Newly Published One-Act Play
A play for high school performers that has lots of female roles, no objectionable language or issues, conflicts and obstacles (but no romance) contemporary references, and simplicity in staging—that was my writing goal when I began Juliets back in 2014. I had enrolled in the Playwriting class of my colleague, Professor Jon Klein, because taking a course tuition-free is one of the perks of my job and I knew that due dates would definitely motivate me.
Our last assignment of the semester was a one-act play. Several drafts were due before the final submission so that our teacher and classmates could read and comment on the play as it developed.
Here is the story of the play’s journey from conception to publication.
After I completed the final draft for the course, I decided to keep on working on the play. In June, I issued a call for high school teachers to read and critique my play. Five experienced theatre educators from around the U.S. volunteered and I sent them my manuscript. They all sent thoughtful and useful recommendations and I revised my play accordingly.
Then, in September of 2014, I queried the teachers on the Educational Theatre Association’s Open Forum to see if I could find a few who would be willing to do a pilot production or a staged reading with their high school students. Several responded, but (as far as I know) only Shira Schwartz at Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona followed through. In May of 2015, her students performed the play and shared their thoughts about some revisions I might make.
I took their recommendations and then made a big change to the conclusion. By now I think the manuscript was in its 17thdraft.
Persistently Pursuing a Publisher
Between 2015 and 2017, I submitted my manuscript to several play publishers and it was rejected. I was disappointed, of course, especially when I reviewed the titles and synopses of plays they did publish...but that’s another story. I never thought I had written the next Pulitzer Prize winner, but I still believed my script would work for high school theatre.
On the EdTA Forum, I learned about Heurer Publishing and I decided to “dust off” my three-and-a-half year old manuscript and try again. This time I was fully prepared for a “No,” but Heurer said, “YES!” So, in February 2017, my play began its vetting by the publisher. The editors there were so pleasant and easy to work with, but the journey from submission to actually holding copies of my script was still a long one. It took another 7 months, but it happened and I am so excited!
When the Heurer paper catalogue arrived in the mail, I got my first glimpse of the marketing of the play:
If you are so inclined, the Heurer website allows you to read an excerpt of Juliets. <-- Click on this link and then click on the Script Preview box.
So, if you are (or you know of) a high school director looking for a simple-to-stage short play with contemporary references, lots of female roles, and no offensive language or subjects—Just High School Drama—please consider Juliets!
