Background
Mr. Harris was born on July 4, 1915, in Jamesport, Missouri, United States. He was a son of George Dowe and Myrtle (Sebastian) Harris.
(Once Upon a Clothesline: A Play for Children, by Aurand H...)
Once Upon a Clothesline: A Play for Children, by Aurand Harris. One of the Prize-winning plays in the Second Playwriting Contest conducted by Seattle Junior Programs, Incorporated. Copy right 1943
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ILVCG/?tag=2022091-20
(A lyrical play of enchantment and high adventure. Based o...)
A lyrical play of enchantment and high adventure. Based on stories told by Vikramaditya of Ujjain, a Hero of India. Simple set pieces. Regal and peasant costumes of ancient India. Cast of 8 men, 6 women, extras. In the golden age of India, a Princess is kidnapped by a bandit as she journeys to marry her Prince. To rescue her, the Prince petitions the gods to allow him to become a bird, and his wish is granted. Leaving his own body, he soars over mountains, saves the Princess, and carries her to his Golden Palace. However, in his absence, a crafty servant takes possession of the royal body and acts as the Prince. How the real Prince outwits both this wicked servant and the evil bandit, provides the dramatic climax. A helpful Property Man, Oriental song and dance offer imaginative and theatrical solutions to staging. A colorful adventure in an exotic land.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087602262X/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script adapted by Aurand Harris from the novel by An...)
Play script adapted by Aurand Harris from the novel by Anne H. White. Spirited modern comedy, about three children and a dog. One set. Contemporary costumes. Cast: 2 F, 2 M, 3 children, 1 dog. "It smells funny," says Michael when his family moves to the country. "There's nothing to hear," says Montgomery, "and no stores with candy and ice cream." "Where do you skate?" says Margaret. "There's nothing to do." Then they meet Junket, an enterprising Airedale dog, who leads them on a trail of exciting experiences. Unfortunately, Father has ruled "Positively No Animals Allowed" - - and the children are hard put to justify their new friend, until Junket takes the entire matter into his own hands.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087602164X/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script. Refreshingly antic, irreverent treatment of ...)
Play script. Refreshingly antic, irreverent treatment of Aesop's fable, written in the style of Italian Commedia dell'Arte. One set, 16th century Italian costumes. Cast of 5 men, 1 woman. One of the most popular children's plays ever written, ANDROCLES AND THE LION has been produced in twenty countries. In Commedia tradition, a group of strolling players set up their stage and give a performance. Using authentic staging and stock characters of Commedia -- the miserly Pantalone, the bragging Captain, the romantic Lovers, the trickster Arlinquin, plus an endearing Lion -- Aesop's fable becomes a colorful theatrical experience. The play sky rockets with zany comedy. It also glows with the warmth of "Friendship." Androcles and the Lion is a prize winning play, applauded around the world, again, and again!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876021054/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script freely adapted from Moliere by Aurand Harris....)
Play script freely adapted from Moliere by Aurand Harris. Sharpened version of a charming French classic, adapted for today's producing groups. Three sets. Seventeenth century French costumes -- or modern if you prefer. Cast of 10 women, 9 men. Sganarelle, a shiftless woodcutter, quarrels with his wife, Martine, who vows to get even with him. Her chance comes when she meets two servants in search of a doctor to cure their master's daughter. Martine recommends her husband in the most glowing terms, as a doctor who can perform miracles, but warns them that he will have to be beaten into it. Armed with slapsticks, the two men hail Sganarelle as a great doctor, whack him roundly whenever he attempts to deny it, and thus force him into becoming a doctor in spite of himself. Fortunately, the master's daughter is only shamming illness to avoid a distasteful marriage. When Sganarelle is able to unite her with her own true love, she is miraculously cured -- and Doctor Sganarelle is richly rewarded.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876021208/?tag=2022091-20
(The ageless puppet play brought to life -- but fire-works...)
The ageless puppet play brought to life -- but fire-works! Unit set, with changing props. Traditional Punch and Judy costumes. Cast of 12 characters, usually played by 6 actors. Punch and Judy, pining behind the tiny stage of their "Closed" puppet theatre, are suddenly made aware of a live audience out front by their winsome little dog Toby. They cannot resist the call to perform. Bursting from behind the puppet stage, they expand into live actors. Merry as a cricket, Punch goes his joyful way through all the familiar plot routines, singing, high-stepping, slap-sticking at all the forces that would mold him into Society's form, cheerfully determined to be his own man, to be free - - and comes out the winner. Might makes right, you see. But they are old puppets. In the end, they return to the puppet stage, singing "There'll always be a Punch and Judy," fading into their puppet selves behind the tiny faded curtain.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876021836/?tag=2022091-20
(A fun-filled and enchanting fantasy based on English folk...)
