About the Book:

5-Minute Plays for Teens is a collection from veteran editor Lawrence Harbison, a man who has spent his career championing new and established playwrights by bringing their work into print.... We know – we're already losing your attention. And that's okay! In keeping with the spirit of this book, we'll give it to you in five.

1. On any given day, the average teen spends nine hours engaging with digital media. A fair chunk of that time is spent watching viral videos, which run, on average, for about five minutes.
2. Needless to say, an average play runs far longer (and costs much more). Accordingly, teens don't have the time (or money) for theatre.
3. Adolescence is an emotional roller coaster rife with laughs and melodrama, reality and fantasy. Whatever a teen's mood, bite-sized bits of online entertainment keep him/her covered.
4. At long last, the world of theatre has caught up with the digital realm. Five-minute plays and festivals abound – you can now plow through a full-fledged performance before your kids loses interest.
5. Seems your children/students/kids suddenly do have time for theatre.

Whether you're a frustrated acting teacher struggling to retain your students' interest, a performing arts counsellor looking for an engaging exercise, or a group of theatre kids looking to screw around between sets, 5-Minute Plays for Teens shoehorns all the theatre you need into the precise attention span you're granted. Why not give it a whirl?

About the Editor:

Lawrence Harbison was in charge of new play acquisitions for Samuel French for over thirty years, where his work on behalf of playwrights resulted in the first publication of such subsequent luminaries as Jane Martin, Don Nigro,Tina Howe, Theresa Rebeck, José Rivera, William Mastrosimone, and Ken Ludwig, among many others. He has served as literary manager or literary consultant for several New York theatres, and has also served many times over the years as a judge and commentator for various national play contests and lectures regularly at colleges and universities.