Craig Sodaro
Craig Sodaro is one of Eldridge Publishing's most popular and prolific playwrights with over 60 titles currently in print. Most of his work is ideal for children's theatre and school performances, and several plays have been turned into musicals. His audience participation plays are extremely well received. For community theatre plays he writes under the pen name of Sam Craig. Mr. Sodaro taught for 33 years in public schools, but now writes full time. He and his wife Sue have four grown daughters. Here he speaks in his own words about his love of writing. "I always wanted to write. From the first time I read my first full-fledged book - a long-forgotten mystery - I wanted to be an author. I've always had an imagination that runs overtime. My mind has always been more interested in the possibilities of what if two times two equaled five rather than four. "I grew up in Chicago, but I don't think the Midwest has had a great deal of influence on my writing. I was fortunate enough to travel as a youngster, and the places we visited - the West, East, and South, all seemed steeped in atmosphere and dramatic possibilities. Eventually, I traveled to Alaska, Europe, and Africa, and each experience planted seeds for future stories. "I wrote my first play in high school - an anti-administration absurdist comedy performed in my last period art class. Our teacher turned a deaf ear to the proceedings, but we all caught her laughing. I liked this idea of audience response, and during college, I entered a playwriting contest. I won the fifty dollar prize and saw my characters come to life under the blue, red, and amber stage lights. I knew that this was the direction my writing obsession would have to take. "Success on stage would have to wait for a number of years, however, since I married, began teaching, and had four children and received many, many rejections slips. Eventually I found a formula that worked: large cast mystery with mainly female parts, one setting, and a lot of one-liners. Since then, I've written a hundred and thirty plays, many of which have been published and/or produced. I've had the thrill of walking down 54th Street in New York to a flag-adorned theater where one of my plays premiered. I've received terrific letters from kids who have had parts in the plays I've written, and I've found myself in Amazon.com. "Once in a while people ask me how I write so fast. I guess it’s that I have a lot of stories to tell. And idea will grab me, and then for quite some time—even while working on another script—I’ll keep thinking about the characters and develop the major plot points in my imagination. Once I sit down to the computer to write, the characters really tell the story almost too quickly for me to write down what they’re saying. And that's what I think playwriting is all about. It's telling a story in the simplest but most dramatic way possible. There's a ninety minute or so limit on reaching the climax, and for literature that's quick. I write fast simply so I can find out what's going to happen at the end, just like anybody who watches the play."
Prime Suspect
Mystery by Craig Sodaro
74 pages
5 m, 6 w
When Letha Gordon keeps an appointment with her ex-husband, she suddenly finds herself the prime suspect in his murder. But who would want to kill the headmaster of a prestigious New England prep school? Perhaps it's his neighbors, who have had their eyes on his property. Or maybe it's the embittered housekeeper whose son was expelled from the school, the same son who is now hiding out there because he hasn't anywhere else to go. What about the music teacher who lives in a dream world of fear and fantasy? Or could it be the victim's second wife, Letha's own s...
Jo White and the 7 Campers
Comedy by Craig Sodaro
20 pages
3 m, 11 w
Take seven inept campers who must win a variety show competition on which the whole camp's reputation is based and what have you got? Instant disaster! Luckily for the campers, Jo White, who would rather sing than whistle while she works, has escaped to their cabin. Hilarity and confusion follow, but the camp's reputation is saved!
Hail to the Chief
Comedy by Craig Sodaro
64 pages
7 m, 11 w, 5 flexible parts
Fellow Americans! Your President has more problems than the Treasury Department can count! When he ends up stranded in the sleepy mountain town of Turtle Creek he finds the folks there none too happy 'bout the new highway passing them by. To make matters worse, his daughter's rebellious boyfriend shows up with his own political agenda. Also popping in unexpectedly is a lady CEO who's into acquisitions - and her next planned take-over is the White House as the new first lady! Add an inept Secret Service agent, two chiseling advisors, and an underworld kingpin ...
Dirty Dealings in Dixie
Farce by Craig Sodaro
67 pages
10 m, 10 w, 3 flexible parts
Fiddledeedee! Just as beautiful young Charlotte O'Mara is starting to have a good time at Magnolia Plantation's annual barbecue, that blasted Civil War breaks out! All the eligible young men rush off to join the fight - all except Magnolia's faithful servant, Bret Butler, who suffers from fallen arches. Four years later, as the war draws to a close, the O'Maras owe back taxes on Magnolia and unless they can come up with the money, their former overseer, Carlton Creepstone, now a villainous carpet-bagger, will take it over and turn it into the Sassafras Saloon...
