Now You See Me, a play about school violence by Jonathan Dorf

NOW YOU SEE ME

HOW TO ORDER A READING COPY OF NOW YOU SEE ME

Send me an email with the following information. Please provide ALL information requested below.

1. Your full name and your organization (theater company, school or other group). If you are a high school or college student, please include your teacher/professor's name.

2. A snail mail address and phone number for your organization.

3. When and where the production would be, and the number of performances.

4. Will admission be charged?

5. When do you expect to make a decision about using my play?

6. Can you receive attachments as PDF files? (The reader is a free download--link below.) If you can't, I can mail you a copy of the play. There will be a small fee assessed to cover postage and copying.

7. Please tell me how you found me and my work (I'm listed on certain websites, and it's always good to know, for both them and me, whether they're effective).

8. A statement that you understand that production of my work requires the payment of a royalty. See the note about royalties on the Plays for Production page.

SYNOPSIS

A teenager (played by a male and a female actor who trade off playing the main character throughout the play until they unite at the end) threatens to blow up a school but is dismissed by school officials and his own parents for not looking the part. At school, the teen is virtually invisible to his schoolmates, who ignore him as they scramble for seats in a crowded class. Even the teen’s teacher doesn’t respond to him. A trip to the guidance office is a flop, as he doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s list. Depression sets in, and a psychologist far more intent on her own problems visits the now-bedridden teen. When the teen finally gets up, she is picked out by an unsavory group of new, similarly invisible friends who burn socks in their spare time. Even this group drops her, and one final appeal for help to her oblivious parents fails. It isn’t until this moment that the male and female actors share the stage as the teenager, who then returns to school to seek revenge on those who have wronged him/her.

photo from the Oak Park High School production

The parents do wardrobe inspection in the Oak Park High School production.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

GIRL, a teenager
BOY, a teenager and the same person as the Girl
FIRST OFFICIAL, a secretary-like school employee
SECOND OFFICIAL, a principal-like school employee
MOM, mother of the Boy/Girl
DAD, father of the Boy/Girl
JANE, a high school girl
JOANNE, a high school girl
JOHN, a high school boy
TEACHER, a female role that could just as easily be male
JENN, a high school girl
JENN’S FRIEND, a high school girl
GUIDANCE SECRETARY, the guardian of the gates to the guidance office
COLLEGE REP, enthusiastic college admissions officer
MRS. COUNSELOR, member of the school counseling office
JESSIE, high school girl at the counseling office
MRS. GUIDANCE, second member of the school counseling office
VARIOUS COLLEGE REPS
FIRST TV PERSONALITY
SECOND TV PERSONALITY
PSYCHOLOGIST, a psychologist in need of a psychologist
NEW FRIEND, a high school outcast
SECOND NEW FRIEND, a high school outcast
THIRD NEW FRIEND, a high school outcast and a bit of a computer whiz

While it is possible, in the interest of using more students, to cast a different person in each role, aside from the Boy and Girl, all roles can be multiple-cast. Many are also non-gender specific. The play is meant to be as theatrical as possible and to use minimal and/or suggested sets.

the news

The news is a steady stream of violence.

Possible Multiple Castings for a Cast of Eight

GIRL

BOY

FIRST OFFICIAL/TEACHER/GUIDANCE SECRETARY/PSYCHOLOGIST

SECOND OFFICIAL/JOHN/EXTRA COLLEGE REP/SECOND NEW FRIEND

MOM//JENN/MRS. COUNSELOR/MRS. GUIDANCE

DAD/COLLEGE REP

JANE/JESSIE/FIRST TV PERSONALITY NEW FRIEND

JOANNE/JENN’S FRIEND/JUNE/SECOND TV PERSONALITY/THIRD NEW FRIEND

A GLIMPSE OF NOW YOU SEE ME

Read the first half of NOW YOU SEE ME as a PDF file
using the free Adobe Acrobat reader.

The Boy and Girl go over the edge.

The Boy and the Girl go over the edge.