Still Life with Iris
(60-Minute Version)
By Steven Dietz.
Product Code: SG2000
Full-length Play
Drama
Cast size: 5m., 4w. (flexible/doubling.)
Limited Streaming 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
This piece is the first play for young audiences to receive the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays Award. Still Life with Iris is a fantastical adventure which centers on a little girl's search for the simplest of things: home. Iris lives with her mom in the land of Nocturno—a magical place in which the workers make, by night, all of the things we see in the world by day. Also, in Nocturno, memories do not reside in people's minds but instead are kept in their coats (called "Past Coats"). The rulers of Nocturno, the Great Goods, are determined to have the "best" of everything on their island—and therefore take Iris away from her home and bring her to Great Island to be their daughter. To ease the pain of this separation, they remove her Past Coat, leaving her with no memory of her home or her family. All that remains of Iris' past is a single button from her coat. Using the button as a clue, Iris joins with friends she meets on her journey—Annabel Lee (a young woman from the sea) and Mozart (the composer, age 11)—and frees herself from the Great Goods. She returns to Nocturno, having found her past, and her home.
Notes
Limited Streaming Rights Available
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Details
- Status In stock
- Type of Show Full-length Play
- Product Code SG2000
- Minimum Cast Size 9
- Pages of Dialogue 55
- Min. Royalty Rate $110.00/perf
- Approx. Run Time 60 min
- Staging Small units brought onto an open stage.
Categories
- Target Audience Young Audiences | Middle School | Family (all ages)
- Performing Group Middle School | High School | College Theatre | Community Theatre | Professional Theatre
- Genre Drama
- ISBN(13) 9781583426791
Customer Reviews
This is a great show for newer-to-theatre students. Lots of great opportunities for comedy and serious moments.
This was a fun and great show to work on with middle schoolers.
This was such a beautiful script. My students really enjoyed how the story weaved together so many different ideas. The mix of humor and depth of characters was just what my middle schoolers needed to dig deep into a character yet still have a great time and experience with the comedic moments. It was also fun to design and direct for me!
Incredible ensemble piece, I love the way it is written.
This script is a wonderful example of a well written drama that plays for all ages and performed by high school students. It has many lyrical qualities, both comic and intense emotional moments. With a splash of mystery.
Still Life With Iris is a magical and fantastical play filled with imaginative and allegorical elements. Appealing to children and adults, Dietz takes us into the contrasting spheres of Nocturno and Great Island as Iris adventurously explores her place in the world.
Hints, Tips, and Tricks
The most challenging aspect was figuring out the glass case scene. A great piece for young actors to get challenge themselves to make 2 characters different even though they were the same person in Matternot/Dad and Mom/Overlook.
We used projections in our show to help with all the props that were needed, especially when it came to the Great Goods. We also made past coats from jackets at Goodwill and added patches and buttons.
Keep the set simple to allow for easy and fluid transitions from one setting to another. Allow time to develop the soundscape of the production that is driven by Mozart music.
Production Map
| Location | City | State | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Fork High School | Kingwood | TX | 03/17/2025 | 03/29/2025 |
| Klein Oak High School | Spring | TX | 03/31/2025 | 04/05/2025 |
| Stageworks Theatre | Houston | TX | 06/20/2025 | 08/03/2025 |
Downloads
| File Description | File Format | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Poster | Download |
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- You can print the poster in its original format and hand write your information.
- 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
Still Life with Iris (60 minute) - Perry High School, Perry, GA
Also By These Authors
Joe Sendek, Perry HS Theatre, Perry, Ga.