A fun-filled and enchanting fantasy based on English folk tales and scenes from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Flexible cast, minimum 6; 2 acts, intermission optional; 2 scenes: in a wood and a fairy bower; costumes: Elizabethan rustics and Elfin Sprites. Mischievous young Robin sets out to find his fortune and encounters Oberon, King of the Wee People. Oberon, himself a merry prankster, auditions Robin for the position of his royal jester. In the wood, Robin hood-winks two rustics, Bottom the Weaver and Quince the Carpenter. Through magical means, he tricks Queen Titania into falling in love with Bottom, who sports a donkey's head. But the comic confusion and the merry madness of a Midsummer Night end happily -- as a children's fairy tale should. The play is a felicitous blend of slapstick, suspense, music, dancing, and Shakespeare's lyric poetry. Robin Goodfellow is a refreshing way to introduce children to the wonderful world of Shakespeare.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876021909/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script. A red, white and blue all-American minstrel ...)
Play script. A red, white and blue all-American minstrel show with traditional American music. Minimum of 4 men, 1 woman; flexible requirements may be expanded. Costumes: contemporary blue denims, white blouses, red sashes. Open staging. Approximate running time 65 mins. All-American entertainment employing the Minstrel Show techniques of Interlocutor, Endmen, with songs, dances, jokes, skits and skills adaptable to your own speciality numbers. A production opportunity for innovative directors, improvisationally gifted actors.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022050/?tag=2022091-20
("A marvelous, daring play, full of charm and vitality, th...)
"A marvelous, daring play, full of charm and vitality, that makes a reassuring statement about death." (Critic's comment) One set. Modern and animal costumes. 6 actors: Little Girl, Dancing Bear, Mime, Star Bright, Ringmaster, Little Bear (Flexible men or women. Approximate running time: 50 minutes. Saddened and bewildered at her grandfather's approaching death, Tish runs to her "special tree." There, in a world of fantasy, provided by her wishing on a Star, she meets the World's Greatest Dancing Bear. He is old, like her grandfather, and is running away -- from death. In trying to help him, she begins to understand the meaning of both life and death, which helps her to cope with her own sadness. The play blends realism and fantasy, pathos and humor. Delightfully theatrical, with music, magic and dance, enthusiastically applauded by children's audiences -- and family audiences. The Arkansaw Bear is an important work by America's foremost playwright for young audiences, sparkling with entertainment and, at the same time, dramatizing, with poignancy, a universal truth.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022263/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script. Written under a Fellowship from the National...)
Play script. Written under a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Cast of 4 women, 3 men, vaudeville entr'acts. One interior set. Costumes, 1915. (A shortened version of this play is also available from the publisher.) A TOBY SHOW brings back to the stage an American folk character -- Toby, the country bumpkin who through naivete, honesty, and homespun humor outwits the city slickers. This farce-melodrama recreates with traditional situations and stock characters -- as well as jokes and stage business -- a colorful segment of American drama: the traveling tent repertoire shows. Starring in the Cinderella story, Toby enacts a comic variation of the fairy godmother. With music and specialty numbers, the production excitingly evokes a Toby Show for children of all ages, allowing them the joy of experiencing an authentic example of American folk theatre. As the early posters advertised: A laugh a minute! A cyclone of fun! Toby, a stick of dyna-mirth!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022107/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script by Aurand Harris. A wonderfully theatrical pl...)
Play script by Aurand Harris. A wonderfully theatrical play about a boy who is different instead of marbles, he has poems in his pockets. Through him one glimpses every gifted child, and the special needs of every one in his special world. A cultural view of American traditions 1849-1916. Period Costumes. CAST: 17 roles plus extras (5F, 8M, 4+ either) which can be played by as few as 3F, 6M. A comedy, exciting, appealing, touching, and also biographically true of the Indiana boy, James Whitcomb Riley, the famous early American poet. Beginning on his 75th birthday, proclaimed a national day of celebration buy President Woodrow Wilson, the poet recalls his youth--the merry-go-roung at the country fair; the old swimming hole; the painful dunce cap at the cruel village school; the bonfires of Halloween; and unforgettable little Orphan Annie; the Underground Railroad and tehe horror of the Civil War and the medicine show where his poems first won public applause. Brimful of music (background) and spectacle, Ride a Blue Horse shows a gifted child coping with a universal problem that of being different.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022646/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script. A delightful joyous dramatization of Beatrix...)
