High school theatre productions can have broad beneficial effects. In addition to helping students, they can bring a sense of unity and focus to a school in ways most often associated with higher-profile athletics. The community in which the school resides often benefits from the entertainment and the visible expression of student achievement. Parents get to see their children in new, usually positive ways. In this essay, the author expresses his concern about the trend toward what might be described as "contemporary relevance" or "adolescent realism" in high school plays, raising important questions about the purposes, goals, and values of such selections. (Contains 8 endnotes.)