The old proverb—Don't criticize others until you've walked a mile in their shoes—is the theme of this addition to I. E. Clark's Young Adult Theatre plays.

The Other Person's Shoes is a musical about two high school or junior high girls' basketball teams—Lower Summit and Upper Valley. As too often happens in today's athletic competition, these two rivals intensely dislike one another. Instead of confining their rivalry to the basketball court, they hurl insults at each other when they meet outside the locker rooms. Coach O'Neill and Coach Harkins advise the girls to put themselves in "the other person's shoes." But the girls don't listen to their coaches. The players go out on the court intent upon beating each other "to a pulp."

During the game, four (or more) boys decide to play a trick on the girls. They take the visitors' and home team's street shoes and place them in the other team's locker room. When the girls dress after the game, they realize they have the wrong shoes. The boys laugh at the confusion. However, the prank brings the two teams together. As the girls try to find their own shoes, they talk to one another and discover that they have things in common. After they get their own shoes back, the girls join forces to pay back the boys for their shabby trick. Finally, to their coaches' delight, the girls shake hands and become friends.

Easy to produce, with minimal scenery (virtually a bare stage), simple costumes, and tuneful but easy songs, The Other Person's Shoes is a delight for high school and junior high performers and audiences of all ages.

One act; Set, a hallway just outside the school gym; Time, today.

See also: Plays About Personal Relationships