The Twelve Huntsmen

by Briandaniel Oglesby

Large cast. Lots of female roles. Best for college or high school, but can be done with middle schoolers.

This play can be done a million different ways.

The Brothers Grimm tromp through the forest in search of fairy tales and stumble into a story: “Cesario” and a band of eleven women have disguised themselves as Huntsmen. The women tell stories inspired by food. Some are dark, some comic, some strange, some...

Large cast. Lots of female roles. Best for college or high school, but can be done with middle schoolers.

This play can be done a million different ways.

The Brothers Grimm tromp through the forest in search of fairy tales and stumble into a story: “Cesario” and a band of eleven women have disguised themselves as Huntsmen. The women tell stories inspired by food. Some are dark, some comic, some strange, some new, and some familiar. Each Huntsman has a story, but not all are told every night. This play can be different every performance.

The energy of this play is "sleepover, but with, like, pirates."

Now available for licensing through Stage Partners.

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The Twelve Huntsmen

Recommended by

  • Claire Rice: The Twelve Huntsmen by Briandaniel Oglesby
    “

    For lovers of "Midsummer Night's Dream" and Mary Zimmerman, with a little bit of "Infinite Wrench" thrown in. This play is beautiful, comedic, achingly sweet, and highly entertaining. A perfect challenge for any design team looking to stretch their muscles. This is an excellent play for colleges who need a large cast play, but professional theatres shouldn't shy away from this because of the large cast. It's a beautiful crowd-pleaser with a lot of heart.

    For lovers of "Midsummer Night's Dream" and Mary Zimmerman, with a little bit of "Infinite Wrench" thrown in. This play is beautiful, comedic, achingly sweet, and highly entertaining. A perfect challenge for any design team looking to stretch their muscles. This is an excellent play for colleges who need a large cast play, but professional theatres shouldn't shy away from this because of the large cast. It's a beautiful crowd-pleaser with a lot of heart.

    ”
  • Jennifer Onopa: The Twelve Huntsmen by Briandaniel Oglesby
    “

    I just finished a very successful production of this wonderful play with my middle schoolers. The centering of female voices, opportunities for flexible casting with large and diverse groups, nontraditional storytelling, and skillful fusion of the darkness of the Grimms' tales with laugh-out-loud humor and sass made this one of the most enjoyable plays I've directed. My students were hooked from the first read and were so proud of themselves for taking on the risk of performing in a random order. Kudos to Briandaniel Oglesby and his process in writing with and for this generation!

    I just finished a very successful production of this wonderful play with my middle schoolers. The centering of female voices, opportunities for flexible casting with large and diverse groups, nontraditional storytelling, and skillful fusion of the darkness of the Grimms' tales with laugh-out-loud humor and sass made this one of the most enjoyable plays I've directed. My students were hooked from the first read and were so proud of themselves for taking on the risk of performing in a random order. Kudos to Briandaniel Oglesby and his process in writing with and for this generation!

    ”
  • Reina Hardy: The Twelve Huntsmen by Briandaniel Oglesby
    “

    This play is delightful- funny and heartbreaking. If you are looking for an excellent play to do with young people that is insanely flexible, and majority female, you are doing yourself an absolute disservice by not putting this on your reading list immediately. The random performance order is a great hook that kids will love, and both the frame and each individual story are full of impactful and hilarious roles that kids will love playing.

    Side note: some wonderful deep cuts from the Grimms- I found myself thinking "why didn't I know these stories?"

    This play is delightful- funny and heartbreaking. If you are looking for an excellent play to do with young people that is insanely flexible, and majority female, you are doing yourself an absolute disservice by not putting this on your reading list immediately. The random performance order is a great hook that kids will love, and both the frame and each individual story are full of impactful and hilarious roles that kids will love playing.

    Side note: some wonderful deep cuts from the Grimms- I found myself thinking "why didn't I know these stories?"

    ”

Development History

  • Commission, Acme Theatre Company, 2015

Production History

  • Community Theater, Acme Theatre Company, 2018