Classic plays performed by elementary school students: recommended works roundup
Plays performed at elementary school arts festivals and graduation ceremonies are important events that leave lasting memories for children.
For a truly memorable stage, you’ll want to choose pieces that let each child’s individuality and growth shine.
Still, many teachers and parents may be worried that “the classics are too boring” or that “the scripts are too difficult.” In this article, we introduce enjoyable plays suitable for elementary school students.
By creating a wonderful production together with classmates, it’s sure to become a cherished memory.
- Recommended Plays and Musicals for Cultural Festivals, School Festivals, and School Performances
- [For Elementary Schools] Recommended Exhibits and Recreational Activities for a Cultural Festival
- Recommended plays for a high school cultural festival: popular, crowd-pleasing ideas
- [One-Shot Gag] A roundup of sure-fire skits that will definitely get elementary school kids excited!
- Performances that liven up an elementary school thank-you party! A collection of ideas everyone can enjoy
- Hidden talents even elementary school kids can do! A collection of performance ideas that will liven up any event
- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- Recommended performance ideas for elementary school (middle grades) cultural festivals and learning presentations
- Cultural Festival: Ranking of Popular Booth Ideas
- [For Middle Grades] Simple Magic Tricks for Elementary School Students: Fun Magic Everyone Will Love!
- [For Upper Grades] Simple Magic Tricks for Elementary School Students: Astonishing and Impressive Magic
- [Middle School] Cultural Festival Attractions: A roundup of popular exhibits, games, and stage performances
- Ideas for stage events and attractions that will liven up a school festival
Picture books, literary works, and recitation (1–10)
Eleven Cats
It’s a famous picture book series by Noboru Baba, and many of you may already know it.
It’s an exciting story in which eleven cats join forces to defeat a suspicious-looking fish, packed with elements like courage, teamwork, and friendship.
The puppet theater adaptation scripted by Hisashi Inoue was broadcast on NHK.
It has also been adapted for the stage and as an anime, so it might be a good idea to choose one of those, watch it, and then start practicing.
If you’re making it into a musical, you’ll of course need to practice the songs, so plan with a long-term perspective.
It could also be fun to change the “11” to match your class size—like “38 Cats.” It’s perhaps more suitable for slightly older elementary grades.
The Restaurant of Many Orders
Kenji Miyazawa’s “The Restaurant of Many Orders” is especially popular among elementary school students.
How about staging it as a play? The story—where two men out hunting stray into a restaurant called “The Western-Style Restaurant: Wildcat House,” and, instead of being served a meal, find themselves about to become the meal—blends fear and humor in a way everyone can enjoy.
Jugemu
If you’ve watched NHK’s program Nihongo de Asobo, you might know this one.
It’s one of the rakugo pieces with the punchline that the entire string of words—“jugemu jugemu gokō no surikire …”—which sounds like a spell, is actually a person’s name.
A fun aspect of Jugemu—really of rakugo in general—is that there are modernized versions of these old stories that make them easy for contemporary audiences to understand.
For Jugemu, for example, there’s a version where, by the time the parent finishes calling out the child’s name to send them off to school in the morning, summer vacation has already begun.
Try coming up with a Jugemu that fits your own life for your mornings.
Picture books, literary works, and recitations (11–20)
Annie
Premiering as a Broadway musical in 1977, it has since been adapted into film three times and was successfully revived on Broadway in 2012—a major hit musical.
Its theme song, “Tomorrow,” is likely one that everyone has heard at least once.
Set in New York during the Great Depression in 1933, the story is somewhat serious, but if performed at a school festival, the rousing chorus of “Tomorrow” at the end is sure to move the audience.
Why not take on the challenge of staging it?
Meow-go
Nyāgo is a picture book by Tatsuya Miyanishi that tells the story of three mice and one cat.
It’s about three mice who ignore the warning that cats are dangerous and end up encountering a scary cat.
Although the cat originally intends to eat the mice, he gradually gets swept along by the mice’s pace, who don’t really understand how frightening a cat can be.
The story is comical and easy to follow, making it well-suited for staging as a play.
Put on mouse and cat ears and give it your all with lots of energy!
reading drama
If you’re looking for an activity everyone can collaborate on, how about a radio-style reading play performed using only your voices? Choose a familiar picture book or novel as your material, and work together to bring the story to life.
A reading play involves more than just reading aloud, so it might be challenging—but that’s exactly why it’s rewarding.
If several people share the same role, each person’s burden is lighter and they can focus on their own lines.
Even though it’s a reading play, it could be fun to wear costumes that match the characters to help set the mood.
samurai period drama
I don’t think many elementary school kids watch period dramas, but a “period drama” production seems like an idea that would go over very well with grandparents’ generation.
In period dramas, good and evil are clearly defined, so the stories are surprisingly easy for children to follow.
It’s also amusing to see kids play the stereotypical crooked magistrate because of the fun contrast, and they’d probably be thrilled to practice the classic sword-fighting scenes.
Period dramas can be a great chance to learn about history and Japanese culture, so if a regular play isn’t generating much excitement, definitely consider making this your project.