Evening star., 1937-03-07
Putting on a Play Gives
Real Fun and Pleasure
Give Your Imagination Free Rein and Make
Up Your Own Story or Discover a
Suitable One for Use.
Bv A. G.. CIOefingh.
Director. the Penn State Players.

ten especially for girls and boys, most
Of which are very good.
When selecting a play we first ask
ourselves what kind we want. Shall
we give fairy play, Bible play. a
play about history, or a play about
everyday life? Each kind Is good.
and the choice is left to us.
like fairy plays for small boys and
girls. Fairy plays are lots Of fun be-
cause with them We can let our imagi-
ma ions work. They give us a chance
to wear beautiful costumes, and be-
sides, we always like the good fairy
and we always like TO see the wicked
witch defeated.
Bible plays are also interesting. The
story of David and Goliath makes a
fine play. Another good story Is that
of Joseph and his brothers. Boys and
girls of history are always interesting
and they can )e used as the heroes of
our plays. The childhood days of
George Washington and Abraham Lin
coin, Daniel Boone and Martha Wash
ington are full of incidents out of
which we can make excellent plays.
And books that we all know about
have many incidents which we can
easily make into plays. Think of
how many plays we could write from
Alice in Wonderland" The mad tea
party is a little drama in itself. And
such interesting characteristic dor
mouse, the mad halter, the rabbit and
Alicel Then there is the scene with
Alice and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle
Dunn, and another scene with Alice and
the caterpillar. The book is full of
little plays.
The stories of King Arthur and his
round table are fine. All boys like TO
pretend that they are brave knights,
and all girls would like to be the fair
ladies of King Arthur's court. If we
want an exciting play, there is Treas
ure Island" out of which We can make
several little plays. The Black Ar
row" is also very good, and so is Jack
and the Beanstalk."
For good plays for boys and girls
like the books of Mark Twain. Tom
Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" are
grand stories to read, but they are
much better when We act them out.
What an interesting play We can make
out of the story of Tom and his friends
whitewashing the fence!
Here is a list of stories out of which
very interesting plays can be made:
'Robinhood."
Little Red Riding Hood"
"RumpleStilskin."
"Ivanhoe."
Robinson CruSoe."
Swiss Family Robinson"
"One Eye, Two Eye, Three Eye"
| "Beowulf"
David Copperf1eld'
"Oliver Twist"
Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs"
THE Sleeping Beauty"
Snow White and Rose Red"
"Rapunzel."
But if We are going to put on play
the most fun is writing our own. Boys
and girls have plenty of imagination.
They are always thinking of what they
would like to do if they only had the
chance. Well, here is the chancel
Write play and be what you want to
be and do what you would always like
to do!
/ OF course, there are some things you
will have to remember when you write
your play. In the first place, you must
have as few scenes as possible, since
We do not have too much scenery, and
besides, we do not want to break up
our play more than necessary. Try
to write your play SO that the scene
will be garden, or castle, or a
room in house, but try to have not
more than one.
Then we should not have too many
characters. Our stage will probably
be small, and on this small stage We
cannot possibly have an army or a
large crowd. Eight or ten characters
should be enough for any ordinary
play.
One Of the most important things in
a play is action-something has got
to happen on the stage. If you are
writing play about George Washing
ton and the cherry tree, remember
that it is not enough for George to
tell about cutting down the cherry
tree. We should actually see George
cut down that tree. Things have got
to happen in play, and the more
action we have, the more interesting
our play is likely to be.
And do not forget that your play
must always be intereSting-interest-
ing to other boys and girls and even
to grown-upS.
Mote: Boys and girls can secure a
list of plays suitable for children by
sending 10 cents in stamps to The
Penn State Players, State College,