David Copperfield
Classic by Craig Sodaro
67 pages
15 m, 13 w, 7 flexible, extras, doubling possible
Adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens. A coming-of-age story of a boy in 19th century. A young hero battling a difficult youth, we see David's struggles from his childhood days at the family's estate in Blunderstone, to his early life of poverty and misery, to his final, joyful success. Many of our favorite Dickens' characters are present: David's gentle mother, Clara; the loving housekeeper, Peggoty; his cruel stepfather, Murdstone; his schoolmates Steerforth and Traddles; the amusing, ever-on-the-run Micawbers; the lovely Agnes Wickfield, and the despic...
Date With a Vampire
Comedy by Craig Sodaro
67 pages
9 m, 15 w
Count Sid Onitt is trying to mend his vampire ways so he can become a member of Parliament, but it isn't easy when his servant Igor and five vampire widows are hanging around (literally) his dreary castle, ready for some fresh necks. So you can imagine the excitement when ten - dare we say, red-blooded - American students stay overnight as part of their tour of England! To get the attention of one of the girls, two of the guys hatch a perfect little romantic plot, especially since it coincides with Vlad night when Vampire Vlad, the granddaddy of all vampires,...
Cricket on the Hearth
Drama by Craig Sodaro
59 pages
14 m, 13 w, much doubling possible
It's the 1880s and Dot Dallrimple and her friend May Fielding are Christmas shopping. A miserly store owner, Mr. Tackleton, has eyes for May and has her fiance Edward kidnapped and sent off to sea, never to return to England. Ten years pass with no word from Edward. Poor May has remained single, even though Tackleton has continued to court her. Meanwhile, Dot has married John Peerybingle and his delivery business has prospered. Two days before Christmas he brings home a ragged, mute stranger. In one awkward moment, John see his wife throw her arms around the ...
Beauty and the Creep
Comedy by Craig Sodaro
61 pages
4 m, 17 w, 2 flexible
Jimmy Martin's the coolest cat in the class of '63 at Buddy Holly High, until he's turned into a real creep--a classic nerd named Clarence Doogle. And his cool friends are turned into his school supplies! The spell will last until a "fair damsel" asks Clarence Doogle out. All the kids are aware of the Creep's existence, but are shocked when he actually enters the malt shop one day to try to get a date. Meanwhile, three con-ladies pose as Hollywood talent scouts and announce auditions at the malt shop the following day. The thugs kidnap the richest student for...
The Woman in White
Classic Drama by Craig Sodaro
73 pages
11 m, 13 w, 4 flexible, much doubling possible
Adapted from the novel by Wilkie Collins. It's the late 1800s and young Walter Hartright, on his way to a new teaching position, meets a mysterious woman dressed in white. Terrified, she asks him the way to London and mentions that she once was very happy at the very house Walter is going to. Later, Walter meets his pupils: Marian Halcombe and her half-sister Laura Fairlie, the latter who strongly resembles the woman in white. Walter soon falls in love with Laura, but his happiness is dashed when he finds out her engagement to Sir Percival Glyde has been arra...
We're Off to Save the Wizard
Classic by Craig Sodaro
71 pages
13 m, 12 w, 8 flexible
In this adaptation of Frank L. Baum's book, "Tik Tok of Oz," the Queen begs her old friend Dorothy to take the mechanical man, Tik Tok, and rescue the Wizard of Oz who has been kidnapped! The journey will be long and perilous, but Dorothy will do anything to save her old friend. Along the way, Dorothy and Tik Tok meet other colorful characters, all of whom decide to find the Wizard in the hope that he might be able to solve each of their problems. But even after the kidnapper, Ruggedo, is defeated, the fearful group must enter the Metal Forest to find the Wiz...
Ugly Duckling Princess
Comedy by Craig Sodaro
73 pages
8 m, 16 w, 5 flexible
King Barney and Queen Rose suffer from a terrible jinx. Rose's sister, Jean, who wants to be queen herself, has cursed them with an "ugly duckling." Their oldest child, Dora, is as spoiled a brat as the kingdom has ever known. Desperate for help, the Queen calls on Magdelia, the witch who taught Jean everything she knows. Magdelia has only one antidote: some unlucky fellow must fall in love with Dora. A matchmaker suggests Bodkin, a simple woodcutter, who longs to marry. Dora is kidnapped and sent to Bodkin, who begins to slowly chip away at her nasty persona...
Twice Upon a Time
Fantasy by Craig Sodaro
57 pages
Large, flexible cast, much doubling (minimum 8 m, 8 w, 6 flexible)
Here are the hilarious stories that start after the traditional tales end! Consider Cinderella and her Prince, who are now ruling the kingdom. Little does Cinderella know The Dice Girls, the entertainers she's arranged for a state dinner, are really her stepsisters and stepmom, ready for revenge! Or how about poor little Pinocchio? The Blue Fairy never got around to getting rid of his wooden head, but it may be a good thing considering the evil plan he's overheard involving the Lampwick and Foxy. And finally Snow White, who's running her own fashion boutique,...