Plays for Young Audiences
Plays for Young Audiences by Cynthia L. Cooper [Cindy Cooper]
LOUIS BRAILLE: THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
(musical)
Co-authors: Cynthia L. Cooper, Joel Vig; Lyrics: Jane Smulyan; Music: Annie Lebeaux
A young blind genius invents a way for those without sight to read during a time in the 1800s when the blind are treated as castoffs. Flexible staging, 3 m., 2 w. (with doubling); up to 25 (without doubling), 1 hr. (Theatreworks USA: Town Hall, NY; Promenade, NY; Triplex, NY; Henry Street Settlement, NY; BAM; Kennedy Center; 20 touring states)(dir. Alma Becker) Finalist, 2002 National Children's Theatre Festival 2002; Special Feature Florida 2005. "The performance was wonderful -- it opened up new avenues of thought for curious minds" (5th grade teacher); "One of the best children's theatre productions I have ever presented ... informative in a very entertaining way" (Rita Donald, Children's Theatre Rep, Papermill Playhouse; "I'll never forget this show. I was very impressed. I am blind myself ... I would like all the people in my school to see this play." (Student, Forest Grove Jr. High School, Mass.) Kanab High School, Utah; Hangar Theatre, Ithaca, NY (dir. Drew Feldman), 2016.
Songs in LOUIS BRAILLE (Smulyan/Lebeaux): In the Dark; School in Paris; You'll Fit Right In; On A Rope; Trouble; A Little Ray of Light; What Could Be Easier Than That; Something More; Academics; Pass It On
Publication Dramatic Publishing Cast 5 to 25
Piano Score
Rehearsal CD (with voices)
Video Clip from the Hangar Theatre
SOR JUANA
Born in the mid-1600s, a young girl in Mexico who thirsts to learn, despite all odds, later becomes world reknown as Sor Juana, a poet, playwright, intellectual and nun who advocates for the education of women. (2 w. with doubling)(may also be performed by 1 w or by as many as 8) Enrichment Works, Los Angeles, (2007-2017); Venus Theatre with Touchstone Gallery Reading Series, DC.; 365Women.
See a video trailer from Enrichment Works.
(Previous publication on Indie Theatre Now no longer available due to site closure -- use contact for a copy of the script or visit NPX, Cynthia L. Cooper)
GO GIRL GO
[Alternate title: Spins, Swings, Kicks]
A girl on a solo journey while at soccer camp encounters sports heroes from a different era. (School tours: Women's Theatre Co., N.J.; Enrichment Works, Los Angeles, director Murphy Cross.) Flex. set., 4 w. 40 min. K-6. Interactivity. "The response to it from principals, teachers and student audiences has been overwhelmingly positive." Abraham Tetenbaum, Executive Director, Enrichment Works. "Great presentation, a 10, it gave the students a lot of courage." Los Feliz Elementary, Los Angeles. Women's Theater of New Jersey; Venus Theater, Maryland, summer theatre program.
An adaptation of 'How She Played the Game' [see FULL-LENGTH PLAYS], published in 7th grade text, used in state assessment testing.
THE PRIZE (about Dr. Patricia E. Bath)
A groundbreaking Black woman ophthalmologist and inventor of laser surgery faces her toughest challenge in a reluctant patient. 1 w., 22 min. 365 Women; Queens Stem Girls, 2021; White Mouse Productions, Orlando FL, 2021; We [LOVE] Women Doctors, Episcopal Actors Guild, NYC, 2022. Read on NPX.
CHANGE IS ON THE WAY
Three young women decide to use their lip synch act to get help for a neighbor from India who is wrongly harassed, incorporating three great women of the past -- Clara Barton, Ida B. Wells and Lakshmi Bai, (India's "Joan of Arc"). 3 w., diverse. Women's Theatre of New Jersey, 365Women
HEROES -- FIRNEE -- EYE-FIVE
Three short stories against bias and speaking to universality across America's diverse ethnic groups. Schools tours, part of Muslim American, featuring Mueen Jahan Ahmad, directed by Chris Hart through Enrichment Works, 2002-04, Los Angeles. Flex. set., 30 min., 1 m. [Pref: MidEastern descent.] Grades 3-8; Reading ('Eye Five')Immigrant Theatre Project at THAW, NY, Fall 2003.
For Los Angeles school shows: contact Enrichment Works.
REACHIN' --
Be Somebody, Be A Star
Young people explore nontraditional career possibilities in a series of sketches. Minnesota Department of Education Vocational Education Program & Women's Theatre Project (director, Carolyn Levy), 100 schools in Minnesota schools and neighboring states; "Equity" (excerpt)in the publication: "Hit the Nerve: New Voices in the American Theatre" (Henry Holt) (see Publications); 2003 planned use in North Carolina high school assessment tests. Flex. set, 2 w, 1 m., 40 min., 7-12 grades. Its message: you can be what you want to be ... Breaking away from the stereotypes of what people should be. Minnesota Department of Education.
CONTACT:
Cynthia L. Cooper
446 W. 47th St.
No.1B
New York, NY 10036
Plays@CynCooperWriter.net