When I write a script, I always try to weave in a moral theme or message that teenagers today can relate to. The trick is to keep the themes relevant to their lives, because the things that are relevant to them change. Quickly.

I have a script on this the Read a Script page called "Strength Beyond Strength" which I wrote years ago. It stars Jimmy Donnelly (one of my true-life friends who always gets a kick out of it when I tell him I used his name in another one of my plays). Jimmy in the story is a mild mannered kid, but he has the reputation as the toughest kid in the school. That reputation is used by two girls who are bullying a younger kid. The girls tell him that if he doesn't do their homework, Jimmy Donnelly will beat him up.

The reputation turns out to be wrong. Jimmy Donnelly is kind to the younger boy, and even helps him to stand up for himself. I'll let you read how he does it...

The point is that reputations, bullying, and standing up for yourself are themes that may never get old. No matter where you are in your life, you can relate to these themes. We all live with reputations, good and bad, and bullying doesn't stop in middle school. And standing up for yourself is a theme that will last into our old age.

A skit that has a moral message does much more than just deliver a performance- it makes you think. It makes teenagers think. And relate and understand and evaluate and synthesize and learn.

And they remember...

 


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