Brian Guehring, Playwright: Children's Theater Playscripts and Youth Theater Playscripts for Elementary, Middle School, High School, and College Level Audiences
brianguehring.com

photo of Brian

-- Brian Guehring
Playwright-in-Residence and
Education Director, Omaha Theater Company
Omaha Theater Company logo


This site is now listed on the USA Plays for Kids website :


USA for Plays logo.

Thanks for dropping by my web site! Hopefully this will be a useful and interesting web site for people (especially directors and producers!) who are interested in new scripts for young audiences. There’s an official biography, the latest news in my playwriting world, and a great database of 17 of my scripts with script samples, cast sizes, target audiences, production history and stuff. AND thanks to my brilliant brother each category can be clicked to sort the database by that category.

My Playwriting Philosophy
I am passionate about theater for young audiences and I strive to write scripts that challenge, educate, and entertain young people and their families. As the Playwright-In-Residence for a professional theater for young audiences, I have developed a strong ability to also write both scripts with small casts for professional theaters and scripts with large casts for youth theaters. As a student of the great Suzan Zeder, I believe strongly in continuing to develop and revise my work. I’ll go through many, many drafts before I let my scripts go to publication. I’m excited to work with new theaters and directors to learn more about my script.



 

PLAYWRITING
NEWS:
Summer 2009 Update
(finally)

THE GIVER rocks OMAHA

The Omaha Theater Company produced my new adaptation of The Giver in October and it received a glowing review from the Omaha World Herald.  Our company also had our largest group of middle school field trip audiences ever for one of our productions.  Then in December the Omaha World Herald named our production of The Giver one of the top ten productions in Omaha for 2008!  This is one of the first times a TYA production has made the list.

 

 

MR. PLAYWRIGHT GOES TO DAYTON

The Town Hall Theater in Dayton Ohio brought me out last November 2nd to see their production of my script BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR.   The company uses both youth actors and adult actors and the production was wonderful and very funny.  I was able to talk back to the audience and cast.  I also went into the schools and did some workshops about the play with a local elementary school and high school.   Town Hall Theater produced my adaptation of Where the Red Fern last season, and it was nice to finally meet my generous hosts Mark Metzger (the Artistic Director) and Brittany Hayden (the Education Director).

 

 NATIONAL PLAYWRITING AWARD!

My adaptation of Old Yeller was selected as a winner in the 2008 AATE (American Alliance for Theater and Education) Unpublished Play Reading Project.   I’m very excited about this recognition.   There was a nice stage reading of an excerpt from the play at the 2008 Conference in Atlanta!

 

BLUE HAIRED SUPERHERO in OMAHA

The Omaha Theater Company opened my new interactive theater in education play The Adventures of Pyramid Man and Dr. Nutrition.  We performed 60 times in local schools this year in the Omaha area thanks to a grant from Con Agra foods and will perform 60 more times this fall.   And yes, the super-hero has blue hair that looks like a Dairy Queen soft serve ice cream cone! 

 

 WORLD DOMINATION PLAN STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE

Yes, my plan for world domination through theater for young audiences scripts is beginning to take wing.   In addition to the productions here in Omaha and the production in Dayton (they also took Brave Little Tailor into the schools),  The Brave Little Tailor is was produced by Walnut Street Theater and toured Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.  My adaptation of Miss Bindergarten went on national tour this last spring.   The Bully Show was produced by Lexington Children’s Theater this spring (complete with a new cyber-bullying update).

 

PRIDE PLAYERS

My teen theater troupe Pride Players celebrated its 10th anniversary this year in January.  We cast 25 students from 8 different Omaha area high schools and toured to Iowa.  Last spring a group in Southern California used scenes from The Best of Pride Players  in their production. 

 

SUMMER CONFERENCE

I will be attending the joint AATE/ATHE conference this summer in NYC presenting my work with LGBT Teen theater and drama work with students with autism.

 

DRAMATIC PUBLISHING

My original plays King Chemo and The Bully Show are available through Dramatic Publishing and my most recent royalty report told me that The Bully Show had productions in Florida, Michigan, Hawaii, Montana, Massachusetts and New Jersey last year.  I’m really excited.

 

SABBATICAL IS OVER

After 10 years of working full time for the Omaha Theater Company, I took a three month sabbatical last spring (March through May) to write and rest and travel.  I enjoyed my time off and had a lot of fun starting to turn King Chemo into a novel for young people.   It may take me 10 years to finish it, but I’m going to take my time and enjoy the process of it.

