The Better Plays for High School Students

Year after year, it's the same routine

Year after year, it's the same routine. High school students are given revivals of plays like The Importance of Being Earnest and A Midsummer Night's Dream to act in rotation. If the kids aren't sick of it, the drama teacher sure is. While William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde have their merits -- the public domain being foremost among them -- eventually something new, or at least something that's not played to death, should be seen. Some of the more obscure classics suited for a school play include works by de Beaumarchais, Gozzi, Shaw, Rostand, and David Garrick. Of these historical characters, the last one is particularly notable for having another great historical play actually written about him. David Garrick by T. W. Robertson, was written in the 1850s. It was based on (to the extent that at times it was directly translated from) a French play called Sullivan. Sullivan itself was adapted from an earlier play called Le Garrick medicin, written in the 1830s and which spawned several other adaptions. Whatever was done in that play worked, and it captured imaginations for over a century after it was first published in France. Robertson's play David Garrick preserves the basic plot of its French predecessors: the famous 18th century actor, David Garrick is astounded to learn that a girl has fallen in love with him from the audience after watching him perform. The term "fangirl" does not yet exist, but it's clearly what she is. Garrick makes arrangements with her father to ensure she does not get carried away in her affections and, at a fancy dinner party, he proceeds to utilize his acting talents to disgust the girl away from him. Unfortunately, through the course of the night, Garrick finds that he's really in love with the girl as well. Due to Victorian censorship rules, the affection displayed between Garrick and his paramour is limited to hand-holding (unless, of course, the director should will otherwise.) A sword-duel in which Garrick becomes involved also works its way off the stage. The real show-stealing scene is in fact the dinner party, where Garrick makes a fool of himself in an effort to convince the other guests of his undesirability; he feigns drunkeness, begins singing and sitting on the other guests, smashes much of the glassware and finishes the night by enacting scenes from Shakespeare before running away wearing the window-curtains. This is only topped a few minutes later when the fangirl's real fiance, Squire Richard Chivy, comes home actually as drunk as Garrick just had feigned to be. This once popular play has fallen somewhat from the limelight, but efforts are being made to ensure its revival. A special theater kit for David Garrick is available at a discount from one publisher, and the message boards at Turner Classic Movies are buzzing with requests to show the old film versions. If you're looking for something fresh, but still with the affordability of the public domain, David Garrick is a smart choice. David Garrick by T. W. Robertson is available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

The Better Plays for High School Students

By: Liata Gluck

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