Plays for 20+ Actors? Advices?

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 11/27/19 at 2:41pm

Our director/teacher for next semester of professional acting will be mounting a play with us and even tho he usually chooses the play himself, he asked now (the semester won't beging until next year) if we have any choices of plays that can acomodate our classroom.

We are a group of 22 people (13 women, 9 men) and he likes more pos-dramactic work, but it's open to classics too. We can double roles, it doesn't need to have 22 different characters.

Plays that he has staged before:

- 4.48 Psychosis, Sarah Kane
- The Seagull, Anton Tchekhov
- Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
- A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
- Three Sisters, Anton Tchekhov
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
- Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus

I was thinking about ''Marat/Sade'', but may be too long? A two-hour play would be perfect.

Can you guys help me with any suggestion?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 11/27/19 at 3:14pm

Large cast plays are seldom written anymore, mostly for economic reasons. They’re too expensive to produce professionally. This can make finding plays for schools hard (I’m a middle and high school drama teacher). As the list indicates, your best options are Shakespeare, Chekhov, and certain plays from the mid 20th century like The Crucible, The Man Who Came To Dinner, etc.

In terms of contemporary plays, look at shows where people traditionally play multiple characters like The Laramie Project and just do it with a larger cast.

Also, check out Machinal by Sophie Treadwell and other expressionist/non-realism pieces.

Updated On: 11/27/19 at 03:14 PM

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 11/27/19 at 3:44pm

Have you considered Albee's 22 Tall Women?

[santeFEEE]

Posted: 11/28/19 at 5:53pm

Laramie project can be done with about 40, let alone 20. Curious Incident can be done with 20. Spring Awakening can also be done.