Drama
Directory of Texts for
Intermediate 1 and 2
7869
September 2000
HIGHER STILL
Drama
Directory of Texts suitable
for Intermediate 1 and 2
Support Materials
CONTENTS
Rationale
Intermediate 1 Texts
Intermediate 2 Texts
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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RATIONALE
The writer considers that the following extracts could be suitable for use in either
‘Theatre Production Skills’ or ‘Production’ at Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2. The
choice would depend on the nature of the class/group concerned in the individual
centres.
In making these choices, there was an assumption that most centres will already have
access to a wide range of contemporary Scottish theatre and to other texts associated
with the Higher curriculum. The writer therefore steered clear of such texts and
concentrated on ones that may not already be in the department
It should be noted that this directory of texts is based on one writer’s views and
experience and is not an exclusive list. Staff should use their knowledge of their
candidates and their experience to finalise their choice of texts.
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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INTERMEDIATE 1
‘BOUNCERS’ by John Godber
In ‘Bouncers and Shakers’ (Warner Chappell Plays)
ISBN 0 85676 132 X
Cost: £5.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p.5 ‘That Steve Wright gets up my ring’ – p. 9 ‘Where’s Terry?’
Short, sharp dialogue, and Cabaret style acting. Opportunity for gender swapping as
the 4 original male bouncers change identities and become first 3 young women at the
hairdressers, then 3 young men at the barbers.
Cast: 4 Male
Extract 2: p. 23 ‘I couldn’t help it.’ – p. 25 ‘Lucky Eric’s first speech!!’
The characters revert to being bouncers outside the Nightclub.
Cast: 4 Male
‘SHAKERS’ by John Godber and Jane Thornton
In ‘Bouncers and Shakers’ (Warner Chapell Plays)
ISSBN 0 85676 132 X
Cost: £5.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p. 74 ‘I think I’ve got a corn’ – p.77 ‘Aren’t you two working on the new
Bleasdale project?’
Cast: 4 Female
Extract 2: p. 107 ‘Oh no! Look!’ – p.111 ‘French with Italian? No thank you, love.’
Lively, Cabaret style acting required for both extracts with quick role and gender
swapping. The scene is a Cocktail Bar with the 4 waitresses playing themselves and
their customers.
Cast: 4 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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‘PASSING PLACES’ by Stephen Greenhorn
In ‘Scotland Plays’ (Nick Hearne Books 1998)
ISBN 1 85459 383 8
Cost: £10.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract: p.159 ‘The camp.’ – 163 ‘You think?’ (Scene 19)
Two runaways from Motherwell experience life at a New Age Travellers camp.
Cast: 3 Male 1 Female
‘OUR DAY OUT’ by Willie Russell
In ‘Our Day Out and Other Plays’ (Studio Scripts, Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd)
ISBN 0 7487 1028 0
Cost: £4.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p. 55 ‘I was talking to those children’ – p. 57 ‘The beach!’
Two teachers of contrasting views are discussing the school outing that they find
themselves working on together.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
Extract 2: p. 66 ‘Carol Chandler!’ – p. 69 ‘Nothing, I promise you.’(Scene 35).
A young teenage girl is standing on a cliff-top threatening to jump over rather than go
back home. A rather strict and uncompromising male teacher is trying to talk her out
of it.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
‘VOICES FROM THE HIGHSCHOOL’ by Peter Dee
Baker Plays (USA)
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p. 30 ‘I never thought you’d let me down Rosa’ – p. 33 ‘…leg when you do
that back jump and….’
Two American High School girls were going for the Cheerleader trials. One reveals
that she no longer can take part because she is pregnant. Opportunity for
Trans-Atlantic accents.
Cast: 2 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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Extract 2: p. 34 ‘To be or not to be…’ – p. 37 ‘Who you’ve been staring at for the last
2 minutes.’
Two American High School boys are discussing Shakespeare until one of them starts
to tease the other about being in love. Lively dialogue with exploration of language
and accent.
Cast: 2 Male
‘TWO WEEKS WITH THE QUEEN’ by Mary Morris
(Macmillan Children’s Books, 1994)
ISBN 0 330 33693 2
Cost: £4.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p. 51 ‘You know what you are?’ – p. 54 ‘…a chocolate frog from my young
friend here.’
Set in a hospital. A young boy is looking for someone who could help his younger
brother who is dying of cancer. He meets a young man whose partner is dying of
AIDS. The final speech could be addressed to the audience rather than any need for
extras.
Cast: 2 Male.
Extract 2: p. 67 ‘Are you Griff Price?’ – p. 71 ‘I’m on holiday’.
A young boy visits a young man in hospital who is dying of AIDS.
