The Giver
(Two-Act Version)
Adapted by Eric Coble from the Newbery Award-winning book by Lois Lowry.
Product Code: GC9000
Full-length Play
Drama
Cast size: 4m., 4w., extras as desired or 4m., 2w. with doubling, extras as desired.
No Livestream or Record and Stream Rights Available
Rights and availability
This title can be licensed and sold throughout the World.
* Please note the royalty rate listed is the minimum royalty rate per performance. The actual royalty rate will be determined upon completion of a royalty application.
Synopsis
Jonas' world is perfect. Everything is under control and safe. There is no war or fear or pain. There are also no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. But when Jonas turns 12, he is chosen for special training from The Giver—to receive and keep the memories of the community. The Giver is the only person who holds the memories of real pain and real joy. Now Jonas will learn the truth about life—and the hypocrisy of his utopian world. Through this astonishing and moving adaptation, discover what it means to grow up, to grow wise, and to take control of your own destiny. The Giver was commissioned by Oregon Children's Theatre and has played to sold-out audiences at such theatres as Oregon Children's Theatre, First Stage Milwaukee, The Coterie Theatre, People's Light and Theatre Company, Dallas Children's Theater, Stages Repertory, Nashville Children's Theatre, Lexington Children's Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, and Indiana Repertory Theatre.
Notes
No Livestream or Record and Stream Rights Available
Details
- Status In stock
- Type of Show Full-length Play
- Product Code GC9000
- Minimum Cast Size 6
- Pages of Dialogue 64
- Min. Royalty Rate $110.00/perf
- Approx. Run Time 90 min
- Staging Unit set.
Categories
- Target Audience Middle School | High School | College and Adult | Family (all ages)
- Performing Group Middle School | High School | College Theatre | Community Theatre | Professional Theatre | TYA
- Genre Drama
- ISBN(13) 9781619590533
Customer Reviews
This is one of the best book to stage adaptations I've ever read or produced.
This was a wonderful production to reopen our theatre after a year of being closed. The themes are so timely. We also had a wonderful collaboration with the local library in promoting the play, the book it is based on and the three follow-up books.
This was wonderful! We very much enjoyed performing The Giver. We layered music and sound effects for each memory and paired them with specific lighting, and the results were really nice!
As a community theatre producing this show we felt it was a perfect fit because it utilizes actors of all ages and a lot of patrons recognized the name. We had actors as young as 7 all the way through 87 which made up all the members of the community. We highly recommend this show for any community theatre.
Our cast, crew, and community loved this show! We teach the novel in our district, and the script is so compelling and true to the storyline. The storyline is nice and "tight," no wasted scenes. Many people told us after the first act, they felt like they'd only been in the theater for 15 minutes and couldn't believe it'd been closer to an hour.
Hints, Tips, and Tricks
... The Two-act version was appropriately challenging for my students, and there were plenty of opportunities to get the less confident or less experienced actors on stage in various "fill in" roles. My kids had a blast creating the sound effects tech for the play, and it was a perfect training play for teaching 7-8 graders to run the mic board and lights. The simplicity of the set design contributed to the success of play as well. My more experienced actors/actresses enjoyed the challenges involved in character development throughout the play. All in all, this is well written and very doable for MS/HS.
From a technical standpoint, the set, props, and costumes were quite easy. Everything was gray. I added little pops of color once Jonas could start seeing the color red by using clip in hair extensions for Fiona and a slight of hand for the apple. Sound cues are what really helped the plot when Jonas received his memories from the Giver. The show worked really well in a small intimate space. Eric Coble did a great job with the script! My students read this book in sixth grade and had already done a lot with discussing literary elements, which made my direction of the show a little easier.
I would recommend remote control LED lights for the Apple light change (pretty cheap to buy on Amazon). Just make sure Asher has the remote on his belt, as the range for the remote is pretty small.
Finding a way to do the scene changes fluidly and the memories convincingly is the key to making this show work. We used A LOT of lighting and sound effects, but projection would work brilliantly if you have the capabilities. The element of color is also extremely important. We made dozens of grey tone and colored books that could be interchanged on our set, and the effect was striking.
Production Map
| Location | City | State | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albuquerque High | Albuquerque | NM | 04/23/2025 | 04/26/2025 |
| Santiam Christian Schools | Adair Village | OR | 05/15/2025 | 05/17/2025 |
| Oak Ridge High School | Oak Ridge | TN | 09/11/2025 | 09/14/2025 |
| Old Town Playhouse | Traverse City | MI | 04/16/2026 | 04/18/2026 |
Downloads
| File Description | File Format | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Poster | Download |
Poster Suggestions
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- Your local copy shop should be able to create prints from a file saved to disk. They might even be able to increase the size of the poster for you (although some loss of resolution will occur).
Gallery
The Giver-Sikeston Little Theatre, Sikeston, MO
The Giver (Two-act) - The Sauk, Jonesville, MI
The Giver (Two-act) - ThinkTank Theatre, INC, Riverview, FL.
The Giver (Two-act) - St. Charles Community College, Cottleville, MO
Also By These Authors
Charlene Hartley, Eastern Heights Middle School, Elyria, Ohio