Reading Room: Sex Lives of Superheroes

Anyone involved in high school drama for at least a day has heard of the play This is a Test by Stephen Gregg. It's a really great piece of theater that students have had a blast with since it was published in 1988. Gregg offers in the stage directions that it's "a play that begs to be messed with" and "any changes are acceptable per the author." Sounds like fun, right?! No wonder that it's one of the most produced one-act plays of all time. When I was in high school, I petitioned hard for us to "mess with it," but never got the chance. Instead, I performed in such forgotten classics as Her Majesty the King and Mama's Little Helper. Eek. Well, since graduating I've seen it more than any other play and I still wish we had done it. I suppose I could stage a production and star in it, but at 30 years old, I think that would be a tad creepy.

What I can do is recommend another Gregg play that I think is even better. That play is Sex Lives of Superheroes. I didn't discover this script until after high school, but if I had, I probably would have been just as adamant that we produce it. It's a terrific three-hander, with a few members of the audience joining in. With an enrollment of 10 and a budget even smaller, it's just the sort of play my little drama club could have knocked out of the park. The characters are fun; a comic book nerd, a jaded girlfriend and an opinionated love interest. So anyone looking for the road less traveled (I’m not sure how often it’s produced, but certainly not as much as TIAT), check out this fun script that’s appropriate for all age groups.