| Jonathan Dorf has had his plays produced throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Asia. He has been a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award, the Weinberger Playwright Residency, the Charlotte Repertory New Play Festival, and the InterAct New Play Festival. His work has been seen at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Ensemble Studio Theatre - LA, Moving Arts, and the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, and he has had plays for young people commissioned by the Walnut Street Theatre and the Choate Rosemary Hall Summer Arts Conservatory, where he served as playwright-in-residence. In addition to his many works with Playscripts, plays include Ben, Bookends, Shining Sea, Milk and Cookies, Beef Junkies, Supermodels in Jeopardy, and Neverland, while such works as The Locker Next to Mine, 4 A.M. (the musical), From Shakespeare With Love?, Now You See Me, Dear Chuck, War of the Buttons, and Day One (a musical) were created specifically for school-age actors and audiences. A number of his monologues are published in collections by Playscripts Inc., Meriwether and Smith & Kraus, and his published plays make their homes at Playscripts, Inc., Brooklyn Publishers, Heuer, and Original Works. He co-founded YouthPLAYS, the publisher of plays for young actors and audiences, and ProduceaPlay.com, the web's foremost resource site for producers. He also authored Young Playwrights 101, a complete playwriting text for young playwrights and those who teach them.
Resident playwriting expert for Final Draft (creator of the playwriting "Ask the Expert") and The Writers Store (author of Playwriting101.com and playwriting instructor at Writers University), Mr. Dorf has also served as Visiting Associate Professor of Theatre in the graduate playwriting and children's literature programs at Hollins University, and as the United States cultural envoy to Barbados. He is the co-chair of the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights and a life member and former managing director of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center, as well as a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He holds a BA in Dramatic Writing and Literature from Harvard University and an MFA in Playwriting from UCLA, and works with playwrights and screenwriters internationally as a script consultant. He has been a guest artist at the International Thespian Festival, Educational Theatre Association Annual Conference, Asian Festival of Children's Content, the Tennessee Arts Academy, as well as numerous schools and festivals. He is available for playwriting workshops and residencies worldwide through his YoungPlaywrights101.com website. |
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Dramedy
Short, 30-35 minutes
3 females, 3 males, 6 either
(6-40 actors possible: 3-20 females, 3-20 males)
$45.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
What's it like to be awake when the rest of your world is asleep? Meet an early-morning jogger, a radio DJ whose show may have an audience of none, a modern Romeo and Juliet, the author of a most unusual letter, and many other teen characters as they search for connection in the magic hour. Through a series of connected scenes and monologues, join them on their journey as they discover whether the monster under the bed is real and collectively wonder...is there anybody out there?
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$14.95 per book
Looking for the perfect monologue? Actor's Choice: Monologues for Teens is here to help. From hilarious comedy to cutting-edge drama and everything in between, an exciting selection of monologues is at your fingertips. Unlike other monologue books, the source of every monologue is easily accessible -- each play is available through one website (www.playscripts.com), where you can read nearly the entire published script online for free. From classwork to competitions to auditions, this book has you covered!
Also in this series:
Actor's Choice: Scenes for Teens
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Women
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Men
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| "This is an excellent monologue book for middle and high school students with applications for competition as well as use in drama, speech, or English classes." |
| --Terrilyn Fleming, The Midwest Book Review |
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$14.95 per book
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Teens, Volume 2 continues the Actor's Choice series with a brand-new selection of unique contemporary monologues. From hilarious comedies to moving dramas and everything in-between, this book has you covered. Unlike other monologue books, the source of every monologue is easily accessible -- each play is available through one website (www.playscripts.com), where you can read nearly the entire published script online for free. Whether you're looking for a monologue for classwork, competitions, or auditions, you'll be sure to find a perfect fit in this collection.
Also in this series:
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Teens
Actor's Choice: Scenes for Teens
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Women
Actor's Choice: Monologues for Men
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| "For the theater teacher who wants to challenge their students, Actor's Choice: Monologues for Teens, Volume 2 is a strong addition to drama education reference collections, highly recommended." |
| --The Midwest Book Review |
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Dramedy
Short, 30-35 minutes
3 females, 2 males, 6 either
(8-40 actors possible: 2-38 females, 2-38 males)
$45.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
When a man and woman in suits take Emmett away in the middle of math class, his classmates come up with their own explanations for his mysterious disappearance. He's off to his own private rock concert. He was kidnapped by aliens. He was an alien himself. He created a mural that offended the school. A victim of bullies, he engineered his own disappearance...and a multitude of other guesses. Slowly we begin to realize that no one really knew him. Who is Emmett, and why is it that no one paid any attention to him until he was gone?