Play script. A delightful joyous dramatization of Beatrix Potter's beloved THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. Two suggested sets. Victorian and animal costumes. Cast of 6 females, 3 males. Beatrix Potter, age 13, a poor little rich girl, secluded in her top-floor nursery, creates her own excitement by inventing and illustrating stories about her pet animals. She imagines an adventure for her favorite pet, Peter Rabbit. She becomes Peter and acts out an early version of what becomes her famous The Tale of Peter Rabbit. All the favorite characters appear: Mother Rabbit, Flopsey, Mopsey, Cottontail, the Mouse, the birds, and Mr. McGregor. Here is a revealing and charming glimpse of Victorian society in contrast to the antics of the uninhibited animal world. PETER RABBIT AND ME is filled with humor, adventure, colorful characters, and all of the magic of children's theatre.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087602326X/?tag=2022091-20
(Here is a collection of twelve classics from different co...)
Here is a collection of twelve classics from different countries, reflecting different cultures and written in different styles. This fine anthology is for teachers who want to stimulate interest in classic drama, for producers who do not have the facilities to give full productions, for directors of the high school one-act play contests who want quality scripts, for actors who need scenes for classes, auditions and performances, for librarians who wish to offer samplings of important literature, for students who want a quick survey of classics. All these mini versions have been pre-tested. Several have won contest awards. The plays include: Ralph Roister Doister, Midsummer Night's Dream A Doctor in Spite of Himself, The Tricks of Scapin She Stoops to Conquer, Fashion The Romancers, Cyrano de Bergerac Candida, A Toby Show The Second Shepherd's Play, The Importance of Being Earnest Aurand Harris, well known playwright, director and teacher, uses his theatre knowledge and dramatic craftsmanship in editing these theatre classics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876020325/?tag=2022091-20
(Dramatized by Aurand Harris, from Jane Kristof's novel. A...)
Dramatized by Aurand Harris, from Jane Kristof's novel. A moving drama of escape from slavery and flight to freedom. 4 women, 9 men, with doubling, though more can be used if desired. Bare stage, with set-pieces pulled on by stage hands. Mid-19th-century American costumes. Score available from the publisher, Anchorage Press Plays, www.applays.com. Two young slave boys escape from a South Carolina plantation, and with the help of many good people, both black and white, make their way north to join their freed father in Pennsylvania. Their many adventures, dangers, hidings, disguises, narrow escapes, comic exploits, and heart-rending experiences are bridged with simple spirituals, sung by a choir. This play requires its cast to work together in close harmony, and brings new levels of perception of the people that lived in those anguished times... and indeed to those that live in ours.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022069/?tag=2022091-20
( Six Plays for Children by Aurand Harris brings together...)
Six Plays for Children by Aurand Harris brings together a variety of dramatic forms that have enormously enriched the literature of children's theatre in this country and around the world. These works by this respected children's theatre playwright show Harris's great versatility: in the commedia dell'arte of Androcles and the Lion; the musical melodrama Rags to Riches; the sober, absurd comedy Punch and Judy; the realistic historical drama Steal Away Home; the farce Peck's Bad Boy; and the musical review Yankee Doodle. Each of the six plays exhibits a vital theatricality which is sure to win a child's attention and response. Editor Coleman A. Jennings traces Harris's development as a playwright in a biographical study based on interviews with Harris. This enlightening section treats Harris's philosophy and teaching methods, as well as his creative process.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0292703252/?tag=2022091-20
(A colorful collection of Chinese folk tales dramatized in...)
A colorful collection of Chinese folk tales dramatized in an exciting story-theatre form. This unusual theatre piece was inspired by Harris' visit to the People's Republic of China when he and his play, Rags to Riches, opened China's childrens' theatre door to western culture. Ensemble cast of 9 or more. East meets west. Performed in the traditional style of the Land of the Dragon, these playlets combine various types of drama -- comic, adventurous, poetic -- enhanced by music and mime. Although each play is unique and self-contained, they are linked by a beguiling monkey who uses his magical powers to aid the heroes and heroines and to defeat the villains, providing sixty minutes of fantasy and fun. With universal themes and pictorial staging, Monkey Magic is theatre at its best for audiences around the world. The play was premiered at the University of Hawaii celebrating the centenary of the arrival of the first Chinese on the Island .
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876022905/?tag=2022091-20
(Play script. Completely nonsensical but utterly enchantin...)
Play script. Completely nonsensical but utterly enchanting version of the Grimm fairy tale that proves you do not have to be big to be strong. Three sets. Fairy Costumes. 3 men, 3 women. Two maiden Queens, Eulalia and Ohlalia, take to their smelling-salts when warned by the Giant's approach, but the little tailor undertakes to save the kingdom by using his wits. The tailor does indeed win the first contest, but this only sends the Giant lumbering home to fetch his big brother, in an effort to trap the tailor. The two incongruous, farcical Giants then masquerade in laces and fans as the two Queens, but succeed only in trapping themselves.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0876021097/?tag=2022091-20
Mr. Harris was born on July 4, 1915, in Jamesport, Missouri, United States. He was a son of George Dowe and Myrtle (Sebastian) Harris.
