Top Ten Plays About LGBTQ+ Teens

One of the many things we at Samuel French love about theatre is its ability to shed light on the experiences of others and incite a unique – and impactful – form of empathy. By giving a name and a story to the struggles of others, theatre gives voices to many who may otherwise stay silent and whose experiences might go unrecognized. To that end, here are some of our top picks for plays featuring members of the LGBTQ+ community at their peaks of their self-discovery and sexual awakening — their teenage years.

Mirror, Mirror by Sarah Treem
A high school Homecoming dance in the south. In the bathroom Gretchen Black, the most popular girl in school, lights a cigarette and asks the mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all. The mirror shows her a horrible witch instead of her own reflection. Gretchen puts the cigarette out in her armpit and the witch disappears. Moments later a mysterious new girl named Rose White arrives at Homecoming. She has no hips or chest to speak of, but her skin shines white as snow and her lips are as red as the rose. She’s after Gretchen’s boyfriend, Badger Biers. In this dark comedy, based on Snow White, ten teenagers love, lose, betray and revenge each other over one autumnal weekend in a kingdom far, far away. It is a precarious landscape where magic lurks behind make-up, mirrors and memories. 6m, 5f. 90 minutes

Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen by Kathryn Walat
When uber-popular Vickie Martin joins the all-male math team, chaos theory becomes the rule at Longwood High School. Can this goddess of Pi possibly make the mathletes victorious? Totally. Finalist for the Jane Chambers Award. 4m, 1f. 105 minutes

Crooked by Catherine Trieschmann
Fourteen year old Laney arrives in Oxford, Mississippi with a twisted back, a mother in crisis and a burning desire to be writer. When she befriends Maribel Purdy, a fervent believer in the power of Jesus Christ to save her from the humiliations of high school, Laney embarks on a hilarious spiritual and sexual journey that challenges her mother’s secular worldview and threatens to tear their fragile relationship apart. 3f. 90 minutes

Hazelwood Jr. High by Rob Urbinati
At first, Hazelwood Jr. High is like any other middle school – cliques and crushes, dances and detention. But when a new girl unwittingly steps into a “love triangle,” a revenge plot is hatched, and events spin out of control, escalating into a shocking and unimaginable climax. Based on a true story. 6f. 90 minutes

Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them by A. Rey Pamatmat
Three kids — Kenny, his sister Edith, and their friend Benji — are all but abandoned on a farm in remotest Middle America. With little adult supervision, they feed and care for each other, making up the rules as they go. But when Kenny’s and Benji’s relationship becomes more than friendship, and Edith shoots something she really shouldn’t shoot, the formerly indifferent outside world comes barging in whether they want it to or not. 2m, 1f. 105 minutes

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
A comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games, She Kills Monsters tells the story of Agnes Evans as she leaves her childhood home in Ohio following the death of her teenage sister, Tilly. When Agnes finds Tilly’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook, however, she stumbles into a journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that was Tilly’s refuge. In this high-octane dramatic comedy laden with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture, acclaimed young playwright Qui Nguyen offers a heart-pounding homage to the geek and warrior within us all. 3m, 6f. Full Length Play

Push by George Cameron Grant
What would it take to push your child over the edge? Eve, a 16 year-old girl, has fallen asleep in the darkened, dingy corner of a deserted subway station, not far from the platform edge where Billy, her 18 year-old brother, chose to leave this world, and where she’ll soon struggle to find the reasons NOT to follow him. One bullied child is one too many! 1m, 1f, 3boy(s), 3girl(s), 1m or f. 40 minutes

The Mystery of Love and Sex by Bathsheba Doran
Deep in the American South, Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since they were nine. She’s Jewish, he’s Christian, he’s black, she’s white. Their differences intensify their connection until sexual desire complicates everything in surprising, compulsive ways. An unexpected love story about where souls meet and the consequences of growing up. 3m, 2f. More than 120 minutes

Birds of a Feather by Marc Acito
Recounting the story of Roy and Silo, the two Central Park Zoo chinstrap penguins who partnered, adopted an egg, hatched and raised a chick together. Roy and Silo are no strangers to the spotlight. In 2005, they were the subject of a widely contested children’s book, And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. The book, temporarily pulled from school bookshelves in Loudoun County, became one of the most banned books in the US. Winner of the 2012 Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play. 3m, 1f. 90 minutes

Doris to Darlene by Jordan Harrison
In the candy-colored 1960s, biracial schoolgirl Doris is molded into pop star Darlene by a whiz-kid record producer who culls a top-ten hit out of Richard Wagner’s “Liebestod.” Rewind to the candy-colored 1860s, where Wagner is writing the melody that will become Darlene’s hit song. Fast-forward to the not-so-candy-colored present, where a teenager obsesses over Darlene’s music – and his music teacher. Three dissonant decades merge into an unlikely harmony in this time-jumping pop fairy tale about the dreams and disasters behind one transcendent song. 4m, 2f. 105 minutes