Play Recommendations Request

Hello, all!

For context, I’m an English teacher at a small high school, and I recently agreed to sponsor our school’s Drama Club. Our school hasn’t had a theatre program in about two years, so we’re essentially rebuilding from scratch. I’m really excited about the opportunity because our students desperately need more arts opportunities and creative outlets.

We just managed to pull off a small improv show last night with only about a month of preparation, and it went surprisingly well! The students were excited, the audience was supportive, and now we’re starting to think seriously about putting on a full production next school year.

That said, we are very new to this. Most of the students have little to no theatre experience, and while I have enthusiasm and organizational skills, I’m also learning as I go. This year, Drama Club meetings usually had around 15–25 students attending, though I’m not sure what actual audition turnout would look like yet.

The students are very interested in doing a musical eventually, but I’m leaning toward starting with a straight play first so we can build confidence and foundational experience before tackling something more technically demanding.

I would love recommendations for shows that:

• work well for high school students,
• are beginner-friendly,
• can succeed with a relatively small cast,
• don’t require elaborate sets/technical effects,
• and ideally lean toward comedy and/or mystery, since those seem to be the genres students are most excited about.

I’d also gladly take any general advice for someone trying to restart a school theatre program with limited funding, limited experience, and a lot of determination.

Thank you so much for any suggestions or wisdom you’re willing to share!