In the world of American theatre, Don Zolidis stands out not just for his prolific output but for how his plays resonate with young performers. From the schoolrooms of Janesville to stages worldwide, his work has reached an audience of thousands, offering them a chance to engage with challenging themes through drama.
During an interview on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Zolidis reflected on his journey from a daydreaming child to a leading playwright for educational settings. “I found myself always daydreaming and always imagining things and always sort of creating little narratives,” he shared.
Zolidis’ early creative endeavors took root in his hometown of Janesville, where he entertained classmates with satirical stories about their teachers. “My friends always enjoyed reading these rather satirical stories that I would write about my middle school teachers. So I apologize to my middle school teachers out there,” he recalled.
Today, Zolidis is recognized as one of the most produced playwrights in American schools, with over 150 plays to his name. His works have attracted around 500,000 performers, with 2,600 productions staged globally in 2024 alone. These plays provide an avenue for middle and high school students to confront and discuss serious issues, from mental health to mortality.
This conversation is edited for clarity and brevity.
Writing for Young Audiences
KAK: What do you take into consideration when writing a play for youth versus writing a play for adults?
DZ: It’s almost the same process. I really try to utilize all of my skill, all of my talent. Everything that I would write in a play for adults, I put it in a play for young people. I don’t limit myself for vocabulary or complexity. I’m really just trying to tell a story that might appeal to younger people but doesn’t insult their intelligence, isn’t cheesy and doesn’t speak down to them.
Tackling Complex Themes
KAK: How do you approach topics that are difficult in your plays, like social media or cyberbullying, or mental health with young people?
DZ: Young people know if you’re not telling the truth. So when I’m dealing with a difficult subject matter, I am just trying to be honest, be truthful and really deal with multiple sides of things.
He elaborates that simplification can undermine the complexity inherent in serious topics, making them appear trivial.
Character Development and Diverse Perspectives
KAK: Would you write characters who have different perspectives? How would you go about that in your cast development?
DZ: That’s a great thing that theater does, probably better than any other art form, is that it’s able to show multiple sides of the same subject. If there is a difficult conundrum, in a play, you can put people on both sides of that argument and ideally both of those sides are correct, and both of those sides are believed in by the people who are arguing them. A play really isn’t something that provides answers. A play is something that questions a subject.
He cites his play set in the Badger Munitions factory during World War II as an example, where characters grapple with issues of fair wages versus wartime responsibility without clear resolution.
Creative Discipline and New Ideas
KAK: How do you stay disciplined and just keep your creative juices flowing?
DZ: I tell this to kids all the time, that people think that creativity is a talent, that it’s something that you’re born with. But I think that creativity is a skill, which means it is something that you can get better at the more you do it.
Zolidis describes a routine of constant ideation, fueled by his extensive experience in playwriting.
Exploring Mortality in “The Price”
KAK: Your most recent work, “The Price,” is about death. What would you like students to learn from it?
DZ: It’s based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Story of a Mother.” And if I go into the story too much, I’m going to cry. It’s probably the most beautiful fairy tale I’ve ever read.
He recounts the poignant tale of a mother’s quest to retrieve her child from Death, a narrative that challenges audiences with the question of life’s inequities, leaving them to ponder its complexities without offering easy answers.
Emotional Depth in Young Performers
KAK: Do you find that young actors have the ability to feel such profound sadness on stage?
DZ: I think they do. And I think that’s part of not underestimating young people, because they’re able to think and feel just as much as an adult.
