STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: PLAY - "Emergency Prom”
- Aug 8, 2016
- 2 min read
Everyone has gone through that moment: something goes horribly wrong, and you just want a do-over.
That is what the students of Glen Burnie High School try to do.
Written by Steve Moulds, Emergency Prom is an ensemble play about a group of high schoolers who want to hold a second prom after the first one went so badly for them. The main focus of this ensemble is Gus, who created the idea of this “emergency prom” so he can win back his girlfriend, Corey.
The play is presented in with twelve scenes in act one to establish the multiple characters, and how prom for them was uneventful or just ended up in heartbreak. Act two only has one scene, showing how the emergency prom goes, which is set in the cafeteria. As anyone would expect, it doesn’t go smoothly at all. The music won’t play, so they have to resort to playing it through the high school’s PA system; there’re no drinks, so they get it from the vending machine; for Gus, he is panicking because Corey hasn’t shown up.
The dating lives of high schoolers may not seem interesting, in fact, it may just downright sound undeserving of attention of adults. After all, it’s just “high school love.” It passes. Well, the same thing can be said with adults’ relationships, and the questions on why it ended are pretty much the same.
Drama is everywhere and everyone can relate. It doesn’t matter how old you are.
While not a negative in storytelling, I do want to point out that what throws me off is the amount of sex these high schoolers said they had (lies or not). I don’t mean they make sex jokes, I mean they casually say to each other the amount of sex they’ve had.
I got introduced to Emergency Prom by looking through the website I bought the play from: Playscripts.com. I came across the description of the play, and it just appealed to me. I took a chance, and bought it. I’m glad I did.
Give it a read, and see if it inspires you to want to try something again.
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