Growing up is painful. Whoever said school days are the best days of your life must have had a horrible adulthood. The Story: Lee Singer is 13 years old today. She has planned a party for herself and her best friend, Artie. Artie is 17, but he's more like seven. Lee is the brightest thing in his life. She teases him, big-sisters him, teaches him how to have fun. But now Lee is 13. A teen-ager. A young adult. Her peers remind her it's time to put away childish things. Including Artie. It's time for her to grow up. But what about Artie? He'll never grow up...

Although this play is perfectly suitable for junior high students to perform, university students played all the roles in the premiere at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Virtually bare stage—perfect for touring. One-act, simple exterior set, present-day clothes. A poignant, significant, timely drama for junior high to adult actors and audiences.

Judge's commentary in awarding ARTIE first place in the Council of Wisconsin Writers Award notes that the events in this play are an "effective metaphor for the rite of passage" and subtly focus "on the characters' need to establish their identities as people...Lee is learning that life isn't fair...Bring together a group of kids with these kinds of things on their minds and literally anything can happen. That makes for good drama. The theme of this play is human development...the play is not about Artie himself but about Artie as an important experience in these kids' growing-up process"—judge's commentary; "My final word to Wil Denson is 'congratulations' on his excellent work."

A Friend Like Artie by Wil Denson is a 35-minute version of ARTIE with 2 men and 2 women.

Some of the same characters, particularly the troublemaker Monkey, appear in Will Denson's later play, Welcome to Carnie.

Another Denson play: Aladdin McFaddin

See also: Plays About Social Issues and Awareness Plays for Young Adults