Cast: 2 Male
‘A NIGHT OUT’ by Harold Pinter
In ‘Harold Pinter Plays’, Vol. 1 (Faber & Faber Contemporary Classics 1996)
ISBN 0 571 16074 3
Cost: £8.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: Act 1 Sc.1, p. 332 ‘You’ll upset me in a minute’ – p. 335 ‘Albert!’.
A prickly mother/son relationship: an over protective mother does not want her son to
go out.
Cast: 1 Male Female
Extract 2: Act 2 Sc.1, p. 351 ‘Eh, what about going over…’ – p.353 ‘Gin? Wait a
minute.’
Two giggly girls trying to chat up a shy ‘mother’s boy’ at the office party.
Cast: 1 Male 2 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
(2 male extras if desired).
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‘CUBA’ by Liz Lochhead
In ‘New Connections, New Plays for Young People’ (Faber and Faber 1997)
ISBN 0 571 19148 7
Cost: £12.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: p. 128 ‘Did you not put that rinse through your hair’ – p. 130 ‘Get the
book.’
Two 14-year-old girls, best friends, gossiping on a Saturday evening while reading
magazines at home.
Cast: 2 Female
Extract 2: p. 145 ‘In October 1962…’ – p. 146 ‘What the hell is going on?’
Two 14-year old school girls are caught spraying graffiti on their headmaster’s door.
Cast: 2 Female (+ read-ins)
‘IN THE SWEAT’ by Naomi Wallace & Bruce McLeod
In ‘New Connections, New Plays for Young People’ (Faber & Faber 1997)
ISBN 0 571 19148 7
Cost: £12.99
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract: p. 339 ‘OK, OK! Ladies and Gentlemen!’ – p. 344 ‘He backs away from
Duncan, bewildered.’
A young white security guard is tied up in an empty warehouse. 3 youths (1 Asian, 1
Afro-Caribbean, and 1 gay white) are cross-examining him. The language is fast and
strong and reaches an emotional and angry climax. Opportunity for different ethnic
roles.
Cast: 3 Male 1 Female.
‘THE CHICKEN RUN’ by Aidan Chambers
(Heinemann Education 1968)
ISBN 0 435 23167 7
Level: Intermediate 1
Extract 1: Act 1 Scene 3 (pp. 13 – 16)
Two young teenage boys with a Granny. A light-hearted domestic scene with an
opportunity for a character part as the elderly grandmother.
Cast: 2 Male 1 Female
Extract 2: Act 1 Scene 5 (pp. 21 –27)
A motor bike gang is preparing to question a potential new member.
Cast: 6 Male 2 Female
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Extract 3: Act 2 Scene 3 (pp. 64 – 69) ‘Not now, Dave. Have some feelings’
The scene shows the initiation ceremony for the tough motor bike gang. All the
characters are teenagers. Plenty of opportunity for action, ritual and tension but not
much dialogue.
Cast: 5 Male 3 Female
(+extras if desired)
‘AN INSPECTOR CALLS’ by J B Priestly
(Hereford Plays, 1965)
ISBN 0 435 22710 6
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract: Act 3, p. 54 ‘Eric! You stole money?’ – p. 59 ‘…not whether a man is a
police inspector or not.’
Set in an upper class home, just before the First World War. The scene shows the
final moments of a police interrogation during which a whole family realises that they
have all been partly responsible for a young woman’s suicide. Opportunity for period
language and costume.
Cast: 3 Male 2 Female
‘WOMAN IN MIND’ by Alan Ayckbourn
(Faber & Faber, 1986)
ISBN 0 571 14520 5
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract: Act 2 p. 64 ‘They’ve gone. They have.’ – p. 68 ‘I can’t see them’.
A middle-aged woman in mid-life crisis seems to be leading a double life where
Reality and Fantasy are intertwined. Here she is talking to the Family Doctor, also
middle aged.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
‘THE POPE AND THE WITCH’ by Dario Fo
(Oberon Books Ltd, 1989)
ISBN 1 870259 58 0
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract: Act 1 p. 57 ‘I’m sorry to interrupt again…’ – p.61 ‘Get her off!’.
A confrontation between the Pope and the ‘witch’ or healer, alias Second Nun. The
style should be fast and furious with undertones of the Commedia dell’ Arte. The
Healer has been trying to cure the Pope’s seizure but is in the Vatican under false
pretences. This is a difficult piece for 2 strong actors and extras.
Cast: 3 Male 1 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
(plus guards, an extra nun and cardinal)
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‘A TASTE OF HONEY’ by Shelagh Delaney
(Methuen Plays, 1959)
Cat. No. 2/6144/1
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Act 1 Scene 1 (beginning) p. 7 – p.11 ‘It wasn’t his nose I was interested
in.’
A mother and daughter have just moved into new, very scruffy digs.
