Not So Dumb: Four Plays for Young People

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Playwright Lazarus has created a linked quartet of one-act plays, first
produced by Vancouver’s Green Thumb Theatre for Young People, that
will provide middle and high schoolers with opportunities to gain
insights into some of the behaviors they encounter in their adolescent
milieu. “Schoolyard Games” exposes the manipulative and painful
aspects of friendship, while “Not So Dumb” shows the conflicts
between school “dummies” and “brains,” and reveals their meeting
places. “Night Light” examines fears of both real and imaginary
things, and “Secrets” returns to the theme of friendship but places
it in the context of adolescent sexuality. Readers/viewers should
quickly recognize that in all four plays the characters’ surface
actions and words represent only the public portion of their inner
“pains.”

The plays’ transformation from stage to print may pose problems for
those of the book’s intended audience who overlook the subtitle
indicating that the plays are theatre “for” and not “by” young
people. Whereas the stage productions visually presented adult actors in
juvenile roles, the printed page simply identifies the characters’
ages. Since three of the plays depict “children” 10 or younger, and
only the last play, “Secrets,” portrays mid-teens, less discerning
readers may unfortunately initially think the book’s contents too
juvenile. Because the book lacks the off-putting (to students) Questions
and Discussion Guides, teachers may wish to adopt Not So Dumb as a
user-friendly drama resource for literature classes. The plays’ themes
are guaranteed discussion-starters. Highly recommended.