The Gifted Program - Acting Edition

by Ruben Carbajal

"Carbajal's humor alternates between lacerating and indulgent, and never slackens."
--The New Yorker

Set in a Wisconsin high school circa 1985, Ruben Carbajal's The Gifted Program centers on four intelligent sophomores bonded by their love of Dungeons & Dragons and daily struggles at the bottom of the social food chain. When one of them is revealed to be the mysterious radio call-in Romeo courting the school's most popular girl, their simple pursuit of an education becomes a fight for survival.

72 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Ruben Carbajal writes for stage, screens, and beyond.

Theatre works include the 80's high school comedy The Gifted Program and the short plays Some Assembly Required, A Place to Rest Your Head, and The Law of the Instrument (Stage Partners).

He also appears in The Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2024, 105 Five Minute Plays, One Minute Plays, The Covid Monologues, and several other best-of anthologies.

For screens, he developed a series for Nickelodeon and led a writers' room for Awesomeness TV.

The beyond includes traveling the globe as a segment writer for the NBA and taking on projects of all kinds as a long-time creative journeyman.

He lives in Lansing, NY, with his goth-spinning wife, Gayle.

www.rubencarbajal.com.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are very believable. Growing up gifted is not easy - especially during the pre-teen and teen years. This play captures the relationships that develop based on common interests while each person struggles to find who they are and who they want to be.

[Cori · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Play discussion group script #9)