Joanna H. Kraus: playwright/author

Cast: 8m., 7w.

From the East Coast Hudson Bay Inuits comes an exciting, authentic tale of a pale-haired child, exiled by her own people because she was “Anatou—the different one.” In a village ruled by spirits, shamans, superstition and myth, such a different one has no place. During a famine, her parents disappear in a storm, and Anatou is cast out by the community. She seeks out the forest, into which no Inuit goes, and begs the Wood God to turn her into a wolf.

“I was moved by the language and most of all by the heroine, Anatou. She is strong and loving as a character against all odds. It is a work that is timeless.”

—Joann Siegrist, West Virginia University

The following scripts were written by Joanna Kraus, click on each title for more information or to purchase.

Scripts

REMEMBER MY NAME (Samuel French)

Middle school and up. Two acts, area staging, 5m, 5f.

A young girl’s survival in France during World War II and the courage of the villagers, who protect her at their own peril. Far from everything familiar, Rachel assumes a new identity and grows from a protected child to a determined adolescent who assists the Resistance and must fight for her life.

“Characters . . . presented as real human beings in an inhuman situation.”

—New York Casting

ANGEL IN THE NIGHT (Dramatic Publishing)

High school and up. Two acts, area staging, 4m, 5f, minimum with doubling.

Based on the true story of Marysia Pawlina Szul, a Polish-Catholic teenager who in 1942 hid four Jews in the family barn, caring for them for two years during the Nazi invasion. Although arrested, she never betrayed them, proving that one individual can make a difference.

SUNDAY GOLD (Dramatic Publishing)

5th grade and up. Two acts, area staging, 3-4 m, 3f.

In a North Carolina mining town (l840s), twelve-year-old Lizzie yearns for a pair of boots and an education. Her friendship with Annie, a hired-out slave, is rekindled as the two rocker girls work all day sifting out the precious gold particles. Risking her own future, Lizzie tries to help Annie escape and discovers that not all the gold is in the ground.

CIRCUS HOME (Dramatic Publishing)

Two acts, area staging. 6m, 3w, 2 children.

Against the backdrop of a traveling tent circus, troupers play out a drama of an outsize young man’s struggle for acceptance. Benjie, amongst the clowns, circus artists and sideshow attractions, finds the home that has eluded him elsewhere.

CHRISTABEL and the AMAZING PEDAL POWER CHALLENGE (Dramatic Publishing)

5th grade and up. Cast: 4m, 5w, 1 either gender, extras. Area staging.

When 14-year-old Christabel falls off a 20-foot ladder, she becomes an instant paraplegic. Discouraged and embittered, she believes her life is over. After accepting her physical therapist’s challenge to enter an 8-hour pedal power endurance race, surmounting myriad obstacles, she crosses the finish line and realizes a whole new life is just beginning.

MS. COURAGEOUS: WOMEN OF SCIENCE (Dramatic Publishing)

Cast: 3m., 3w. Bare stage.

In Ms. Courageous the role models are two women with a passion for achievement. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in the United States with a medical degree, and Marie Curie, discoverer of radium, helped make possible today’s scientific community where discovery knows no gender. This fast-paced piece is written in a “living newspaper” style, a collage of short scenes punctuated with sound effects and music of the period. Its blend of public and private moments sweeps the audience into the scientists’ dreams, invites them to share their obstacles and fights the prejudices against them before savoring their triumphs. Includes a complete resource guide.

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Nebraska Theatre Caravan

Equity Library Theatre, NYC

Jerusalem Group Theatre, NYC

Florida Jewish Theatre

National Louis University

AATE Distinguished Play Award

Raleigh Little Theater

Diablo Valley College, CA

Poncho Theatre, Seattle

Diablo Actors
Ensemble Studio, CA

Joanna H. Kraus is an award-winning playwright of twenty published and widely produced scripts throughout the United States, Canada, England, and Australia, and an author of numerous short stories, children’s books, articles and reviews.

TAMALES & ROSES

When a flower girl gets stage fright and can’t start the wedding procession, she’s convinced no one will forgive her. But her Latino family demonstrates their understanding and love. A bi-lingual, participation play based on her book.

ME2

Two 8th graders suddenly discover that they are twins. But when one persuades the other to cheat on an admissions test, the question confronts them, “Could you live with a lie?”

THE DRAGON HAMMER AND THE TALE OF ONIROKU

Two short plays based on Korean and Japanese folklore that are thematically connected.

KIMCHI KID

Does Hak Soo belong to Korea, where he’s despised because his father was American, or to his new home where children call him “Yellow Banana?” Angry and bewildered, a new friend and classmate points out that “O.K” is the same in both languages. At his adoption ceremony it’s Hak Soo who explains to his parents what that means. As the three become a family, Hak Soo, now has two homes in his heart.

FOR THE GLORY

A two-act comedy, by Joanna H. Kraus with Hobart Brown Dawn, wanna-be journalist, is tired of being an Indy 500 driver’s trophy girlfriend. Instead, she’ll cover the Kinetic Sculpture Race, the same Memorial Day weekend. Furious, Will ridicules the whole idea of human powered, all-terrain art vehicles. “3 days to go 38 miles!” For her story, Dawn volunteers to be co-pilot on Da Vinci’s Dream. The race is wacky and challenging, but Dawn discovers a more humane world, a sympathetic guy, and most important, she finds herself.