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Max Bush
Max currently has two plays in development: An adaptation of THE THREE MUSKETEERS, both a long (adult) version and a short (7th-12th grade) version; and WILDBOY, another play for high school actors and audiences, commissioned by Stebbens Youth Theater (Iowa) and Gull Lake High School (Michigan).
THE BOY WHO LEFT HOME TO FIND OUT
ABOUT THE SHIVERS
Anchorage Press, 504-283-8868, $6, ages 6 and up.
Adapted from the Brothers Grimm. One act, area staging, 9m, 8w. Boy's quest to discover how to get the shivers leads him to a castle where the Powers of Death haunt every corner. He is visited by a fierce Ghost, wild Cats, a Corpse, and a mysterious, singing Bride. An elegant tale, filled with humor and wisdom, perfect for Halloween.
VOICES FROM THE SHORE
For secondary school and up.
Available from Dramatic Publishing Company
(Occasional music and lyrics by Dale Dieleman.) Cast: 6m., 8w. All characters are 17 to 18 years old. Joel and his best friend Lucas are awaiting friends to attend a senior-year, spring-break beach party. Joel seems abnormally tense as he and Lucas discuss their hopes for the future. When the others arrive, it's clear that friendship, dreams, and concerns about the future after graduation are on the minds of everyone. Joel's anxiety level rises; we see that he is hearing voices. After being admitted into an adolescent psychiatric hospital, Joel meets other young people who are also struggling with who they are and their changing worlds. Told with humor, honesty, and directness, VOICES celebrates the anxieties, triumphs, and glories of young adults struggling with understanding their changing dreams and with the responsibility for realizing them. Unit set. Approximate running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.
KARA IN BLACK
An unpublished new play
For secondary school and up.
Available from the playwright: Maxb@egl.net
10w, 7m. Kara's (18) older sister Della (19) is leaving to travel to Kuwait to prepare for the possible invasion of Iraq. While Della is proud to be a woman in the army, and believes in the administration, Kara begins to oppose her sister going, and the impending war. To understand the effects of war on people, Kara talks to a Vietnam vet, Stevens, who speaks directly from the terrible reality of his combat experience. As Kara struggles to find her voice and to express herself, opposing voices are loud and clear: other students; Della; Della's best friend Rachel; Kara's feelings of isolation, frustration and helplessness; and, seemingly, the majority of the American people. Running time: 1 hr, 30 min. Single unit set.
SARAH
Dramatic Publishing, $5.50, ages 14 and up.
Two acts, 7w, 4m. Sarah, a vulnerable, creative 17-year-old, has experienced her share of tragedies. Trying to figure out who she is, she runs into conflicts with her family, friends, teachers, and parts of herself. Urna (a “spirit”) and Molly, who inhabit Sarah's unusual bedroom-world, attempt to help. Sarah is forced to decide what is most important in her life. But this is difficult as insistent voices struggle to be heard.
Photo credit: Portland High School
WILDBOY
In progress, available from the playwright: Maxb@egl.net
$8, ages 8 and up.
One act, area staging, 6m, 7w. While playing football with his brother Sammy (10) in the backyard, Jamie (15) relates a dream in which the Hunter stalks a wounded Wildboy searching for a spring whose water will heal him. Jamie enters his dream and encounters Wolves, Deer, Greenlady, and Wildgirl, who offer to help him. With his family, Jamie begins to discover the meaning of the dream.
Photo credit: Gull Lake High School
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