Surviving Braces Play Script

Surviving Braces explores the struggles teens are facing with humor and heart. This series of scenes and monologues delves into issues with popularity, family, religion, class, death, relationships, sex, and violence. These intriguing characters express their deepest desires to be safe, accepted, and loved in a game of survival where not everyone will come out alive.
Richard Broadhurst’s plays have been produced all over the country–including New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Sacramento. In addition, Richard has been a guest playwright at the prestigious William Inge Theatre Festival, as well as a finalist to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference. Richard is also a screenwriter and has worked with a diverse group of actors–Ed Asner, Noah Wyle, and Jason Alexander, to name a few. Richard is member of the Dramatists Guild of America, as well as all of the Actors’ Unions.

Excerpt from the play:

CAST OF CHARACTERS

GIRL #1
GIRL #2
GIRL #3
GIRL #4
GIRL #5
GIRL #6
GIRL #7
GIRL #8
GIRL #9
GIRL: African-American or Mexican-American
GIRL A
GIRL B
BOY #1
BOY #2
BOY #3
BOY #4
BOY #5
BOY #6
BOY #7
BOY #8
BOY #9
BOY A: African-American teen
BOY B: White teen
BOY

ACT I

GIRL #1
I don’t care what anyone says, there’s no way to make braces look cute.

BOY #1
Zits are a real pain. But popping them into the bathroom mirror can actually be kind of cool.

GIRL #2
Just because I’m pretty doesn’t mean I’m happy.

BOY #2
The only way I passed biology was by putting all the parts of a frog into the lyrics of a song, and I only got a C on the final. The next day I forgot everything.

GIRL #3
First I wanted boobs. Now that I’ve got ’em they just keep getting in the way and my boyfriend won’t stop staring at them.

BOY #3
My Dad said growing a beard didn’t make me a man. A week later he walked out on us.

GIRL #4
Mom tried to give me a big lecture about not doing drugs, but her speech was so slurred I couldn’t understand half of what she said.

BOY #4
I got no reason to study. I’m going straight to the NBA.

GIRL #5
I hate it when mom says: “Someday you’ll understand.” That’s just her way of saying she doesn’t have a clue.

BOY #5
I try not to think about sex all the time, but my girlfriend just got boobs and I can’t stop staring at them.

GIRL #6
I’m so fat. I’ve gotta do something about it.

BOY #6
I wore my Future Farmers of America jacket to school yesterday and one of the football players put a plate of spaghetti on my seat in the cafeteria. That night I shot five squirrels out in the cornfield.

GIRL #7
Mom says whenever I have sinful thoughts…especially about sex, I should pray. I’ve been praying a lot lately.

BOY #7
I’ve ALWAYS gotten straight A’s until last semester. I got a B in gym class…just because I can’t climb a stupid rope.

GIRL #8
When I first transferred to this new school, one of the girls said she LOVED the color of my skin. She said it made me look exotic. I just wanna be me.

BOY #8
As I get older, you know who I miss the most the Tooth Fairy. He was reliable. You stuck a tooth under your pillow and the next day you had pocket change.

GIRL #9
My Dad says I look crazy when I talk to myself. But, heck, I don’t think I look any crazier than he does when he talks to his golf club after he hits a bad shot.

BOY #9
I’m not confused about who I am, but I sure as hell wish I knew who I was going to become.

One of the boys moves into a lit area downstage. The rest of the actors may stay on stage, in the shadows or they may exit. The numbers assigned to boys and girls in the scenes don’t necessarily match the numbers used during the opening lines, they are simply used to separate the characters in the scenes.

BOY
Next! (An excited girl moves into the light with the boy.)

GIRL
Hi. I’m Sherry Lewis. Sorry, I don’t have a picture and resume.

BOY
That’s all right. This is just a student production. I’m Simon. I’ll be directing the show.

GIRL
So, we have to do whatever “Simon says?”

BOY
Funny, but I’ve heard it before. What are you going to sing for me today?

GIRL
I don’t sing.

BOY
That could be a problem, Sherry. I mean…this is a musical.

GIRL
Oh, I’m very musical. I just can’t sing.

BOY
Well, then, maybe I could use you as a dancer.

GIRL
I don’t dance either. In fact, I’m kind of accident prone. I trip over everything that gets in my way.

BOY
I’m confused, Sherry. You can’t sing. You can’t dance. Why would you come to an audition for a musical?

GIRL
I just love the theatre.

BOY
That’s great. Look, maybe you could come back next semester and audition for the spring play. It’s just acting.