Center Stage

by Donald R. Gallo

The house lights dim. The curtain begins to rise... ...on ten original one-act plays by some of today's best writers of young adult fiction; Some of the plays are funny, some serious; all offer special insights into the problems and triumphs of teenagers;

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Donald R. Gallo, often called the godfather of YA short stories, is the editor of more than a dozen acclaimed anthologies, including Sixteen, Destination Unexpected, First Crossing, and What Are You Afraid Of?. A former English teacher and professor, he began championing short stories written specifically for teens in 1980, addressing a gap in school curricula. His groundbreaking work has earned numerous accolades, including the ALAN Award for Outstanding Contributions to Young Adult Literature. Gallo now writes, edits, and presents workshops, while also enjoying photography, cooking, and travel from his home in Solon, Ohio.

Reviews

[Oriyah N · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't have high hopes but this was quite a disappointment. The plays were generally mediocre, but the last 2 were plain awful. The last in particular was an insult to teenagers. In the lingo of modern teens, "I can't even."

[Danielle Kern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alden Carter, Susan Pfeffer, Lensey Namioka, Cin Forshay-Lunsford,Dallin Malmgren, Davies Okimoto, Ouida Sebestyen, Sandy Asher, Walter Myers, and Robin Brancatoz. Center Stage. Gallo: New York 1990. 362 pp. ISBN: 0-06-022170-4.

Genre: One Act Plays.
Rating: ***: After finding a void in plays focusing on teenagers and their concerns, Donald Gallo approached 10 accomplished authors to write one act plays featuring teenagers and their modern day concerns.

Summary:
Alden, Carter. Driver’s test: A play about a young boy who fails his drivers test for the second time. This play touches on parents dating, popularity, and sibling relationships. I liked it because in the end our main character Ben realizes that even though at the time not getting his license seemed like the end of the world, there are more important things in life.
Pfeffer, Beth. World Affairs: Terry our main character finds out that her mother is having an affair. Her whole world comes tumbling down and she begins to question everything.
Namioka, Lensey. Herbal Nightmare: Four very typical teenagers visit a not so popular, Amanda, who works in her parent’s Chinese medicine shop. Amanda soon realizes these “friends” are using her to get high. She decides she is going to teach them a lesson by pretending to be a ghost.
Forshay-Lunsford, Cin. Riding Out The Storm: This play tackles the issue of teenage depression. Good friends and family wait to see if Michael is going to survive after a horrible motorcycle accident. They go back through memories of Michael looking for signs of depression.
Malmgren, Dallin. Large Fears, Little Demons: This light hearted play is about Cassie, a teenager that has a dream about her impending death. She won’t leave her room until her crush stops by her house.
Okimoto, Jean. Hum It Again: Jeremy is an unhappy boy placed in the middle of his divorced parent’s feud and girlfriend drama. His best friend Jeremy helps in the only way he knows, by talking about sports.
Sebestyen, Ouida. Holding Out: Curtis and Valerie, best friends, go on a road trip to find Valerie’s dad. She can’t with her mother any longer, and hopes to start a new life with her father. She finds herself again rejected. The friends find themselves in a national park, home of the ancient civilization of the Modocs. The author form parallels of survival between Curtis’s life and the history of the Modocs.
Asher, Sandy. Workout: A female empowering play about Jackie, who spots Rick at a aerobics class and she puts the moves on him.
Myers, Walter. Cages: The stage is set for several teenagers decided if they are ready to leave the comforts of their nest and make their own destinies. This plays shows how drastically teens are influenced by their piers.
Brancato, Robin. War of The Words: This cleaver play takes on two gangs, The Notes and the Grunts. The Notes speak in poetic form and dress in frilly clothes, while the Grunts talk slang and clichés, while wearing cut off jeans and tank tops. This modern day West Side Story lets the reader make of the ending.
Key issues: suicide, popularity, parent neglect, abandonment, clicks, crushes.

[Kelsey Ehmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a good book. This is because it was not well writen and you don't want to keep reading. The theme of this book was to keep you friends close and to never let them go.

The book was about teenagers who put on plays. There were a lot of little plays in the book. Because, of this it was very hard to comprehend everything that was going on. In every play there was a problem and it would never be fixed so that's another reason why I didn't like the book.

I would not recommend this book because it was terrible. This book is for more of a older audience. This is because you need a smarter brain to comprehend everything.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I really love reading plays and I LOVE acting, but this book wasn't that great to me. The idea of one-act plays for teens seemed good to me and I was curious and excited to read it, but I didn't love it.