During our search for LGBTQ+ Theatre for Youth, we tracked down and read any piece that appeared to involve or focus on the experiences of queer youth. We relied primarily on the play’s description. We soon discovered that just because a piece has a queer, youth character does not mean it is ideal for or targeted towards a youth audience. Some of the pieces below are mainstays in high school theatre programs, for example, but focus on adult experiences. As such, during the review process, we established a variety of limiting factors that would exclude plays from our list. These exclusion factors included;
- the LGBTQ+ character or characters were older than 18 years old and had entered college / military / post-secondary education or training (ie not “youth”)
- the play did not contain LGBTQ+ characters or themes
- the play or musical’s content included;
- Excessive inappropriate language
- Excessive physical violence onstage
- Sexual violence onstage
- Excessive drug or alcohol use onstage
- Teacher / Student romantic or sexual relationships
- Sexual contact onstage (more than making out)
- Other content that seemed inappropriate to the reader and team
The plays below are the pieces we read, discussed, and decided to exclude from the project. We recognize that our decisions fall into a large grey space and are certainly open to moving items from this list back into the website database. If you see a title that you feel should be moved, please reach out and talk to us about it.
| Play or Musical Title | Playwright | Publisher |
| A Family Outing | Dolores Klinsky Walker | Eldridge Publishing |
| A Singular They | Aliza Goldstein | Stage Rights |
| And This is My Assistant Beaker | Scott C. Sickles | New Play Exchange |
| Appalachian Dove Song | Chris Welles | New Play Exchange |
| Beautiful Thing | Jonathan Harvey | Dramatists Play Service |
| Body of Faith | Luis Alfaro | Dramatic Publishing |
| Bring Back My Bonny to Me | Noa Gottlieb | Samuel French |
| Cardboard Piano | Hansol Jung | Samuel French |
| The Children’s Hour | Lillian Hellman | Dramatists Play Service |
| Choir Boy | Tarell Alvin McCraney | Dramatists Play Service |
| Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead | Bert V. Royal | Dramatists Play Service |
| Everybody Loves Robbie | Ellen Chorley | Playwrights Guild of Canada |
| Fear & Wonder | Jason Tseng | New Play Exchange |
| Fremont Junior High is Not Doing Oklahoma | Paul Michael Thomson | New Play Exchange |
| The History Boys | Alan Bennet | Faber and Faber |
| Holy One | Ruby Lee Lowenstein | New Play Exchange |
| Is My Microphone On? | Jordan Tannahill | Playwrights Canada Press |
| The Laramie Project | Moises Kaufmann and the Tectonic Theatre Project | Dramatists Play Service |
| Leave of Absence | Lucia Frangione | Playwrights Guild of Canada |
| Lily and Tessa’s Super Star Show | Devon Hayakawa | New Play Exchange |
| Marcus or the Secret of Sweet | Tarell Alvin McCraney | Dramatists Play Service |
| MilkMilkLemonade | Joshua Conkel | Playscripts Inc. |
| Miss Coco Peru Does Not Lie | Scott C. Sickles | New Play Exchange |
| My Funny Valentine | Dave Deveau | Playwrights Guild of Canada |
| Nelly Boy | Dave Deveau | Playwrights Guild of Canada |
| Noble Savage | Heather McDowell | Playwrights Guild of Canada |
| Rights of Passage | Ed Decker and Robert Leone | Samuel French |
| Run | Stephen Laughton | Drama Online |
| sad girl hours | Libby Carr | New Play Exchange |
| Slipping | Daniel Talbot | Dramatists Play Service |
| Speech and Debate | Stephen Karam | Dramatists Play Service |
| Spring Awakening | Frank Wedekind, trans. by Edward Bond | Dramatic Publishing |
| Stupid Kids | John C. Russel | Dramatists Play Service |
| Tea and Sympathy | Robert Anderson | Random House |
| The Trans-G Kid | Trisha Sugarek | Create Space Publishing |
| Theres’ an Order to These Things | Scott C. Sickles | New Play Exchange |
| Vin | Steven House | Australian Script Center |
| Would You Like Fries with That? | Scott C. Sickles | New Play Exchange |
