Cast: 3 to 8m., 4 to 12w. Written by a group of high-school students over the course of nine months, What I Wanted to Say is a series of scenes exploring the common human experience of wanting to say one thing and saying something else, or saying nothing at all. Each vignette is complete in itself exploring a different situation: a father is unable to communicate his pride and love to his son who is going off to college; a teacher corrects students kindly and gently but expresses her true feelings to the chalkboard through gritted teeth; teens comment on the fashions of others but secretly feel differently about what they are seeing; three abused children express what they wish they could say to their abusers; and much more. Ten scenes in a variety of styles yield a show that is touching, funny, sad and inspiring all at once. Excellent material for high-school actors with different levels of acting experience. Simple staging and lighting. Approximate running time: 50 minutes.