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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- Ideas for Performances That Inspire Laughter and Tears: Perfect for Upper Grades at School Arts and Learning Showcases
- [For High School Students] A roundup of recommended attractions for the school festival
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- [For Elementary Schools] Recommended Exhibits and Recreational Activities for a Cultural Festival
- [Short Movie] A collection of video project ideas you can use for cultural and school festivals
- Recommended performance ideas for elementary school (middle grades) cultural festivals and learning presentations
- [By Genre] Cultural Festival / School Festival Booth Catalog [2026]
- A roundup of recreational activities to liven up cultural and school festivals
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Youth/School Theater Works (11–20)
Usami-kun’s big sister
This is a play that was selected as the Best Work at the 2015 National High School Theater Festival.
As you’ll see when you watch it, it’s a heartwarming comedy packed with laugh-out-loud moments, and it has a charm that keeps you glued to the stage.
Each character is wonderfully well-defined, and you can’t help but feel fond of every one of them.
The overall level as a piece of theater is quite high, but if we’re going to do it, why not aim for this level of quality? Let’s pour our theater spirit into it!
ROCK U !
ROCK U! portrays two protagonists who, despite being at odds with each other, move toward a single goal: the school cultural festival.
The work was created by a third-year high school student in Osaka and won the Original Script Award at the National High School Drama Competition.
The story follows two students who transferred from a Korean school to a Japanese school and, based on what they felt in the Japanese school, explore ideas of “freedom” and “being themselves.” Although the theme is challenging, it is a piece that asks performers to delve deeply into the story’s content and act with the mindset that the issues are being posed to them personally.
My homework
The play “My Homework,” written and directed by Iyadomi☆Kōsei, tells the story of a boy who thinks about his father—who spent his days gambling without regard for the family—and his mother, who left that father behind.
The story unfolds from the moment the boy begins a homework assignment to write an essay on “Me in 30 Years.” As he writes, he reflects on his father’s life and tries to connect it to his own future, and the ending leaves a sense of hope.
Because the story develops from a relatable key point for students—an essay homework assignment—it may be easier to empathize and to express yourselves.
Try working on it while imagining your own lives 30 years from now!
Haruchika
HaruChika is a heart-fluttering love story themed around wind ensemble music.
The story unfolds in a high school concert band, blending passionate devotion to music with a delicate romance for a full-on youth drama.
If you have students in a concert band, why not try performing it as a play?
Psychic Academy
The stage play “Psychic Academy: Youthful Superpower Battle” is a production by the theater unit Bakusou Otona Shougakusei.
It portrays the battles at a school where psychics gather, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically.
While it’s a comedy, it also showcases solid action scenes, which is a key point—so focusing on that in any recreation is recommended.
It’s the kind of work that will test how you depict psychics in a stylish way and how you build excitement in the story.
