Home » Writing & Publishing » Playwriting » Writing Plays for Children

Writing Plays for Children

© Dave Brandl

Many parents are eager to expose their children to theater, including me. The entire experience is great for young people, from audience to crew to actor. I watch my daughters growing up among actors and stages, and it produces powerful results in their self-respect, confidence, mental skills, and discipline. Not to mention that putting shows together is just plain fun.

Children's theater is basically comprised of two markets:

Plays to be performed by adults for children

These are usually the professional and semi-pro groups who work in regional and first-class theaters, or who perform regularly for area schools. While the scripts may be performed by children, so much of the enjoyment of the professional productions are dependent on talented and agile actors that they lose impact when presented by less-able casts.

Plays to be performed by children

These are mostly schools and churches, but also include organizations that train young actors and technicians. Among mine written specifically for this market are Too Wrapped Up for Christmas, Early One Morning, and Bremen Town Musicians. These shows may also be performed by adults.

There are also two sub-markets:

Plays to be performed mostly by adults with a few parts for children

Classics fall into this category, such as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Music Man. Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Carol.com are two of my plays in this category. These shows find their markets among professional and community groups.

Plays to be performed by relatively equal numbers of adults and children

This encompasses creative casting as well as large song-and-dance reviews. Over the past 7 years, I have worked with a group called "Magic Moments," that is a fund-raising organization for groups that work with developmentally and physically handicapped children and adults. They produce annual musicals, typically homespun shows written by several members of the group. They usually have a cast of about 100, including roughly equal numbers of adults, teens, children, and those with handicaps, focusing mostly on the music, but sometimes with full story lines, sometimes with short sketches, and sometimes with minimal dialogue at all. I helped write shows and have performed in them, also. My three older daughters have all participated in them, as have my wife and 79-year-old mother.

Just Till I'm Back On My Feet, one of the one-acts in A Christmas Lottery is another example of one of these, with a cast of 2M/1W/3G and Santa Claus.

All of these various groups are eagerly seeking new material.

The copyright of the article Writing Plays for Children in Playwriting is owned by . Permission to republish Writing Plays for Children in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.