Available from YouthPLAYS.


Rising

A one act drama for 3M, 4F
Seven combative Middle School students must work together to survive when their school is surrounded by rising floodwaters

Runtime: 30 minutes
Period: August 25th, 2017
Setting: A classroom in Houston.

Characters: (4w,3m)
ANNABEL - shorter than the others, sensitive.
JAVIER - guarded, touchy.
JENNIFER - popular.
STEVE - athletic, a doer more than a thinker.
THOMAS - book-smart but awkward.
YOLANDA - tough, no-nonsense.
ZOEY - smart-alec, aware.

The play was written during Hurricane Harvey, about Hurricane Harvey.
All author proceeds from the play go to hurricane relief organizations.


Rising

About Rising

Drama, 30 min, 4w, 3m

Rising
Rising at the Wilbur Wright Academy, 2019

In Rising, seven combative Middle School students, trapped in their classroom by rising floodwaters, struggle to survive against the storm outside and the growing conflicts between them. As they clash over their minimal supplies and desperate situation, differences are magnified, and friendships are both forged and tested, until they are faced with the ultimate decision: Flee into the storm now, or stay while the water around them gets ever higher.

Rising
Rising premiered at YES Prep Northline Middle School in Houston, December 1st, 2017, less than 100 days after the actual event.

Why this play?

I wrote this play while trapped in my Houston home by the rising waters of Hurricane Harvey. We moved to Houston just a few weeks before it hit - we had no idea what to expect. At the time I wrote the play, my mother-in-law, both sisters-in-law, a niece and all their pets were sheltering with us after their street flooded. I was waiting for the power to go out at any second, worried that my home would also be damaged or even destroyed, there were several tornado warnings that held up writing... but at the end of it, we were lucky. The waters filled our street, but didn't reach the sandbags in front of the door before they receded.
The events that occur in the play were written in response to the events going on around us at the time. The gas station nearby that started charging ten dollars a gallon for people fleeing the city - that became the argument over Yolanda selling her precious ritz crackers for whatever the others have on them; the difficult discussion about race between Javier and Jennifer was absolutely a reflection of the disparity in damage - and in the aid response in the aftermath - between the "white" neighborhoods of Houston and the "black" ones. Whatever happened during that hurricane became part of the play. The moment the play was finished, I called up Jon Dorf at YouthPLAYS and let him know that I wanted to get this play out as quickly as possible - and that I never wanted to make one cent from it. All author proceeds would go to hurricane relief efforts. I've held to that, and YouthPLAYS went above and beyond to make sure that could happen.

Rising

Free Sound FX available!

If you are producing this play, I have pre-recorded sound FX files for the three radio announcements. Please feel free to email me and I will happily send them to you!


All author proceeds from this play, whether from sales or productions, go to charities working for hurricane relief. Currently, proceeds will go to those communities devastated by Hurricane Idalia.





Sample Dialogue...


Rising Sample Dialogue





RISING April 2024, Woodroffe High School.

Rising was performed in January at Woodroffe High School, in Toronto, Canada - and will get an encore performance in April!

Rising at Woodroffe High School




Rising - a new play about Hurricane Harvey     Indian Springs MS
Wilson High     Wilbur Wright Theatre
Wilson High School     Summit Christian Academy