Daniel S Kehde
Dan Kehde is a playwright, librettist and director who, for the past 15 years, has served as co-founder and managing director for The Contemporary Youth Arts Company of Charleston,WV, an organization dedicated to giving young artists hands-on opportunities to bring new works to the American stage. A nearly unfunded, for-profit theater company, CYAC has produced over 50 new works in the past 15 years including 15 new Scarpelli-Kehde musicals, more than thirty new plays and eight touring social action one-acts. Together with his persevering wife, Penny, Dan continues to work with the young people of CYAC while constantly striving to challenge the ever-changing lists of new actors that come into the company. Dan is currently working on new pieces of musical theater with composer/collaborator Mark Scarpelli, as well as continuing to create and produce three or four new plays of his own each year.
1400 Boxes of Jello and Other Monologues
Resource by Daniel S Kehde
48 pages
Resource Book
These 21 monologues for teen actors are wise, witty and full of twists and surprises. Each opens a unique window on either a familiar fairy tale character, an unusual historical figure, or a present-day youngster. There's Snow White's teenage daughter who's shocked to discover that her mom lived with dwarfs and worked as a maid! Or Lizzy Borden confessing her crimes to her last victims, knowing they will never tell. Or the high school girl whose breakup with her boyfriend leads to tragedy. There's also the narrator of the title monologue who can't understand ...
All the Things I Want to Say
Resource by Daniel S Kehde
60 pages
Monologue Collection
Here is another monologue collection written by the ever-popular Dan Kehde who, because of his full-time work with teens in theatre, can give an honest voice to their thoughts and emotions. These serious, and at times, humorous monologues tell the stories of more than 20 teens and their struggles to cope with a variety issues. In "Will's Excuse," a student pens his own unique version of the "dog-ate-my-homework" excuse - a classic of which even Shakespeare would be proud! In "Notes From a Best Friend," a student faces feelings of grief and guilt after her bes...
You Don't Know Us...and Other Monologues for Teen Voices
Resource by Daniel S Kehde
67 pages
Monologue Collection
Monologues are traditionally used for auditions and classroom work, but they are an overlooked form of performance art, epsecially for teenagers. This collection brings this usually standard genre into the performance spotlight. Like other collections by Dan Kehde, this one was developed and performed in what has now become an annual, and ever more popular, event at the playwright's theatre. Funny, hard-hitting, and poignant, these are honest portraits of young Americans searching for freedom, love and self-worth in the labyrinth of adolescence. Titles includ...
Your Homework Ate What? and Other Monologues
Resource by Daniel S Kehde
54 pages
Monologue Collection
Here's a nifty companion piece to "1400 Boxes of Jello." It's a passel of 25 monologues about pre-teen and adolescent fears and fantasies. Full of clever humor, they reveal the passions and dreams, worries and doubts of students as they fret about grades, dating, drugs, peer group pressure, identity questions, and, of course, the future. From the amusing dismay of "My Teacher's an Alien," to the serious self-doubts of "Maybe I'm Gay," to the hilarious title piece, these confessions all reveal the concerns and confusions of today's young people.