. Ideal for GCSE work and as a Youth Theatre/Upper School or Amateur production
Duration: 60 minutes.
Cast: 17 (3m. 1 f. & 13 m. or f. plus optional improvisation group of any size.) Can be performed by 2m. 1f. & 1 m. or f. with doubling.
Age Range: 14, or even 16+. Ideal for older age range (Senior Youth Theatre/Am. Dram.) as there is no need for any of the characters to be played by under 16 year olds.
It tells the story of a young man whose negligence behind the wheel causes the loss of a life and the loss of his freedom. The story is fictional but uses the oral testimony of a variety of RTA offenders and victim families. It is fast, funny and very powerful.

Wacky Soap
Ideal for TIE, and major whole school productions. Can be performed as a play without music
Music: James Holmes.
Duration: 80 minutes,
Cast: 20-100!
Age Range: Any.
A a Pythonesque allegorical tale (alcohol/substance abuse) set in the fictional Bower of Bliss. It tells the story of King Huff, inventor of Wacky Soap. While washing with it for a short while brings happiness, prolonged use can lead to complete disappearance!!! Wacky follow up work suitable for Key Stage 2, 3, & 4 appears as an Appendix at the back of the script. A CD of the songs with a backing track for schools without a music department are also available on request.
"A splendid vehicle for a company of players with opportunities for all. The action includes individual performance, movement, mime, choral speech, singing and dancing." Brian Sanders; Guild of Drama Adjudicators. (Awarded Mark Wheeller Special Award at the One Act Drama festival for writing the play.)

Hard To Swallow
Ideal as an examination text, and as a Youth Theatre/School production. A new edition of Mark's adaptation of Maureen Dunbar's book and TV. film "Catherine".
Duration: 70 minutes
Cast: Can be performed by 5 (3f & 2 m) with doubling
Age Range: 13+.
Showcased at the first Lloyds Bank National Theatre Challenge 1989. A deeply moving play, now popular with School Drama departments and Youth Theatre groups. Hard To Swallow is based on the life and death of an anorexic girl, Catherine Dunbar. It charts Catherine's uneven battle with her illness and her families difficulties in coping with all that Anorexia means.
"A model of its kind ... elegantly structured, highly informative, and imaginatively theatrical." Ann McFerran: The Stage

Also available are
Why Did The Chicken Cross the Road?
GRAHAM-World's Fastest Blindman
Sweet FA
Blackout - One Evacuee in Thousands
The Most Absurd Xmas Musical in The World ... Ever!
See the Website for details.

Go to the fourteenth page of plays