1: Romeo and Juliet

by William Shakespeare

Published by Oxford World Classics

ISBN-10: 9780199535897

Cast: 16 or more

Themes and issues: Love, coming of age, passion, desire, oppression, violence, deception, escape, prejudice, religion, and death.

Performance matters: Less is more when directing young people in Shakespeare. I always cut the text down into manageable short scenes for students. It can also be really helpful to add in lots of music and movement to break up the text. When I directed Chippenham Youth Theatre in a site specific show of Romeo and Juliet, we had a live choir and band. Plus, we included plenty of group movement and stage fighting scenes. The students loved it!

Why it's great: In my onion it's the most beautifully written play of all time. The dialogue and story are simply sublime. Much of Shakespeare's work is sublime, but this is my favourite to perform with a teenage cast as the coming of age themes are strong and something they can truly relate to.

Watch out for: Be careful not to take on more than your cast can manage. It's much better to perform a short-polished version, for example 45 minutes in length, than a longer under-rehearsed version. Another thing to be wary of is that too often Shakespeare performances can turn out dry and even boring. I think Shakespeare would have hated this and would have encouraged us to have fun with his work and experiment.

2 Alice in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll, adapted by Samantha Marsden.

Published by Drama Fountain

ISBN 978-0-9957618-2-7

Cast: 14 or more

Themes and issues: The main theme in this play is identity, which is one of the many reasons it's the perfect play to perform with young people. It explores issues that come with growing up. I think one of the reasons Alice is such an iconic character is because childhood can be very confusing and this play explores growing up from a child's perspective.

Performance matters: There are so many opportunities to get really creative with this play and interpret it. Personally, I love to use physical theatre and get the whole cast involved in creating the magical atmosphere of the piece with movement and music.

Why it's great: There are so many speaking parts and characters for students to get their teeth into. All too often plays have only 5-7 main parts and the rest of the cast becomes chorus, but with this there are 14 or more main parts! There are also many great opportunities to showcase the chorus. It's not hard to make this show visually impressive at a low cost. One of the great things about the script published by Drama Fountain is that there are three available, one for 4-7 year olds, one for 8-11 year olds and another for students aged 12 and up.

Watch out for: There are a lot of scene changes, so you'll need to spend extra time rehearsing slick transitions. If you have a smaller cast you'll need students to take on several parts.

3 Animal Farm

By George Orwell, adapted by Ian Wooldridge

Published by Nick Hern Books

ISBN: 9781854597892

Cast: 16 or more

Themes and issues: Power, democracy dictatorships, communism, society, class, rivalry, loss, leadership, and corruption.

Performance matters: This is an exciting piece to perform with older teenagers. Students need to study the text thoroughly and research around the themes and issues. The more authentic and stronger the acting performances are, the better the whole will be.

Why it's great: I believe this play is a masterpiece! The characters are a true gift to the actor: multi-dimensional, with interesting journeys, and whip smart dialogue. The play is also structured perfectly and is engaging for the cast and audience.

Watch out for: I think it's important not to be too melodramatic with the animal characteristics. I encourage students to think about using humans for inspiration as well as the animal they are playing. For the actor playing Napoleon for example (the dictator) I would encourage them to take inspiration from footage of real-life dictators. Lots of the characters in this play are traditionally male, but I like to mix the genders up. I enjoy seeing a female Napoleon for example.

4 Schools Will Rock You 

by Queen and Ben Elton

Licensed by the writers and producers

www.schoolswillrockyou.co.uk

Cast: 18 or more

Themes and issues: One of the main themes is rebellion and I think this is why teenagers love to perform this show so much! Other themes include identity, love, loneliness, isolation, escape and freedom.

Performance matters: To pull this show off, the cast have to fully commit and give a lot of energy. When directing it, do a lot of acting exercises which involve unblocking performers so that they feel less inhibited. It's a high energy show and has to be performed this way for it to work.

Why it's great: This is a dream of a show to direct with teenagers. It's visually great, easy to constume, and there is a lot of scope for dance and movement. There are a surprising number of acting scenes for students to get their teeth into too. Also, the music is awesome which really brings the energy of the show alive.

Watch out for: The music is very hard to sing, and you will need a strong cast of singers to pull this show off. I adapt the script a little to make it work for the actors who can't sing, so that some of the singing parts are turned into only acting parts. Students really appreciate this. Of course, I leave some parts too for the singer/actors.

5 Annie Jr

By Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan

Licensed by MTI http://www.mtishows.co.uk/annie-jr

Cast: 15 or more

Themes and issues: Poverty, loneliness, rags to riches, homelessness, justice and hope.

Performance matters: I think traditional works best when putting on Annie. Every theatre kid has the right to have a go at slamming those buckets on the floor while singing ‘A Hard Knock Life’ even if it is the fifteenth time that a teacher has directed this show!

Why it's great: It is a timeless classic. I love the students’ delighted faces as they come into the wings after performing ‘A Hard Knock Life’ to a live audience! They get a thrill from this show which I don't see from other shows. It seems to resonate with them and they adore the music.

Watch out for: The cast is predominantly female, so I normally change some of the female parts to male parts so that everyone gets a chance to shine. Be careful that Miss Hannigan stays age-appropriate, I cut the swigging of alcohol and flirting from the show. Some of the scenes can get a bit lengthy with not very well written dialogue, so I cut them down and focus more on the choral elements of the show.