I’m a high school drama director. I have a talented student who has written one-act plays that have been performed at state festivals. Next year is his senior year & he’s written a full-length play that he has asked me to perform for our fall main stage show.

My problem is that the show just isn’t main stage performance quality. The student is incredibly emotionally invested in having the show performed and will be gutted if we don’t perform it. Unfortunately, it just really isn’t performance quality for a main stage show.

I’ve given him a couple of options if we don’t perform it main stage - performing it as a one-act at our state Thespian festival and in our spring showcase. He’s still really pushing to perform it this fall.

How do I tell him we won’t be performing his play? I don’t want to destroy him, but he has said that playwriting isn’t his future. He plans to go into a different field and this is his “last hurrah” in theatre. His show just isn’t high enough quality.

I do need to work with him and his friends next year as he is my Troupe President. I just don’t know what to say. Suggestions?

*student is gender fluid and I switched accidentally flipped during my post. They are one person who go by they/them/he/she - everything.

**Update: Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I think I was working with too much emphasis on my “Drama Mama” persona instead of my Director role. I really appreciate the reminder about all of the realities of the situation - the student isn’t the only one in the department, needing a tough skin, the real process of getting a show performed. I’m moving forward with a tough love conversation on Monday that the show will not be performed but they can direct part of it as part of our senior showcase in the spring. Until then, we’ll do revisions as staged readings as part of drama club meetings.

Thank you again!!