About the Plays:

Some great pieces for performance or scene work.

The annual Keen Teens Festival of New Work (commonly referred to as Keen Teens) is a unique and free educational theatre program, run by the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company. Keen Teens was formed in 2007 to improve the quality of plays written for high school students by commissioning scripts from highly regarded professional writers. Playwrights write material specifically for teenagers, in plays that must be 30 minutes long, have a cast size of 10 or more, and have an ensemble structure. Keen Teens then casts high school students from across the New York metropolitan area to perform in the World Premiere productions of these plays at an Off-Broadway setting.

Keen Teens: Volume 2 contains three short plays written by Kristoffer Diaz, Jonathan Caren, and Halley Feiffer, which premiered at Off-Broadway's Theatre Row as part of 2014 Keen Teens Festival of New Work. Another highlight of Keen Teens is that the plays are published, with the student's names listed, which helps build the canon of work for high school students. To date, more than 200 performances of Keen Teen plays have been produced all over the world, from Australia to Singapore.

Going Left by Kristoffer Diaz
Two high school boys (on opposing basketball teams) asking one another out on a date, causing ripples and tensions among their friends. But, the fact that the teens are gay is not the real issue – it's the consequences of dating in general (one of the boys always gets too involved) and the fact that they are on opposing teams that truly causes the controversy. (Cast: 2 female, 14 male).

Syd Arthur by Jonathan Caren
A theatrical, wild and modern take on SIDDHARTHA, exploring the power of friendship, sibling death, and the meaning of life. (Cast: 4 female, 9 male).

Why Aren't You Dead Already? by Halley Feiffer
Daringly explores the disturbing trend of teen bullying and suicide with a frankness in language and content. (Cast: 5 female, 6 male).