Where Words Once Were
Published in the Currency Press anthology For We The Young: Five Plays by Finegan Kruckemeyer
5 stars ‘This is invigorating stuff, with a wonderful bonus of being entirely family-friendly without sacrificing its political edge’
DC Theatre Scene
‘Terrific… It will do what good theatre should do… leave you talking afterwards. That is what I call a full theatre experience’
Broadway World
Set in a dystopian time where language is rationed, a sentence can get you sentenced and the silent are rising, our young hero Orhan discovers that a word can change the world.
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
2018-23 A large number of US school theatre awards (at district and state level) for best production, ensemble and other individual roles, particularly in the Texan UIL Theatre in High School competition
2020, Published in Currency Press’ ‘For We the Young’ anthology
2017 Australian Writers Guild Award: Best Theatre for Young Audiences
CAST SIZE
This is a story told – this may be by one, by some, or by many
Previous seasons: 5-30 performers
AUDIENCE SIZE
For ages nine and up, all the way to adult
LENGTH
40-70 minutes
SEASONS
57 seasons in three countries (USA, Canada, Australia)
2024
Buffalo High School, Buffalo TX
Carter-Riverside High School, Fort Worth TX
Vega High School, Vega TX
2023
Frostburg State University, Frostburg MD
NHSI Northwestern, Evanston IL
Bob Jones High School, Madison AL
Burnet CISD, Burnet TX
Day Middle School, Newton MA
Frank Black Middle School, Houston TX
Harker Heights High School, Harker Heights TX
Herriman High School, Herriman UT
Kearns High School, Salt Lake City UT
Lively Middle School, Austin TX
Lutheran High School South, Fenton MO
Mile High Youth Theatre, Denver CO
North Springs High School, Atlanta GA
Fifth Business Theatre Co, SA, Australia
St Michaels College, SA
Temple Christian College, SA
Henry Lawson Theatre Inc, NSW
Cardiff High School, NSW
Nambucca Valley Christian School, NSW
2022
Samford University, Homewood AL
Chancellor High School, Fredericksburg VA
College Station High School, College Station TX
Greenville High School, Greenville TX
Marshall High School, Marshall TX
McDonogh School, Baltimore MD
Thomas Jefferson High School, Dallas TX
Warsaw Community High School, Warsaw IN
St Columba College, SA, Australia
2021
Stage One Family Theatre, Louisville KY
University of North Carolina, Greensboro NC
Bishop Kearney High School, Rochester NY
Dumas High School, Amarillo TX
Torrance High School, Torrance CA
Truett Wilson Middle School, Haslet TX
Pembroke College, SA, Australia
2020
Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu HI, USA
Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi TX, USA
China Spring Middle School, Waco TX, USA
Daggett Montessori School, Fort Worth TX, USA
Slocum ISD, Elkhart TX, USA
John Curtin College of the Arts, WA, Australia
Shire Christian School, NSW, Australia
Bialik College, Vic, Australia
2019
Storybook Theatre, Calgary AL, Canada
Theatre Raleigh, Raleigh NC, USA
Southwestern Oklahoma State University, OK, USA
Jersey Village High School, Houston TX, USA
Ronald Thornton Middle School, Sienna Plantation TX, USA
2018
Lincoln Center for the Arts, New York NY (produced by Kennedy Center)
Bingham High School, UT, USA
2017
Weber State University, Ogden UT, USA
2016
Kennedy Center for the Arts, Washington DC, USA
Kennedy Center production 2015, starring Christopher Lane, Alina Collins Maldonado, Regina Aquino, Tony Nam and Marcus Kyd. Director Colin Stanley Hovde
FIRST PRODUCED
- Commissioned and first produced by John F Kennedy Center for the Arts (Washington DC)
- First directed by Colin Stanley Hovde
- Dramaturged by Jonathan Shmidt Chapman