Recommended Plays and Musicals for Cultural Festivals, School Festivals, and School Performances
Want to make unforgettable memories with your school festival play? We’ve got you covered with a variety of works, from fairy tales and musicals to anime and trending hits.
Disney titles, Studio Ghibli films, and beloved classic stories—each one is full of charm that will captivate your audience.
There are plenty that are fun to perform, too, so bring your class together to create a moving stage filled with acting, dance, and music.
It’s sure to become a memory you’ll cherish for life.
You’re bound to find the perfect piece for your class!
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Youth/School Drama Works (1–10)
Mom
“Mama,” a work by teacher Iyadomi☆Kōsei, who is active in various plays and commercial scripts.
It is one of the pieces performed by the drama club of Saga Higashi High School in Saga Prefecture, which stages productions not only on campus but in various locations.
The play portrays the story of a mother who raised her daughter alone in a single-mother household, centering on the theme of “what it means to live” in the face of the imminent death of a loved one.
The script written by Teacher Iyadomi has no ending, and the Saga Higashi drama club reportedly came up with their own conclusion.
Reading the script and creating the ending you would want for this mother and daughter could make for a wonderful memory at a culture festival or school festival, don’t you think?
Youth/School Theater Works (11–20)
The Edge of the Alps Stands
The play “On the Edge of the Alps Stands” follows high school students who come to cheer at the summer high school baseball tournament and engage in various conversations at the far end of the Alps stands.
Created by a teacher who served as the advisor to a high school drama club in Hyogo Prefecture, it has been performed at many high schools across the country.
It was adapted into a film in 2020, drawing a great deal of attention.
Since the characters are high school students, there are many parts that high schoolers in particular may find easy to relate to.
As a conversation-driven play, it is, in a sense, more challenging than a conventional stage play, but it’s a work we hope you’ll definitely try taking on!
But, now
This is a play that was presented at the 44th National High School Comprehensive Cultural Festival held in 2020.
Set in an abandoned house, the realistic story about a high school boy and an elementary school student might make any student feel a strong sense of familiarity.
It’s easy to empathize with these life-sized characters.
If you perform it, I recommend carefully distinguishing between scenes driven by momentum and those that calmly convey the situation.
Clear contrasts between action and stillness tend to draw the eye.
The snakes on Shikine Island don’t bite.
The Snake of Shikinejima Doesn’t Bite is performed at many junior high schools.
It tells the story of three girls living on Shikine Island who, while struggling with friendship and their future paths, ultimately set out on their own ways.
It’s a perfect story for students, so it should be easy to empathize with.
You can enjoy various arrangements as well—such as changing the three girls into boys, or reading through the script and altering different developments.
To deepen the emotional connection, staging it with cast members who are actually grappling with friendship and career choices like the characters might deliver a powerful impact to the students watching.
hairspray
A blockbuster musical that adapted the 1998 film of the same name for the stage and premiered on Broadway in 2002.
The show is sprinkled throughout with lively rock ’n’ roll and oldies-style numbers that evoke the “good old America” of the ’50s and ’60s, making it a work you can enjoy without overthinking it.
Without worrying about difficult details, it might be fun to feature it at events like school festivals as a piece where the entire cast conveys “fun” through their own freestyle dancing.
