Teenage Dick
by Mike Lew

Name: Teenage Dick
Brand: Mike Lew
SKU: 9780822239802
Rating: 3.72 (145 reviews)

Off-Broadway

Teenage Dick Book Cover — Teenage Dick Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

105 mins Present Day Multicultural Casting Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes American Adaptation Comedy

Synopsis

In this brilliant retelling of Shakespeare’s Richard III, one of the most famous disabled characters in history is reimagined as a 16-year-old outsider taking on the political turmoil of high school.

Bullied for his cerebral palsy (and his sometimes disturbing tendency to speak with a Shakespearean affect), Richard plots his revenge…as well as his glorious path to the senior class presidency.

But as he falls deeper into a pattern of manipulation and greed, Richard is faced with an unexpected choice: Is it better to be feared or loved?

TEENAGE DICK is a hilarious and sharp-witted adaptation about perception, disability, and the treacherous road to ascendancy.

Themes Bullying in schools--Drama Bullying in schools High school students High school students--Drama People with disabilities People with disabilities--Drama Revenge--Drama Revenge PS3612.E948 T44 2019 Teenagers Teenagers--Drama

Press Reviews

"Moving, exciting and profoundly eye-opening…whenever [Lew] questions or complicates Shakespeare’s assumptions, even if that means departing from his template, it is riveting… [Teenage Dick] suggests how much richer the theater will be when it is truly open to artists of all kinds. Not just because those artists deserve employment but also because the canon of classics deserves reimagining to match our world.” – The New York Times“[Lew] has constructed – well and tightly constructed – a thoroughly engrossing and entertaining play that zips through humor and pathos, building inexorably to its climax. It echoes the Shakespearean plot without simply aping it, and it’s filled with humor, Richard-referential and otherwise.” – New York Stage Review“Never boring, pretentious, preachy, or afflicted with any other of the deadly sins of bad playwriting. Instead, [the play] is genuinely entertaining and edifying…brilliantly dramatized…"
— CurtainUp

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Barbara “Buck” Buckingham f, 17, his best friend, earnest, wheelchair user.	male	—	f, 17, his best friend, earnest, wheelchair user.
Elizabeth York f, 30s–40s, wry, well-meaning English teacher, kind of naïve.	—	30s	f, 30s–40s, wry, well-meaning English teacher, kind of naïve.
Eddie Ivy m, 17, junior class president, football guy, kind of a dick.	—	—	m, 17, junior class president, football guy, kind of a dick.
Clarissa Duke f, 17, junior class vice president, Jesus-loving, overachiever.	—	—	f, 17, junior class vice president, Jesus-loving, overachiever.
Anne Margaret f, 17, big-hearted yet dark, dancer, formerly the most popular girl in the school. Cast disabled actors for Richard and Buck. They exist and they’re out there. Also cast diverse actors. This includes both racial as well as gender diversity; depending on the actors cast, you may adjust pronouns accordingly.	—	—	f, 17, big-hearted yet dark, dancer, formerly the most popular girl in the school. Cast disabled actors for Richard and Buck. They exist and they’re out there. Also cast diverse actors. This includes both racial as well as gender diversity; depending on the actors cast, you may adjust pronouns accordingly.
Richard Gloucester m, 17, junior class secretary, slyly ambitious, has cerebral palsy.	—	—	m, 17, junior class secretary, slyly ambitious, has cerebral palsy.