Naked at School: Three Plays for Teens

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.

Craddock, an award-winning playwright, has penned three most engaging
one-act plays for adolescent audiences with each drama forthrightly
addressing issues of genuine concern to teens, and each one featuring a
16-year-old central character.

“The Day Billy Lived” focuses on Billy De Vie, who tries to commit
suicide by overdosing on his father’s pain medication. “Wrecked”
finds Lyle Bundaberg and his little sister Susy coping with their
divorced mother’s alcoholism; interspersed among scenes of the major
plot line are small scenarios in which anonymous teens abuse both
alcohol and drugs. “Do It Right” considers teen sex and pregnancy.

Craddock knows his intended audience well and uses their language while
eschewing both preachiness and condescension. He also refrains from
providing pat solutions to tough problems. For example, “Do It
Right” concludes with three endings: the unwed pregnant Jen electing
to keep her child, putting it up for adoption, or having an abortion.

Humor is also a part of all three plays. In “The Day Billy Lived,”
the suicidal Billy discovers he must deal with bureaucratic civil
servants in an “after-world” before his suicide can be
“processed.” Any teen who has received the “parent-
talk-about-sex” will convulse with laughter at the beginning of “Do
It Right” as four parents fumble their way through this conversation.
With the smugness of adolescence, teens will also delight in the
humorous ignorance of two 10-year-old boys who try to discover what sex
is about via such sources as “skin mags.”

In addition to the plays’ production histories, Naked at School also
provides some black-and-white photos of playbills and scenes from
performances. Highly recommended.