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Comedy
Short, 35-45 minutes
7 females, 5 males, 4 either
(10-35 actors possible: 4-30 females, 4-20 males)
$45.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
This crazed mash-up parody of the Harry Potter and Twilight series (with nods to Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Alice in Wonderland, and other stars of the pop culture pantheon) features invisible rabbits, armies of babies, murderous lunatics, evil gourmets and much more. Hilarity ensues as everyone's favorite wizards, vampires, and werewolves battle to save the gloomy town of Spork -- and indeed the world -- from certain destruction at the hands of the nefarious Fine Diner and the bloodthirsty Euphoria.
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Comedy
Full-length, 75-85 minutes
5 females, 6 males, 9 either
(14-50 actors possible: 5-25 females, 5-25 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Toy Boatin is Roswell High's bowling star, but he's longing for more than just the state championship. When surgical prodigy Gaberella transfers in, she's immediately drafted onto the surgical decathlon team, but she too wants more. Will Toy and Gaberella unseat Shitzu and Cryin as the leads in the upcoming Winter Muse Cycle? After Gaberella's classmates discover that her singing voice is so bad that it could cause mass casualties, they must decide what's more important -- following your dreams, or preserving life as we know it. An outrageous spoof of the popular Disney sensation.
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| "...the audience need not be young, or familiar with the Disney show,
to get laughs out of this spoof." |
| --The Advertiser-Tribune (Tiffin, OH) |
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Comedy
Short, 35-45 minutes
8 females, 3 males, 1 either
(11-40 actors possible: 8-25 females, 3-15 males)
$40.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
"Desperate" doesn't begin to describe this high school drama troupe: their parents avoid their shows, their faculty sponsor has fled, and the audience for their production of Romeo and Juliet consists of one sleeping homeless woman. When they discover that the sleeping woman is actually dead, the troupe turns her into a zombie so she can join the show and make it a hit with the zombie-loving masses. But one bite leads to another, and soon things spin wildly out of control. When the curtain comes down on this undead Romeo and Juliet, will anyone be left alive?
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Drama
Short, 30-35 minutes
9 females, 3 males (12-24 actors possible: 8-20 females, 3-4 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
Facing the catastrophic consequences of global warming, Deme and her brother Romulus are barely surviving as they scavenge for food and water in the near future. Forced to flee their makeshift home because of an outbreak of sickness, the teenagers land in "New San Francisco," a relative paradise with a running stream and spa. Romulus and some of their group insist that they've found utopia, but Deme still dreams of finding the rumored polar bears in the north that she believes are the key to their long-term survival. Will they risk everything to chase this dream?
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Dramedy
Short, 30-35 minutes
7 females, 4 males, 9 either
(10-50 actors possible: 7-25 females, 3-25 males)
$45.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
For Achilles and Helen, getting bullied is a dismal fact of life -- Achilles regularly has his head flushed in the toilet, and Helen invents reasons to arrive late to school so she can avoid a vicious clique. When cool girl Glinda magically materializes and offers them a way out, they each jump at the chance. But Glinda's solution is to turn them into the very people who have tormented them. Can Achilles and Helen find another way out?
(This play has an alternate ending; contact Playscripts for details.)
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| "...a brave portrayal of bullying at its finest... putting on stage the hurtfulness and, indeed, cringe-worthy scenes of fictional people acting out all-too-real scenarios is one heck of a way to make one think." |
| --Edson Leader |
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Comedy
Full-length, 90-100 minutes
8 females, 5 males, 4 either
(9-50 actors possible: 5-25 females, 4-25 males)
$75.00 per performance; $8.99 per book
Media darling Oliver Twist has gone from a lowly orphan to an anxiety-ridden corporate spokesperson, pitching everything from juicers to cereal and tofu by reenacting his days in the workhouse and subsequent adventures. But Oliver's monopoly on the inspirational rags-to-riches story is threatened when Tiny Tim throws aside his crutches and decides to run the marathon. Tiny Tim has the chance to inspire millions, but with a homicidal trio of fairytale princesses, scheming Corporate Mommy and Daddy, and meddling friends and family, Tiny Tim may not make it to the starting line.
(This play may also be performed under the title Run Like the Dickens.)
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| "A non-stop stampede of satire, comic send-up and an underlying wry look at our modern 'values', grounded as they are in 15 minutes of carefully manipulated fame." |
| --- Brian Byrne, A Kilcullen Diary (Kilcullen, Ireland) |
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Twisting Carol
Wrenched from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
by Jonathan Dorf |
 
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Comedy
Short, 25-35 minutes
3 females, 7 males, 3 either
(6-50 actors possible: 3-25 females, 3-25 males)
$35.00 per performance; $7.99 per book
In this twisted riff on the holiday classic, Scrooge is so miserly and self-centered that he hasn't even noticed his dead partner Marley's corpse is stuck on the roof and causing a stink. But then Marley's ghost arrives (mistaking himself for the reggae icon, dreadlocks and all); he warns that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits, but doesn't mention that they'll be an aerobics instructor, a guy named Bob, and a flasher. Along with Short Tim (he was tired of the "tiny" label), the spirits warm Scrooge's heart, and he embraces the true meaning of Christmas. Too bad Marley's still stranded on the roof...
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