In 1936 he obtained Bachelorof Arts from University Kansas City and in 1939 Master of Arts from Northwestern University. Then he made a postgraduate studies at Columbia University (1947). In 1991 he obtained his Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary) from University Indiana.
During the period of 1942-1945 Mr. Harris served as the head of drama department at William Woods College, Fulton, Missouri. He began his forty-year career as an author of children’s plays in 1945, while teaching drama at William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri.
From 1946 to 1977 Aurand Harris was a drama teacher at Grace Church School, New York City. During 1958-1963 he acted as a teacher at Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, in summers. Since 1972 he became a playwright-in-residence, University of Florida, Tallahassee. In 1976-1984 Aurand Harris worked as a playwright-in-residence at University Texas, Austin. Mr. Harris was appointed playwright-in-residence at University of Kansas in 1979.
In 1982 Mr. Harris became a playwright-in-residence at California State University, Northridge, from 1981 to 1984 served as a playwright-in-residence at Young Audiences, Cleveland, and in 1985 and 1988 playwright-in-residence at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.
In 1986 he was appointed playwright-in-residence at American School Madrid, in 1988-1996 at New York University, in 1989 University of Hawaii. He was an associate summer theater at Cape May, New Jersey, 1940, Bennington, Vermont, 1947, Peaks Island, Maine, 1948, Harwich, Massachusetts, 1963-1975. Then Drama Aurand Harris worked as a teacher Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Connecticut, summer 1976.
Mr. Harris also contributed to and served as editor for the anthologies Short Plays of Theatre Classics and Plays Children Love.
( Six Plays for Children by Aurand Harris brings together...)
(Here is a collection of twelve classics from different co...)
(A fun-filled and enchanting fantasy based on English folk...)
("A marvelous, daring play, full of charm and vitality, th...)
(The ageless puppet play brought to life -- but fire-works...)
(A colorful collection of Chinese folk tales dramatized in...)
(Once Upon a Clothesline: A Play for Children, by Aurand H...)
(Play script adapted by Aurand Harris from the novel by An...)
(Play script freely adapted from Moliere by Aurand Harris....)
(Flory Patterson is almost sixteen and never been kissed. ...)
(Dramatized by Aurand Harris, from Jane Kristof's novel. A...)
(A lyrical play of enchantment and high adventure. Based o...)
(Play script by Aurand Harris. A wonderfully theatrical pl...)
(Play script. Refreshingly antic, irreverent treatment of ...)
(Play script. A red, white and blue all-American minstrel ...)
(Play script. Written under a Fellowship from the National...)
(Play script. A delightful joyous dramatization of Beatrix...)
(Play script. Completely nonsensical but utterly enchantin...)
(Play. 4 characters, scrub women. Setting: the deserted st...)
Author: (childrens plays) Pinocchio and the Fire-Eater, 1940, Once upon a Clothesline, 1944, Seven League Boots, 1947, Circus Day, 1948 (John Golden award Columbia University 1945), review as Circus in the Wind, 1960, Pinocchio and the Indians, 1949, Simple Simon, 1952, Buffalo Bill, 1953, The Plain Princess, 1954, The Flying Prince, 1958, Junket: No Dogs Allowed, 1959, The Brave Little Tailor, 1960, Pocahontas, 1961, Androcles and the Lion, 1964, Rags to Riches, 1965 (Horatio Alger Newsboy award 1967), A Doctor in Spite of Himself, 1966, The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Punch and Judy, 1969, Just So Stories, 1971, Ming Lee and the Magic Tree, 1971, Steal Away Home, 1972, Peck's Bad Boy, 1973, Robin Goodfellow, 1974, Yanke Doodle, 1975, Star Spangled Salute, 1975, The Arkansaw Bear, 1977, Six Plays for Children, 1977, A Toby Show, 1978, Ralph Roister Doister, 1978, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1979, The Romancers, 1979, Candida, 1979, Fashion, 1981, Treasure Island, 1983, The Magician's Nephew, 1984, Ride a Blue Horse, 1986, Huck Finn's Story, 1987, Monkey Magic, 1990, The Pinballs, 1992, Peter Rabbit and Me, 1993, Prince and the Pauper, 1994. (plays) Ladies of the Mop, 1945, The Doughnut Hole, 1947, The Moon Makes Three, 1947, Madam Ada, 1948, And Never Been Kissed, 1950, We Were Young That Year, 1954. Co-editor, contributor Plays Children Love, vol 1, 1981, volunteer 2, 1988, Short Plays of Theatre Classics, 1991.
Fellow American Theatre Association (Chorpenning cup 1967, 85).