Recommended for Secondary

Recommended for Lower Secondary (Year 7-9)

Alice Dreaming by Ned Manning

Cast size: 4M, 8F

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Non-naturalism, puppetry

Themes: Friendship, Identity, Adolescence

April Aardvark by Nathaniel Moncrieff

Cast size: 12 characters

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Non-naturalism, Multi-locations

Themes: Friendship, Fitting in, Bullying, Resilience

Fight With All Your Might the Zombies of Tonight by Matthew Whittet

Cast size: 11M, 9F

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Comedy, Heightened drama

Themes: Friendship. Halloween, Zombies, Scary scenes

Headspace by Brad Jennings

Cast size: 15 characters

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Drama, Cinematic

Themes: Identity, Adolescence, Family, Resilience, Transition

The Lies We Were Told by Shopfront Arts Co-Op

Cast Size: 13 total, gender unspecified, open ensemble

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform, produce

Genre: Comedy, theatre for and by young people

Form/Style: Non-linear, Verbatim, direct address, storytelling, presentational

Themes: Coming of age, belonging, sexuality, feminism, sustainability, bullying.

The Mermaid by Cassandra Fumi

Cast size: 14

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Fairytale/Fable, Visual Theatre, Disjointed Time, Dance, Drama

Themes: Identity, Journey, Hope, Agency

Reasons to Stay Inside by Katy Warner

Cast size: 1M, 1F – both 11

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Wordplay, Monologue, Duologue

Themes: Friendship, Anxiety, Hope, Imagination

Rosieville by Mary Rachel Brown

Cast Size: 4 female identifying, 3 male identifying

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform, produce.

Genre: Drama,

Form/Style: Linear, Episodic

Themes: young people, grief, family, death, coming of age, change, adolescence

Scenes from the Climate Era by David Finnigan

Cast: 5-25 (gender unspecified)

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class, stage or produce

Genre: comedy, contemporary, drama, ensemble, episodic, non-linear, one-act, political

Themes: climate change, globalism, hope, resilience, science, sustainability

Sprout by Jessica Bellamy

Cast: 5 (2 female identifying, 3 male identifying)

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class

Genre: drama, fantasy

Themes: extinction, apocalypse, relationships, climate change

Trackers by Donna Hughes

Cast Size: 33 Total, Flexible casting opportunities.

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform, produce

Genre: Sci-Fi

Form/Style: Non-linear, realistic characters and heightened performance styles required

Themes: Dependency on technology, reliability of information, bias and manipulation, friendship.

Watermark by Alana Valentine

Cast: 8 (4 female identifying, 4 male identifying)

A play to: Read, read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class

Genre: verbatim, realism, drama

Themes: natural disasters, community, resilience

The Trolleys by Sara West

Cast size: 11 characters

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Stimulus for Making & Creating

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Aspects of Fantasy, Puppetry

Themes: Friendship, Loyalty, Resilience, Sustainability

The Visitors by Jane Harrison

Cast: 7 (7 male-identifying)

A play to: Read, read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class

Genre: drama, comedy, realism

Themes: First Nations connection to land, colonisation, identity, resilience

Recommended for Upper Secondary (Years 10-12)

198(4) by Christine Davey

Cast Size: 13 plus ensemble (gender unspecified)

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform, produce.

Genre: Dystopian, Drama

Form/Style: Linear, episodic, Epic, Poor theatre, a blend of performance styles

Themes: Individual vs the collective, control and manipulation, propaganda, Free Thought, suppression of individuality.

Warning: Stylised Violence

The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race by Melanie Tait

Cast size: 5F

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Realism

Themes: Feminism, Gender equality, Diversity, Social media, Social justice

Warning: Coarse language

Beautiful One Day by Ilbijerri Theatre Company

Cast size: 14

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce, Stimulus for responding

Genre: Documentary, Non-naturalism, First Nations

Themes: Identity, Resilience, Deaths in custody, Dispossession

Curiosity by Daley Rangi

Cast size: 1F 2M

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Drama, Realism

Themes: Identity, Belonging, Dreams and hopes, Disability/ability

Girl Asleep by Matthew Whittet

Cast size: 10F, 5M (can mix)

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Magic realism, Drama, Comedy, Escapade

Themes: Family, Friendship, Teenager-dom, Rites of passage

Good Muslim Boy by Osamah Sami and Janice Muller

Cast size: 3 performers

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Peform, Stimulus for responding and making

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Non-naturalism

Themes: Loss, Family, Identity, Refugee

Heart Lines by Kerry Bowden

Cast size:  5M, 1F

A play to:  Read, Read aloud, perform

Genre:  Drama

Form/Style: non-linear, realistic characters

Themes: Organ donation, friendship, loss, forgiveness.

Warnings: Language Warning and Alcohol references

Hell’s Canyon by Emily Sheehan

Cast size: 1M, 1F

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Drama, Magic realism

Themes: Friendship, Identity, Loss, Grief, Hope

Man the Balloon by Matt Cameron

Cast size: 11 characters

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Peform, Produce

Genre: Poetic, Magic Realism, Absurd

Themes: Community, Change

No Worries – The Small Poppies by David Holman

Cast size: 6F, 12M

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Stimulus for Responding

Genre: Storytelling, Comedy, Realism, Non-naturalism

Themes: Friendship, Identity, Courage, Resilience

The Season by Nathan Maynard

Cast size8 (5 male identifying, 3 female identifying)

A play to: Read, read aloud, study

Genre: drama, comedy, naturalism

Themes: family, First Nations connection to land, intergenerational change, tradition

The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni

Cast size: 6M, 6F

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Physical comedy, Slapstick, Improvisation

Themes: Love, Confusion, Mistaken identity

Tales of a City By the Sea by Samah Sabawi

Cast size: 5F, 4M (Palestinian performers)

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Discuss, Stimulus for respondin

Genre: Drama, Non-naturalism, Epic theatre, Poetry, Song

Themes: War, Identity, Loss, Occupation

Take Two: A Comedy of Errors by Hilary Bell

Cast size: 5 performers

A play to: Read, Read aloud, Study, Perform, Produce

Genre: Comedy, Slapstick, Pantomime, Music

Themes: Love, Death, Mistaken identity

The Turquoise Elephant by Stephen Carleton

Cast size: 5 (4 female identifying, 1 male identifying)

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class

Genre: absurdism, comedy, drama

Themes: climate change, apocalypse, corruption, political activism, eco-terrorism

They Saw a Thylacine by Justine Campbell & Sarah Hamilton

Cast size: 2 (2 female identifying)

A play to: Read aloud, study, perform excerpts in class

Genre: drama, monologue

Themes: conservation, history, gender, women and patriarchy, nature