Books with author Aurand Harris

Six Plays for Children by Aurand Harris brings together a variety of dramatic forms that have enormously enriched the literature of children's theatre in this country and around the world. These works by this respected children's theatre playwright show Harris's great versatility: in the commedia dell'arte of Androcles and the Lion; the musical melodrama Rags to Riches; the sober, absurd comedy Punch and Judy; the realistic historical drama Steal Away Home; the farce Peck's Bad Boy; and the musical review Yankee Doodle. Each of the six plays exhibits a vital theatricality which is sure to win a child's attention and response. Editor Coleman A. Jennings traces Harris's development as a playwright in a biographical study based on interviews with Harris. This enlightening section treats Harris's philosophy and teaching methods, as well as his creative process.

Play script. Written under a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Cast of 4 women, 3 men, vaudeville entr'acts. One interior set. Costumes, 1915. (A shortened version of this play is also available from the publisher.)A TOBY SHOW brings back to the stage an American folk character -- Toby, the country bumpkin who through naivete, honesty, and homespun humor outwits the city slickers. This farce-melodrama recreates with traditional situations and stock characters -- as well as jokes and stage business -- a colorful segment of American drama: the traveling tent repertoire shows. Starring in the Cinderella story, Toby enacts a comic variation of the fairy godmother. With music and specialty numbers, the production excitingly evokes a Toby Show for children of all ages, allowing them the joy of experiencing an authentic example of American folk theatre. As the early posters advertised: A laugh a minute! A cyclone of fun! Toby, a stick of dyna-mirth!

Play script by Aurand Harris. A wonderfully theatrical play about a boy who is different instead of marbles, he has poems in his pockets. Through him one glimpses every gifted child, and the special needs of every one in his special world. A cultural view of American traditions 1849-1916. Period Costumes. CAST: 17 roles plus extras (5F, 8M, 4+ either) which can be played by as few as 3F, 6M.A comedy, exciting, appealing, touching, and also biographically true of the Indiana boy, James Whitcomb Riley, the famous early American poet. Beginning on his 75th birthday, proclaimed a national day of celebration buy President Woodrow Wilson, the poet recalls his youth--the merry-go-roung at the country fair; the old swimming hole; the painful dunce cap at the cruel village school; the bonfires of Halloween; and unforgettable little Orphan Annie; the Underground Railroad and tehe horror of the Civil War and the medicine show where his poems first won public applause. Brimful of music (background) and spectacle, Ride a Blue Horse shows a gifted child coping with a universal problem that of being different.

Play script. Refreshingly antic, irreverent treatment of Aesop's fable, written in the style of Italian Commedia dell'Arte. One set, 16th century Italian costumes. Cast of 5 men, 1 woman. One of the most popular children's plays ever written, ANDROCLES AND THE LION has been produced in twenty countries. In Commedia tradition, a group of strolling players set up their stage and give a performance. Using authentic staging and stock characters of Commedia -- the miserly Pantalone, the bragging Captain, the romantic Lovers, the trickster Arlinquin, plus an endearing Lion -- Aesop's fable becomes a colorful theatrical experience. The play sky rockets with zany comedy. It also glows with the warmth of "Friendship." Androcles and the Lion is a prize winning play, applauded around the world, again, and again!

A dramatization by Aurand Harris of the award-winning novel by Betsy Byars. A smashing success when premiered at Northwestern University Department of Drama for the entire community of Evanston. Winner of the AATE Distinguished Play Award. One set. Contemporary costumes. Cast of 2 women and 3 men.Three children are bounced like pinballs from one foster home to another. Carlie, fifteen and street-wise and a natural leader, is a victim of child abuse. Thirteen-year old Harvey is wheelchair bound after his drunken father ran over both of his legs with his new car. Thomas J., eight, was abandoned on a doorstep as a baby. Each longs for the comfort of a real home. Now, in the play, they come together for the first time at Mrs. Mason's, an understanding foster mother who encourages them to follow Carlie's urging "to do something for ourselves." By the end of summer the "pinballs" have become a "family." Written in a theatrical and imaginative style, utilizing exciting musical, sound, and lighting effects, this play is both touching and funny. It treats a modern social problem with arresting insight, humor, and an emotional theatrical impact.

Play script. Dramatization of selected scenes from Mark Twain's classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. No set, few props. Ideal for touring. Period, simple costumes. Flexible cast. 1 woman, 4 men may perform all roles, by doubling.Huck Finn's story -- the escape from his drunken father, his befriending a runaway slave -- is an adventure tale of excitement and suspense, delightfully sprinkled with homespun humor. In six action-filled scenes, alive with colorful characters and sparkling dialogue in rural dialect, the play reveals Huck, a clever, lovable boy, who is baffled by the greed, hypocrisy, and absurdity of society. His conscience troubles him about what is wrong, what is right, during his long journey down the Mississippi, a journey in which he "grows up." Keeping faithfully to the book, Harris, with his celebrated mastery of playwriting, has written for young audiences a great American play about the great American novel.