 

DRAMATIC PUBLISHING

My original plays King Chemo and The Bully Show are available through Dramatic Publishing and my most recent royalty report told me that The Bully Show had productions in Florida, Michigan, Hawaii, Montana, Massachusetts and New Jersey last year.  I’m really excited.

SABBATICAL IS OVER

After 10 years of working full time for the Omaha Theater Company, I took a three month sabbatical last spring (March through May) to write and rest and travel.  I enjoyed my time off and had a lot of fun starting to turn King Chemo into a novel for young people.   It may take me 10 years to finish it, but I’m going to take my time and enjoy the process of it.


DRAMATIC PUBLISHING
My original plays King Chemo and The Bully Show are available through Dramatic Publishing. They are listed in the 2007-2008 Catalog! How cool is that? www.dramaticpublishing.com

Winter 2007-2008
Omaha Public Radio logo

Michael Lyon recently interviewed Joseph Slate (author), Brian Guehring (playwright), and Kevin Ehrhart (director) about bringing their musical version of Miss Bindergarten to the stage.


Brian Guehring's
original plays :
The Bully Show
CoverBullyShow

and
King Chemo
KingChemoCover

are now available through Dramatic Publishing. They are listed in the new 2006-2007 Catalog!

Dramatic Publishing logo



CONFERENCES

I just got back from the ASSITEJ/USA conference (or the TYA/USA conference) in Minneapolis and saw some great international performances. Next I go to TCG (Theater Communications Group) for an education director conference. Then in August, I travel to Vancouver (assuming my passport returns by then) to go to the AATE conference (American Alliance for Theater Education). I am leading a session on the role of the playwright in a Theater In Education play.

PUBLISHED ARTICLE

Theater for Young Audiences Today, the journal for the United States Center for the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, published my article "Queer Youth Theatre: Challenges, Strategies, and Mission" where I interviewed leaders of 4 other queer youth theater groups to compare our approaches to the work and its role in theater for young audiences.

NATIONAL AWARD WINNER

Last July, my friend and colleague Tracy Iwersen and I went to Orlando for an awards ceremony of the National Education Association. Our Pride Players teen theater group was awarded a Human and Civil Rights award for youth advocacy. The ceremony was really fancy (thank goodness our costume rental had a nice tuxedo I could use) and inspiring. There are a lot of amazing educators doing inspiring work in the public schools here in the United States. It was a huge honor to be on stage with these great educators and advocates.

UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS :
Summer 2009 Update
(past productions)


Summer 2009:  Many Disguises of Robin Hood: Omaha, NE

            This summer the Rose is producing my Robin Hood script for a large youth cast

Summer 2009: Brave Little Tailor:                 Omaha, NE

            This summer my annual summer camp production in Papillion is going to produce a huge youth cast version of the Brave Little Tailor with several songs.

September 2009 through October, 2009          

The Super Adventures of Pyramid Man and Dr. Nutrition: Omaha, NE

            We just opened this new Theater In Education piece to tour to elementary schools exploring healthy eating and exercise.  This is part of a grant from ConAgra foods.  We are performing 60 times for 3rd through 5th graders

May 2010:       If You Give a Cat a Cupcake:   Omaha, NE

            Our mainstage season at the Rose Theater closes with my three person adaptation of one of the popular sequels to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book.


Recent  Productions
:

September 2008 through May 2009  Brave Little Tailor      Philadelphia

Walnut Street Theater toured my adaptation of The Brave Little Tailor.  I’m excited about working with this great company for the first time.

February-April 2009    Miss Bindergarten                                            Omaha, NE

I have adapted these popular picture books for the Omaha Theater Company and it went on National Tour this January with only 5 actors.

March 2009    The Bully Show: Lexington KY

            The Lexington Children’s Theater commissioned me to add a cyber bullying update to my published play The Bully Sho

.October  2008   The Giver: Omaha, NE

            The Omaha Theater Company produced my new adaptation of the Newberrry Award winning book on its mainstage season.

October 31-November 15  Brave Little Tailor    Hall Theater, Dayton OH

            I’m excited to work with this company for two years in a row now.  This show had 8 performances on their stage and then tours into the schools.

January-April 2008      Old Yeller                                Touring around the Country

            The Omaha Theater Company toured Old Yeller for its winter/spring national tour. 

Janaury 2008-March 2008  Where the Red Fern Grows   Virginia and SE

The Barter Players in Abingdon, VA produced my adaptation in the fall in their home theater and are now touring the production around the Southeastern United States.  This was the first production to use actors for the dog characters and not puppets.

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© 2007 Brian Guehring & brianguehring.com
© site design by Keith Guehring