Pro Bono Scripts
I developed these scripts in Springfield, MO, and Lancaster, PA, to benefit particular organizations: Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Southwest Missouri, New Choices Career Development, Church World Services of Lancaster, and Lancaster Public Library. They’ve been used since to draw attention to and raise money for similar non-profits in other areas. These scripts are available royalty-free to appropriate non-profits seeking to use them in this manner. In some cases, they will need minor editing to adjust for local situations. I am happy to work with performance organizers to do that. Please contact me at sandyasher@com to request a perusal copy.
THE CASA PROJECT: Stand Up for a Child
Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is an organization that trains volunteers to work closely with children in foster care and report directly to the professionals charged with overseeing the children’s well-being and with deciding their futures — more foster care, adoption, or a return to their biological parents. This script is based on the real-life experiences of college students who set out to interview adults involved in the foster care system: lawyers and judges, social workers and juvenile officers, foster parents and CASA volunteers. It tells the story of what these people do for the children in their care and the difference CASA makes in all of their lives. The cast includes 13 adults of any age (most m or f), 3 college students (m or f), and two children about 10 and 14 years of age (m or f). The reading takes about 45 minutes.
FOR WE WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND
A montage of stories, requiring a minimum of 7 actors and running about 45 minutes, based on interviews with immigrants from Ethiopia, Cuba, Gaza, the USSR, Uganda, Mexico, and Nepal, this script dramatizes real experiences in The Old Country, while Coming to America, and upon arrival in The New Country. It also chronicles the yearning for and process of attaining US citizenship.
NEW CHOICES . . . NEW BEGINNINGS
A Readers’ Theatre script developed with the New Choices Career Development Program, including life stories from women in transition and a look at the transformational sessions included in the intensive two-week workshops held in career centers and the Lancaster County Prison.
IT HAPPENED AT THE LIBRARY
A 30-minute script for young audiences based on imaginative stories written by Lancaster area K-12 students around the topic of “It Happened at the Library.” Here’s a video of one of the performances: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNH0YWnCjzc&feature=youtu.be
SANDY ASHER 