Cast: 2 Females
Extract 2: Act 2 Scene 1, p. 59 ‘Jo! Your beloved old lady….’ – p. 62 ‘I’ll jump out of
the window.’
Hearing that her young daughter is heavily pregnant, a mother returns home to be of
help. The situation flares up and becomes confrontational.
Cast: 2 Females
(plus 1 Male read-in).
‘THE GLASS MENAGERIE’ by Tennessee Williams
(Heinemann Educational Books)
ISBN 0 435 22960 5
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Scene 2, p. 11 ‘Laura, where have you been going…’ to end of scene p. 13.
A mother/daughter confrontation when the mother (an outgoing, talkative type)
discovers that her extremely shy daughter has been skiving college. Set in the deep
south USA between the wars, giving an opportunity for accent and period costume.
Cast: 2 Female
Extract 2: Scene 7, p. 57 ‘You say you’ve heard me sing?’ – p. 60 ‘Oh! I ...What a –
surprise.’
A scene between a young lady and her gentleman caller. She is very shy, slightly
crippled and leads a secluded life. He is a popular student that she remembers from
school. It is a sensitive piece with opportunities for deep south American accents and
period costume from the 1920s.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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‘THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN’ by Peter Shaffer
In “Plays of the Sixties” (Pan Books 1966)
ISBN 0 330 33100 0
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Act 2 Scene 7 (beginning) p. 183 – p. 187 ‘Time was when we couldn’t
stop you.’
The meeting of 2 cultures, the Spanish Captain, Pizarro in the Andes with the Inca
King. This is a historical drama with plenty of action and a sword fight.
Cast: 4 Males
Extract 2: Act 2 Scene 11 (beginning) p. 198 – p. 201 ‘What must I do?’
Pizarro and the Inca King confront the meaning of life and faith. This is an intense
piece with scope for physical action, and requires 2 very strong actors.
Cast: 3 Males
‘BILLY LIAR’ by Willis Hall
In ‘Plays of the Sixties’ (Pan Books 1966)
ISBN 0 330 33100 0
Level: Intermediate 2.
Extract 1: Act 1 (beginning) p. 211 – p. 217 ‘I’ve been offered a job in London.’
A chaotic domestic breakfast scene showing three generations of the same family.
There is a good character part for the grandmother.
Cast: 2 Male 2 Females
Extract 2: Act 1 p.230 ‘Sit down darling.’ – p. 234 ‘I’ve had a terrible morning.’
Comical courtship scene between two incompatible lovers.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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‘AN IDEAL HUSBAND’ by Oscar Wilde
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Act 2, ‘You have been a good friend to me Arthur’ – ‘Fortunately, I don’t
know what bimetallism means. And I don’t believe anybody else does either’.
Drawing room conversations in the late 19th century with a mixture of the serious and
fanciful.
Cast: 2 Male 2 Females
Extract 2: Act 4 ‘People who don’t keep their appointments in the park are horrid.’ –
‘It makes me horribly dependent on you.’
A lively proposal scene in typical Wildean tongue-in-cheek style.
Cast: 1Male 1 Female
‘ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD’ by Tom Stoppard
(Faber & Faber)
ISBN 0 571 08182 7
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Act 2, p. 44 ‘So you caught up.’ – p. 49 ‘Stark raving sane.’
A difficult piece for confident actors, there’s a lot of quick word play from
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the Player’s role is dramatic and eloquent.
Cast: 3 Males
Extract 2: Act 2, p. 58 ‘We’re tragedians you see.’ – ‘Blackout.’
This is a difficult piece for an ambitious group. There is a ‘cloak and dagger’ mimed
sequence, and a strong actor required for the part of the player.
Cast: 3 Male speaking parts
plus at least 4 mime actors, either M or F
‘ASLEEP UNDER THE DARK EARTH’ by Siân Evans
In ‘New Connections: New Plays for Young People’ (Faber & Faber 1997)
ISBN 0 571 19148 7
Cost: £12.99
Level: Intermediate 2
Extract 1: Part 1 Scene 3, p.9 ‘I heard your voice’ – p. 14 ‘I don’t believe it really
happened.’
Set in 1830, 2 childhood friends meet after a long estrangement. One is wealthy, the
other is poor.
Cast: 2 Females
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Extract 2: Part 2 Scene 2, pp. 29 - 33 (the whole scene).
2 well-to-do ladies meet their niece’s fiancé for the first time. He is a poor travelling
preacher.
Cast: 1 Male 3 Females
Extract 3: Part 2 Scene 4, p. 39 (beginning) – p. 41 ‘Mari! Mari!’
Set in 1830, it shows the wedding night of an ascetic travelling preacher and his
young bride. Opportunity for period costume and language.
Cast: 1 Male 1 Female
Drama: Directory of Texts (Int1/2)
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