# Our Play

## Metadata

- Slug: our-play
- Type: Full-length Play
- Genre: Comedy
- Acts: 2 acts
- Duration: 90–120 minutes
- Cast: Large (15+)
- Cast Summary: 3f, 3m, 4 any, ensemble 5+ (pronouns may be changed to meet casting needs)
- Movement Requirements: Optional Elizabethan dance, two characters have minimal to stellar combat skills.
- Technical Requirements: Bare Stage with minimal set & props including 2 free-standing ladders, 1 mop, 2 writing utensils, and several small rocks.
- Performing Groups: High School/Secondary
- Primary Image: https://content.uproartheatrics.com/dacnhi3a4pz1lwelzx3yc4aqk7ad

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## Authors

- A two-act comedy by Erin Dealey (author slug: erin-dealey)

## Overview

Forest folktale characters—your Robin Hood, your Little Red, etc.—collide with Shakespearean characters who have lost (and found) themselves in the woods in *Our Play*.
In this madcap romp through the forest, familiar literary characters finally get to speak their minds and move forward from the stories that made them. Woven throughout is a whisper of an homage to a famous Thornton Wilder play, with its bare stage and simple settings.
Oh one more thing. It's a play-within-a-play.  A dress rehearsal goes off the rails when the actor playing the Damsel skips out on the last rehearsal for a dentist appointment (?!) until a newcomer steps in last minute and chaos ensues.
Flexible casting makes tailoring *Our Play* to your program’s strengths simple. Have some great singers? The minstrel material can be sung. No? Speak it ’gainst the stringed instrument of your choice. Heightened language feels accessible, stage combat abounds, and a delightfully active ensemble provides laughs galore.
En garde!

## Cast

| Name | Description |
| ---- | ---- |
| SAM |  Student director, set designer, stage manager, overachiever. Sam’s directing debut will be performed at a Theater Festival this weekend. Send positive thoughts.   |
| ZELLA | F.  18-20 year-old misfit, new to the area and the theater, except for the graffiti she added to the exterior recently. Edgy and defensive, she now needs community service hours...  |
| SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM | M. The old and opinionated Sheriff, whose territory includes the Forest of Arden, Sherwood Forest, and the woods in between. Running for re-election. Again.  |
| MINSTREL | Our Play’s narrator. Minimal to good guitar skills, acoustic and possibly electric. Or mandolin or ukelele. Greensleeves would be nice, but a few chords work too. *Sidekick option |
| BOTTOM | Bottom the weaver, fresh from a stellar, well, at least memorable performance of “Pyramus and Thisbe.” Yep. That’s the one.  |
| LITTLE RED | F. Plucky and eternally young, she wears a "wolf-skin" shawl over her cape. Would you believe a silly girl in a red cape has been robbing the rich and helping her brother Robin give to the poor? Neither does anyone else.   |
| ORLANDO | M. The third son of the late Sir Roland, in exile, disguised as a woodsman in the forest; in love with Rosalind, whom he marries at the end of As You Like It over and over again.  
 |
| HERALD | Usually the King’s official messenger, the Herald is somehow now part of the Sheriff’s re-election campaign. 
 |
| GUY OF GISBORNE | M. Second -in-command to the Sheriff of Nottingham.  In love with Maid Marian.  |
| ROSALIND/GANYMEDE | F. Plucked from the pages of As You Like It, Rosalind has been cast out by the same evil duke that banished her father as well as her love, Orlando. She escapes to the woods dressed in men’s clothing. You know the story. But what if there’s more to it? |
| COMPANY | Flexible. Unison COMPANY lines and Renaissance dance. Individual lines include Wedding Officiant, Wedding Guests, Trees and all-gender “Merry Men”  May also include tech crew in costumes. |

## Instrumentation

Minstrel plays acoustic and electric guitar, or at least a few chords. *Optional full rock band. Could just be a ukulele. OR could add a non-speaking musician as MINSTREL’s sidekick.

## Materials

### Available for additional fee:

| Name | Description |
| ---- | ----------- |
| 60-Minute Talkback with the Creators | A 60-minute Zoom/Google Meet with the show's creator. Licensees and guests can ask questions, share experiences, and hear about the artistic journey of the show and creative team. This can be scheduled before or after the performances. If we are unable to make scheduling work, the cost will be refunded. |
| Video Recording License | License to create an archival recording of the show that may be distributed to the cast and crew. This does not allow publicly posting the performance. |