When Theatre for Youth: Twelve Plays with Mature Themes was published in 1986, it met a need for plays that could help young people deal with some of the more difficult realities of life. Responding to the sweeping changes in society over the succeeding thirty years, Coleman A. Jennings and Gretta Berghammer have assembled a new collection of plays that reflects not only on themes such as aging, death and dying, friendship, courage, conformity, maturation, sexuality, and struggles with moral judgment but also on gender identity, poverty, diversity, and discrimination.

Theatre for Youth II: More Plays with Mature Themes presents twelve plays, nine of them new to this anthology, that offer a rich variety of original stories (The Tomato Plant Girl, The Arkansaw Bear, Super Cowgirl and Mighty Miracle), compelling adaptations (The Afternoon of the Elves, Broken Hearts, Courage!), historical drama (Mother Hicks, Johnny Tremain), diverse themes (La Ofrenda, The Transition of Doodle Pequeno), friendship (The Selfish Giant), and future societies (With Two Wings). As these plays explore some of the most challenging themes for today's youth, including the difficulties of single parenthood, divorce, race relations, sexuality, and gender discrimination, they share messages fundamental to us all: open your imagination and dare to dream; embrace life; honor your personal passion, beliefs, and creativity; take a risk; and love with all your heart.

There are 488 pages in this book. This book was published 2016 by University of Texas Press .

Coleman A. Jennings is Jesse H. Jones Regents Professor in Fine Arts in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a leading authority on theatre for young audiences and editor of eight anthologies of plays that represent the major works of America's foremost playwrights. Gretta Berghammer is a professor of youth theatre/drama education at the University of Northern Iowa. Coleman A. Jennings is professor emeritus in the area of drama and theatre for youth and communities at the University of Texas at Austin.

This book has the following chapters:

• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• The Plays
• Original Stories
  • The Arkansaw Bear
  • Super Cowgirl and Mighty Miracle
  • Tomato Plant Girl
• Compelling Adaptations
  • Afternoon of the Elves
  • Broken Hearts
  • Courage!
• Historical Drama
  • Mother Hicks
  • Johnny Tremain
• Diverse Themes
  • la ofrenda
  • The Transition of Doodle Pequeno
• Friendship
  • In the Garden of the Selfish Giant
• Future Societies
  • With Two Wings
• Appendices
  • Twelve More Plays with Mature Themes for Consideration / Deliberation
  • Another Twelve Plays with Mature Themes for Reading / Study
  • Quotation from the Foreword by Jed H. Davis to the first edition of Theatre For Youth: Twelve Plays With Mature Themes, 1986