Jeffrey Smart

The late Mr. Jeffrey Smart started writing skits for various school programs while attending high school in Florida. He later studied playwriting at Indiana University with Dr. Sam Smiley, author of "Playwriting: The Structure of Action." Jeff believed every line of a play should have an action; every character is trying to achieve something every time he or she says something. He began writing full-length plays for high school when his best friend asked him to write a play for her high school students. That play is "Agatha Christie Never Took Trig." Thanks to the encouragement of everyone at Eldridge (where he worked for a time), Jeff's best ideas for plays always seemed to be for high school.
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  Look Out, Olympus!

Musical by Jeffrey Smart Scott Keys

71 pages

5 m, 5 w, many extras


Ashley, a freshman sprite, makes her first visit to Mt. Olympus to meet the powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. She is overwhelmed by the way the Great Olympians live and the power that they wield, and wants to grab a little of the glory for herself. She becomes friends with Persephone, the goddess of spring who is running away from her brooding husband, Hades. Together the women set off on an ambitious odyssey to steal Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, and Hades' helmet of invisibility and take over Mt. Olympus! They are pursu...

  Gotta Get Pumped!

Drama by Jeffrey Smart

27 pages

2 m, 3w


Davey is a small freshman boy, who's got a crush on his sister's friend, Jennifer. With his idol a professional wrestler, Davey starts on a quest to get pumped up. But his behavior becomes obsessive. He has "bigorexia," a disorder that is a lesser-known counterpart to women's anorexia. Men and boys become obsessed with developing their bodies through controlled diet, body building and, in extreme cases, drugs such as steroids. Davey starts to take an over-the-counter adrenal hormone possibly connected to uncontrollable rage. The only one who believes Davey ha...

  Commedia Tonight!

Commedia by Jeffrey Smart

63 pages

5 m, 4 w, extras


A Commedia dell'Arte troupe invades a town square on market day and performs a hilarious play. In it, two young men and their servant have come to the town to find love. And they do with two young ladies. But their father, an impoverished man, has plans to marry one to his rich, fat friend, who happens to be the father of one of the young men. The daughter would rather marry the other young man, of course. Meanwhile, a rich, widowed contessa begins to pursue the girls' father. It falls to the faithful servant to arrange all the romances, forcing him to preten...

  Hula Hoops and Halos

Musical by Jeffrey Smart Scott Keys

73 pages

9 m, 7 w, 1 flexible, extras


It's the '50s, so come join the kids as they hang out at the local diner in this heavenly hit of a musical comedy! But for Betsy Harding, it's all work and no play. Since her mom passed away, Betsy has her hands full running the family diner, minding her little sister, competing with her all-star athletic brother, and taking care of her toy-inventing father. She doesn't have time to be "a typical teen." Enter Angela, a tough-talkin' angel-in-training, sent down to earth to earn her halo. But she seems to create more problems than solving them. Between Angela ...

  Agatha Christie Never Took Trig

Comedy by Jeffrey Smart

54 pages

3 m, 5 w, 1 flexible


Janet has come up with the excuse of a party to relieve the tensions between their two trigonometry study groups. During the party the kids play a murder game, pretending that their trigonometry teacher is the victim. The students become edgy because of the parallels between their characters and themselves. All calm is shattered when word comes that their trigonometry teacher actually has been murdered! Everyone has a theory about who killed the teacher. Amidst the finger pointing and scrambling for alibis, "evidence" shows up in bookbags, and friends become ...

  Power of the Gods

Comedy by Jeffrey Smart

48 pages

4 m, 6 w, many extras


Ashley, a freshman sprite, makes her first visit to Mt. Olympus to meet the powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. She is overwhelmed by the way the Great Olympians live and the power that they wield, and wants to grab a little of the glory for herself. She becomes friends with Persephone, the goddess of spring who is running away from her brooding husband, Hades. Together the women set off on an ambitious odyssey to steal Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, and Hades' helmet of invisibility and take over Mt. Olympus! They are pursu...

  Not an After-School Special

Comedy Dark by Jeffrey Smart

21 pages

1 m, 5 w


Are you overdosed on teen problems, dramas about eating disorders, drunk-driving, suicide, etc.? Then this darkly humorous one-act is the antidote. Violet is in the nurse's office after having fainted that morning. One by one her friends visit her and one by one she takes advantage of them by confessing to all the ills teens are supposed to have. With a story of illiteracy, she gets the bright but mousy Moxie to do her homework. A tale of bulimia gets tomboyish Caryn to give up her car keys. A fable of drunk driving gets the uptight Kelly to bring Violet her ...