Plays of America from American Folklore for Young Actors: Grade Level 7-12 (Young Actors Series) - Softcover

McCullough, L. E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1575250403 ISBN 13: 9781575250403

Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc

Synopsis

Fifteen original plays based on American folklore that celebrate the diversity of the American cultural mosaic.

About this title

About the Author:

L. E. McCULLOUGH, PhD is an educator, playwright, composer, and ethnomusicologist whose studies in music and folklore have spanned cultures throughout the world. He is the author of twenty books of plays, monologues, and scenes for Smith and Kraus. L. E. now has 17 titles in print for young actors.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up?These 10 short, original plays based on American folklore feature Johnny Appleseed, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Jones, a variety of tall-tale characters, and incidents from Cajun, African American, Native American, Chinese, and American regional traditions. Each script includes casting, setting, costume, and special-effects notes, as well as music that can be incorporated into the production. While folklore is often eclectic and tends toward historical inaccuracy, McCullough further confuses matters by adding contemporary messages about the environment, tolerance, and equal rights, and a bit of romance. Time periods and events are jumbled together; contemporary narrators are created for most of the stories, and historical figures who were contemporaries but never actually interacted are thrown together. Use of dialect and stereotyping of ethnic groups common in folklore may make audiences uncomfortable unless the plays are used as starting points for discussion of these issues. Teachers may find the book useful, but given its problems, they might choose to have students write their own short plays based on folklore instead.?Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc
• ISBN 10: 1575250403
• ISBN 13: 9781575250403
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1