About the Play

Drama. 55-65 minutes. 3 females, 3 males, 5 any gender, with an option to add an unlimited number of non-speaking orphans. Suitable for middle school and older.

The Orphanage was commissioned by Liahona Preparatory Academy (Pleasant Grove, UT), where it was first produced in April 2023.

The author grants productions pre-approval to make cuts to meet the time limits of Texas UIL and other one-act competitions.

The Orphanage is in pre-publication and is currently available in manuscript format.

Synopsis

1942. In the heart of the Jewish ghetto, a dedicated doctor cares for a school full of orphans. Under his tutelage, the orphans run their own “City of Children,” sharing responsibilities and even organizing their own court of justice. But while calm and levelheadedness rule inside the orphanage, uncertainty and danger loom beyond the ghetto’s walls. Fearing the worst from the Nazis who control Warsaw, the doctor decides to prepare his charges for the possibility of death—by staging a play.