Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures
By Kent R. Brown. Based on the book Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry.
Product Code: G77000
Full-length Play
Comedy
Cast size: 24 actors: 7m., 9w. +8 actors; or 18 to 20 actors: 6 to 7m., 12 to 13w.; or 6 actors: 2 to 3m., 3 to 4w.; or 5 actors: 2m. 3w.
No Livestream or Record and Stream Rights Available
Rights and availability
This title can be licensed and sold in the following countries:
Canada, United States
* 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
Summer has come to a crashing halt in the little town of Watertower. The kids don't want to be back in school; they are listless and bored. Suddenly, the classroom door bursts open and there, wearing pajamas and cowboy boots, stands red-headed Gooney Bird Greene! "Hi! My name is Gooney Bird Greene—that's like the color with a silent 'e' on the end and I like to be smack in the middle of everything!" The class is never the same again. Gooney Bird speaks with confidence and dresses in outrageous outfits including Capri pants, blue knee socks, high-topped basketball sneakers, and elbow-length black gloves. But most wondrous of all, she casts herself as the hero in the most improbable, outlandish stories: how she arrived from China on a flying carpet, how she got a lovely pair of diamond earrings at the local palace, how she directed a symphony orchestra while driving through the center of town, and how her beloved cat, Catman, was consumed by a cow! Are these stories really true? Of course they are because, as Gooney Bird proudly proclaims, she only tells "absolutely true stories!" In blending funny and memorable characters with colorful details and her distinctive flair for suspense, Gooney Bird awakens the students' dormant imaginations. They come to realize their lives are as unique as Gooney Bird's and that they, too, can cast themselves as the heroes in their own true tales of discovery and adventure.
Notes
No Livestream or Record and Stream Rights Available
Details
- Status In stock
- Type of Show Full-length Play
- Product Code G77000
- Minimum Cast Size 5
- Pages of Dialogue 54
- Min. Royalty Rate $110.00/perf
- Approx. Run Time 60 min
- Staging Area staging.
Categories
- Target Audience Young Audiences | Middle School | Family (all ages)
- Performing Group Middle School | High School | College Theatre | Community Theatre | Professional Theatre | TYA
- Genre Comedy
- ISBN(13) 9781583422427
Customer Reviews
Extremely well received. The cast had a tremendous amount of fun building to be the outgoing, carefree character like Gooney Bird Greene.
My students LOVED this play! It was such fun to rehearse and perform with my sixth grade students. The play engages adults and kids alike while sending a special message to the audience.
Gooney Bird Greene is a magical and very fun production. Our young actors had a wonderful time bringing this tale to life. This is a wonderful play for young children.
We had a great time with this show. It was perfect for our trouping program.
The most fun we've had with a production to date. I didn't want it to end. Entertaining and educational!
We thoroughly enjoyed performing Gooney Bird Green. It is an exciting, interesting play. I thought the transitions were great for allowing improvisation with students which kept the audience's attention.
This amazing show is fun to produce and equally as fun for actors. I loved the show as it allowed student actors to really explore characterization. A great vehicle for both the actor and the patron.
Gooney Bird is "the" show to produce if you want to challenge the actors and promote and build your program. Our district elementary and middle schools attended, and we packed the house. The Gooney Bird series of books was read to students before they attended, and they loved seeing the fictional characters come to life. The teachers who attended appreciated the message and their students' learning a valuable lesson.
My cast loved this show with its improvisational acting style and had a blast performing the Viennese waltz, tango and ballet dances! This is a perfect show for production companies without a big budget to perform!
Hints, Tips, and Tricks
Be creative with the props. We made everything two-dimensional out of foam core or cardboard. We wanted the sets/props to look like a pop up book so the actors really stood out.
Put the bus and car and two separate 4' X 8' platforms on wheels. Have the kids in desks on risers. Each successive row of kids is eight inches higher so that the audience can see everyone!
Keep it simple with sets and props! Let your imagination go wild—we used foamcore to cut out different props, and an actor inside a felt gumball machine costume played our gumball machine—FUN!!
Gallery
Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures - CFE Drama Troupe, Newark, OH
Gooney Bird Greene - Lincoln School, Lincoln, MA
Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures - Friday Harbor Middle School, Friday Harbor, WA
Also By These Authors
Ron Solomon, Make It Up As We Go Productions, Pearland, Texas