Guides To Plays

 

The People’s Light Education Department creates guides for teachers and students about the plays offered through the Project Discovery High School program and the Family Discovery Series. These guides include information about the play, the playwright, production designs, and activities that help students enter the world of the play.

 

The following guides are available on-line

The following guides were created in partnership with the Newspapers in Education (NIE) program of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

Sitting on the Roof and other Tests of Character in Five Plays (2007-08)

Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by AVI; adapted by Russell Davis

Getting Near to Baby, by Audrey Coloumbis; adapted by Y York

The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams

Theophilus North, by Thornton Wilder; adapted by Matthew Burnett

Treasure Island, A Panto, by Kathryn Petersen

 

Disguises, Deceptions, and Discoveries (2006-07)

Includes 5 plays:

Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery; adapted by Peter DeLaurier

The Giver, by Lois Lowry; adapted by Eric Coble

The Imaginary Invalid, by Molière; adapted by James Magruder

Robin Hood, A Panto, by Kathryn Petersen

Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare

 

The Quest to Belong: Stories of Youth in 5 Plays (2005-06)

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller

Jack and the Beanstalk: A Comic Panto, by Kathryn Petersen

Jason and the Golden Fleece, by John Olive

The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers

Yemaya’s Belly, by Quiara Aletria Hudes

 

Love & Society (Spring 2005)

Includes two plays:

Jungalbook, adapted by Edward Mast; based on the stories by Rudyard Kipling

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare

 

The Art of Exaggeration (Fall 2004)

Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne; adapted by Mark Brown

The Miser, by Molière; translated by James Magruder

Sleeping Beauty Panto, by Gary Smith; adapted by Kathryn Petersen

 

Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare (Spring 2004).

 

Myth and Metaphor (Fall 2003)

Includes three plays:

Arthur’s Stone, Merlin’s Fire, by Kathryn Petersen

The Forgiving Harvest, by Y York

Holes, by Louis Sachar

 

A Season of American Playwrights (Spring 2003)

Includes three plays:

Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, by James Still.

Once in a Lifetime, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

A View from the Bridge, by Arthur Miller

 

A Season of American Playwrights (Fall 2002)

Includes three plays:

A Delicate Balance, by Edward Albee

In the Blood, Suzan-Lori Parks

The Little Foxes, by Lillian Hellman

 

The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare (Spring 2002).

 

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (Spring 2001).

 

Guides available by mail

In addition, some recent guides are available by mail for $8.00 each. To order one of these guides, please send your name, address, choice of guide(s), and check payable to The People’s Light & Theatre Company. Mail to: Project Discovery Guides, The People’s Light & Theatre Company, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, PA 19355.

(The dates in parentheses indicate when the play was produced at People’s Light)

Guides For Plays Produced In The Family Discovery Series

A Christmas Carol, adapted by Tazewell Thompson (2002)

The Adventures of Pinocchio, adapted by Louis Lippa (2000)

Afternoon of the Elves, by Janet Taylor Lisle, adapted by Y York (2000)

The Dreaming of Aloysius, by Louis Lippa (2002)

Fishes, by Diana Son (1998)

The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, adapted by Ric Cummins and John Scoullar (2003)

The Music Lesson, by Tammy Ryan (2001)

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, adapted by Paul Ledoux (2002)

The Thoughts and Travels of Nicki, by Russell Davis (2001)

A Village Fable, by James Still (1999)

 

Guides For Plays Offered To High Schools

As You Like It, by William Shakespeare (1999)

The Diary of Anne Frank, adapted by Wendy Kesselman (2000)

Hard Times, by Charles Dickens; adapted by Stephen Jeffreys (1998)

Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare (1998)

Power Plays: A Julius Caesar Warm-Up (2003), An Anthology of Scenes developed by David Bradley, Shannon O’Donnell, Michael Cruz, Bill Dawe, Peter DeLaurier, Aisha Hobbs, Mary Elizabeth Scallen, and Cathy Simpson

The Road to Mecca, by Athol Fugard (1999)

Tartuffe, by Molière (1996)

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare (1997)

Voir Dire, by Joe Sutton (1996)