The Lizard of Oz, a play for children

When an elementary class sets out on a quest to save the world from disenchantment, their adventures reveal ways of awakening the magic within us. The class consists of seven or more kids and two teachers. These kids move through a series of vignettes, meeting new, bit characters about every three minutes. The kids should react to these new characters with exaggerated enthusiasm and intense concentration. Suggested lines are given in the script, but, to a large extent, the kids can improvise, saying what feels natural to them in the situation, rather than memorizing set speeches. This flexibility makes it possible for relatively young kids to work with this relative long script. (The cast of the original production ranged in age from 5-1/2 to 12.) The bit characters move on stage, have their piece to say, and move off again. One person could have three or four such bit parts. (The original production involved 16 actors). Or an entire class of 25 or more kids could be involved, all having lines to speak.