Plays
I have always loved acting in plays, and writing them is just as enjoyable. I also think they are a brilliant way for children to improve their reading. Many of my plays were written for school reading groups, from infant to teenage level (including several for reluctant readers.) Others are for a whole class to act. I have also written two full-length musicals for adults to perform to children.
My published plays (and all my other books) are stocked by an excellent children’s bookshop:
Tales on Moon Lane:
25 Half Moon Lane
London
SE24 9JU
Tel. 020 7274 5759
They can also be ordered online from www.talesonmoonlane.co.uk Some titles can be found on Amazon or bought directly from the publisher. A few of the plays are now out of print but I have nevertheless included them, as second-hand copies can sometimes be tracked down.
Play Time
Macmillan,
isbn 0-330-44595-2
I am excited that many of my plays are now appearing together for the first time. This is a collection of 11 short plays, suitable for primary-school or family use, for a wide range of ages and abilities
Bombs and Blackberries
Hodder, 2002,
isbn 0-7502-4125-X
This is a play for a whole top junior class, set in and around Manchester during World War 2. There are 4 songs, and notes on simple staging and costumes. The play would fit well into a project on WW2.
Britain is at war, and the Chivers’ youngest children have to leave their parents to live in the countryside. They are delighted to be brought back home when it looks as thought the Germans aren’t going to invade after all. But the air-raid siren goes off and this time it’s frighteningly real . . .
Primary 7 at Strathblane School did a very successful performance of "Bombs and Blackberries" in 2005, adding in songs from WW2.
For other, unpublished plays containing songs, see musicals
The Head in the Sand
Hodder, 2002,
isbn 0-7502-4127-6
This play is set in Roman Britain and is suitable for a whole top junior class to read or act.
A boy digs up a bronze head from a Suffolk river. As he puzzles over it, the dramatic story of the Roman invasion of Britain unfolds in front of his eyes. Emperor Claudius, British Queen Boudicca, Roman soldiers and British slave girls all play their part.
The Giant Jumperee
Rigby “Star”, turquoise level, 2000,
isbn 145050942
There’s something terrifying in Rabbit’s burrow! Join Rabbit, Cat, Bear, Elephant and Frog as they try to find out what it is. A short simple play with a rhyming element, for 6 infant actors.
Buy pack of 6 from Rigby (phone 01865 888044)
The Monster in the Cave
Rigby “Lighthouse”, turquoise level, 2001,
isbn 0602300940
Squirrel has hidden some nuts in a cave but he’s scared to get them himself. Who will help him get them out and win the reward? A short play with 6 parts for early readers.
Stop, Thief!
Rigby “Lighthouse”, purple
level, 2001,
isbn 0757819745
0602300959
A short play based on a Japanese folk tale about a clever judge who manages to trap a doughnut-thief. There are parts
for 6 primary children.
Buy from Rigby (phone 01865 888044)
Problem Page
Heinemann “High Impact”,
2000,
isbn 0435214128
I wrote this play for reluctant teenage readers but it works well with any lower secondary class. David is a teenager has managed to keep secret the fact that Mr Jones, the embarrassingly hearty science teacher, is actually his father. David wants to ask a girl back to his house, but how can he keep Dad out of the way? He writes to “Ask Dotty”, an advice column in a magazine – but Dotty turns out to be an agony aunt whose answers only lead to further agony. There are 6 parts.
Yellow Stockings
included in Tudor Tales – a collection of plays,
Ginn “Lightning” grey
level, 2003,
isbn 0602308127
Annie wishes she were allowed to act, like her twin brother Tom who is in Mr Shakespeare's new play, "Twelfth Night.” Instead, she has to stitch the costumes, until a pair of yellow stockings lead to unexpected events. There are parts for 6 top juniors.
Worm Looks for Lunch
Harper-Collins, “Big Cat” green band 5, 2005,
isbn 0007185928
Worm is bored with eating earth for every meal. But when he looks for something more interesting to eat, he finds that danger is lurking. A very short easy play for 6 beginner readers.
