The British Theatre Guide: Plays for performance by schools and youth theatre by Peter Lathan

School & Youth Theatre

Plays for School and Youth Theatre by Peter Lathan

I Was the Son of the Brides of Dracula (Part III), The Musical

(Now re-written and shortened to Drac!)

Yes, another Dracula play (yawn)!

But this one's a bit different.

For a start, it doesn't take place in exotic Transylvania (or even not quite so exotic Whitby), but in your own home town. Oh yeah - and Drac wins as well!

A single spotlight comes up to reveal a coffin in a vault. Smoke billows. The coffin lid creaks and begins to rise. It opens fully and Dracula steps out. Hoards of white-faced vampires emerge from the shadows.

"Come, creatures of night!" calls Dracula. "Welcome to my house."

Sounds like a cue for a song!

And so it is, the first of the show. After which he calls for new, young blood and his minions rush off...

...into the audience, where they grab a young lad and drag him, kicking and screaming, onto the stage, leaving his three friends, stunned, behind.

The rest of the play deals with their attempts to rescue him. Because it is down to them. Who would ever believe that Mr Vladimir, respected member of the Town Council, would kidnap a boy, let alone be a vampire?

It's got loads of strong characters: Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Drac's cousin, who keeps looking young by bathing in the blood of virgins; Miss Lucy Westonra, Councillor Vladimir's secretary; Sharon, the tart from the Town Hall; the four vintages stored in the cellar; Abel Finkelstein, Jewish vampire; and yuppie property developer Sara van Helsing.

Yes, that van Helsing. But she's nothing like grandad!

It's got tuneful songs, audience involvement, plenty of opportunities for special effects and set building, and, best of all, you only really need one boy. All the other parts can be played by girls. Those who run school drama clubs will know how useful that it!

The Passion

The Passion is a version of the medieval Mystery Plays. It was originally commissioned by the Wearabout Theatre Company for an Easter-time tour of churches and has since had numerous productions by school and church groups. It is not, strictly speaking, a musical play, but there is a great deal of scope for using music, particularly medieval carols. It is made up of what I consider to be the best bits of the various cycles, rendered into modern English but using the original verse forms.

It is a very flexible play: it can be played in almost any venue with the minimum of staging and, although there are over forty individual characters, they can be played by as few as eight actors.

The play covers the rebellion and fall of Lucifer, the Adam and Eve story, Isaiah's prophecy, the Annunciation and the whole Christmas story (right up to the Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents), Christ's baptism by John the Baptist and the forty days and nights in the wilderness, his Ministry, the Last Supper, followed the various trials and the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

The driving force behind the play, both in the writing and the first production, was dramatic rather than religious. As far as I am concerned, it is first and foremost a piece of drama, although theologically it is not at all controversial. Very suitable for church groups, it also works well with kids.

There are full Production Notes, covering costume, characterisation, verse speaking, and all the other problems which might confront a company performing it.

For more details contact Peter Lathan at plays@britishtheatreguide.info

>> Short plays by Peter Lathan