Good Kids, University of Michigan, 2014 (photo credit, Peter Smith Photography)

Big Ten Plays

The Big Ten Theatre Consortium

New Plays by and about Women

The Big Ten Theatre Consortium is commissioning a series of plays by outstanding American female playwrights. Each play features at least six substantial age-appropriate roles for young women. Men may also be included in the casts.

The purpose of the initiative is to promote the writing and production of new works about women by professional and academic theatres around the country. It is also meant to draw attention to the need to produce and support such plays.

Each year the theatre departments and schools of the Big Ten have the first opportunity to present the newly commissioned play. After that year, the play is available for production anywhere. At that time, arrangements for rights and royalties may be made through the writer’s agent.

As of August, 2017, five plays have been commissioned.

 

Good Kids, University of Iowa, 2014 (photo credit, Ian Servin)Good Kids, by Naomi Iizuka

Something happened to Chloe after that party last Saturday night.  Something she says she can’t remember. Something everybody at school is talking about. Was she raped? Did she ask for it? How could those boys do that to her? Or did they?  Set in a high school in the American Midwest, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smart phones and YouTube, Good Kids explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong and its very public aftermath. Who’s telling the truth? Whose version of the story do you believe? And what does that say about you?

Production since 2014

  • University of Michigan
  • University of Iowa
  • Indiana University
  • University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • University of Maryland
  • Purdue University
  • Penn State University
  • The Ohio State University

Good Kids, University of Michigan, 2014 (photo credit, Peter Smith Photography)Staged Readings

  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • The Ohio State University
  • University of Minnesota

Non Big Ten Productions

  • Brookline High School
  • LSU
  • Hobart and Smith
  • Missouri S&T
  • Many more

Interested in Producing Good Kids?
For information about producing Good Kids, contact Playscripts.com

 

Baltimore, by Kirsten Greenidge

When Shelby accepts a Resident Advisor position at her university, she believes it is the perfect addition to her resume: limited commitment on her part—a few heart to heart chats, but nothing that will interfere too much with her classes or busy social calendar.   A millennial with helicopter parents to prove it, Shelby’s used to planning everything down to the minute. Her plans change suddenly when a racially charged incident occurs on her floor and Shelby has no idea how to respond. Suddenly her students demand she take sides.  But choosing who to believe and how to act is complicated. Was the incident a joke?  Or are its roots deeper than Shelby wants to admit?  Does it speak to some part of the American experience which Shelby, despite being black, just does not know how to talk about?  

Productions since 2015

  • Michigan State University
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Iowa
  • Boston University
  • The Ohio State University
  • University of Louisville
  • University of Wisconsin Madison
  • Brooklyn High School
  • As of November, 2016, there have been 7 productions outside the Big Ten and 7 more are in the works.

Interested in Producing Baltimore?
For information about producing Baltimore beginning in 2016-17, contact Playscripts.com.

Good Kids, University of Iowa, 2014 (photo credit, R. Eric Stone)

 

Twilight Bowl, by Rebecca Gilman

Cousins Sam and Jaycee grew up together in a small Wisconsin town. Sam, who sharpened her bowling skills at the local alley, is now heading to college with a bowling scholarship. But Jaycee’s future isn’t looking so bright. As the young women and their friends face adulthood, the alley becomes a place to celebrate, mourn and forge new identities. But can their bonds survive even as their paths diverge? And is success always earned, or is it sometimes a matter of luck?

Productions since 2017

  • Reading at Maryland
  • Production at Iowa
  • Production at Goodman
  • Reading at Michigan
  • Production at Wisconsin

Soon to be published

Interested in Producing Twilight Bowl?
Beginning in the fall of 2018, contact George Lane at Creative Artists Agency.

 

Companion Animals, by Madeleine George

Across a hundred years and three continents, three young women pursue a common goal: to save the dogs they love. In London in 1907, suffragist Lizzy is writing an incendiary pamphlet exposing the torture of a little brown dog on the vivisectionist's table at the London College of Medicine. On the outskirts of Moscow in 1957, Anya is concocting a plan to set free the scrappy strays she has rounded up to be cosmonauts in the top-secret Soviet space program. And in New York City in 2017, Keira is on a quest to be reunited with the service dog she trained--and lost--in prison. The powerful bond between humans and nonhuman animals becomes the fuel for liberation movements in this braided story about the interconnectedness of all beings.   

Productions since 2019

  • Workshop Production at University of Iowa
  • Production at Purdue University

Prompt Book from GOOD KIDS @ Iowa, courtesy of Rachel Winfield, Stage Manager

 

Bonnets (how ladies of breeding are induced to murder),
by Jenn Silverman

Valerie is a poisoner, her sister-in-law Claire is a virgin, Webster is an indentured servant, her mistress Georginia is a pain in the ass, and Prudence and Fortitude have a weird felling about each other. . .but can we callout witchcraft?  BONNETS is a dark comedy written for six-plus young women, that plays with elements of camp, history, and rock'n'roll.  A song for the play is written by Max Vernon.

Productions planned since 2019.

  • University of Iowa
  • Michigan State
  • Purdue University
  • Ohio State
  • Indiana University (staged reading)
  • University of Wisconsin

Good Kids, University of Maryland, 2014 (photo credit, Stan Barouh)What is the Big Ten Theatre Consortium

The Big Ten Theatre Consortium is composed of the fourteen theatre departments and schools in the Big Ten Conference.

Production Archive

Good Kids

Good Kids, University of Michigan, 2014 (photo credits, Peter Smith Photography)

University of Michigan
Directed by Gillian Eaton

Good Kids, University of Iowa, 2014 (photo credits, R. Eric Stone)

University of Iowa
Directed by Alan MacVey

Good Kids, University of Maryland, 2014 (photo credits, Stan Barouh)

University of Maryland
Directed by Seret Scott

Good Kids, The Ohio State University, 2015 (photo credits, Matt Hazard)

The Ohio State University
Directed by Mandy Fox

Gook Kids at UW Madison
University of Wisconsin Madison
Directed by Olivia Dawson

Balitimore

University of Iowa production of BALTIMORE, photos by R. Eric Stone

University of Iowa
Theatre Arts Department's production (directed by Tlaloc Rivas), inconjunction the Darwin Turner Action Theatre, toured to 3 locations across Iowa in 2016.

University of Louisville production of BALTIMORE, photo by Tom Fougerousse

University of Louisville
Theatre Arts Department’s production (directed by Nefertiti Burton) was invited to perform at the 2017 National Black Theatre Festival.

Production Photos of BALTIMORE from Michigan State University

Michigan State University
The Department of Theatre's production (directed by Joni Starr) was presented in conjunction with MSU's "Project 60/50" in 2015 which created community conversations on civil and human rights.

Twilight Bowl

TWILIGHT BOWL at University of Iowa, Photo by R. Eric Stone

University of Iowa
Directed by Erica Vannon

Twilight Bowl at UW Masdison, photo by Beau Meyer

University of Wisconsin Madison
Directed by Jessica Fisch

Bonnets (How Ladies of Good Breeding are Induced to Murder)

Bonnets at Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin Madison
Directed by Pamela Sterling