The Trial of Wilf Wolf
Longman “Pelican Big Books”, 2002,
isbn 0-582-53993-5
A funny courtroom drama in Big Book format, with 12 speaking parts, though it can be acted by a whole class.
I devised this with some schoolchildren when I was working as Writer in Residence in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow. The wolf from Little Red Riding Hood has to stand trial for “breaking and eating”.
Birthday Surprise
Ginn "New Reading 360", levels 4-6, 1994,
isbn 0602259843
This was my first published play (and my second book). It is about a badly-behaved boy and a conjuror who comes to his birthday party, and can be acted or read by 10 children or by a whole junior class.
Names and Games
Ginn "All Aboard" Stage
9, 1995,
isbn 0602261783
This was inspired by my youngest son, whose bossy friend Robin always insisted on playing Robin Hood and acting the
lead – “because my name really is Robin”. The play, about friendship and playground games, has parts
for four primary-school children.
Turtle Tug
Ginn “New Reading 360”,
1995,
isbn 060228435x
Elephant and Hippo think they are too grand to go to the turtles’ birthday party – until the turtles play
a trick on them, involving a tug of war. A short play based on an African traditional tale with parts for four beginner
readers.
Buy
from Tales on Moon Lane(pack of 6)
The Magic Twig
Ginn “New Reading 360”, 1995,
isbn 0602280052
When Anna complains to the Wind because he has blown all the apples off her tree, he gives her a twig which will produce an endless supply of apples. But a wicked innkeeper is eager to get his hands on the magic twig . . .
A play based on a French traditional tale, with parts for four beginner readers.
Buy from Ginn (phone 01865
888000)
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Ginn “New Reading 360”, 1995,
isbn 0602267102
A short play based on the Aesop fable, with parts for four beginner readers. Also published as a Big Book.
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Ginn “New Reading 360”, 1995,
isbn 0602280028
A short play play based on the traditional tale, with parts for four beginner readers. Also published as a Big Book.
The Wonderful Smells
Ginn “New Reading 360”,
1997,
isbn 0602279739
Two Chinese children are accused of stealing the smells from a café and are taken to court. A play with parts
for 7 junior children.
Top of the Mops
Ginn “Impact”,
1996,
isbn 0602274214
This is one of my favourites. I wrote it when my own son, Alastair, was about 14 and had his own rock band. The play
was written for “reluctant readers aged 10-14” but I find it goes down well with any group of top primary
or lower secondary children. Teenager Andy puts an advert in the paper for a singer in his band. His mother Carol puts
an advert in too, for a cleaner. The result is a farce of mistaken identities. There are parts for 4 people.
Steve’s Sandwiches
Ginn “All Aboard” Stage
3, 1999,
isbn 0602293820
A short easy play for 6 beginner readers, about a fussy eater, his schoolfriends, and his long-suffering granny.
All Gone!
Rigby “Springboard
Flyers” stage 3, 1998,
isbn 0602280893
Why does all the food in the café keep disappearing? A funny, easy play for reluctant junior readers. There
are 6 parts.
Books and Crooks
Nelson Thornes “Spirals”, 1998,
isbn 0748736565
A play for teenage readers (or for use in adult literacy classes) about two criminal old ladies and two gullible young
librarians. I think I had more fun writing this than any of my other books. There are 5 parts.
A Jumble for the Queen
included in The Alien and Other Plays, Heinemann “Literacy
World” Stage 2 Plays, 1998,
isbn 0435093479
A play with a Tudor setting. Schoolboy Tom gets into trouble because he prefers collecting frogs to learning Latin. When he runs away and hides in the big house where his sister Joan is a kitchenmaid, he doesn’t realise that he will end up meeting Queen Elizabeth. There are 6 parts for upper juniors.
Persephone
included in The Big Book of Christmas
Macmillan,
isbn 0-330-43647-3
This is a play with three songs, based on the Greek myth and suitable for performance by a whole class of top juniors. I wrote it for my youngest son’s school and had fun producing it.