Charlotte B. Chorpenning (1873–1955) was a children's playwright. When she was 60 years old, after her husband died, she began writing plays for children. She was also the artistic director of the children's theatre at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, and remains the most produced playwright in Goodman history. She adapted many famous fairy and folktales. She believed that children would come to see plays about characters they knew already. She also strongly believed that plays should not talk down to children, and that children should be able to identify with the lead. Chorpenning described her writing and directing process in her book, Twenty-One Years With Children's Theatre, published in 1954.

Chorpenning studied at Radcliffe College

Radcliffe College

Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...

. From about 1915-1919 she was a playwright in residence in Winona, Minnesota

Winona, Minnesota

Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....

 organizations.

Chorpenning wrote adaptations of many stories and many of these plays remain in print. One play in particular is out of print: an adaptation of Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo and, according to Jodi Van Der Horn-Gibson, aside from some unflattering stereotypical names and the same confusion Bannerman had with regard to the difference between India and Africa, the play is a non-offensive version of the story.

Chorpenning died on January 7, 1955, at her home in Warwick, NY. The obituary published in the Educational Theatre Journal stated "The American theatre is indebted to her for her skill as a playwright, her ability as a teacher, her strength as a leader, and her humanity as a friend."

The American Alliance for Theatre and Education awards the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Award for the body of work of a children's playwright. Award recipients include Doug Cooney (2010), Barry Kornhauser (2009), James DeVita (2007), and Aurand Harris

Aurand Harris

Aurand Harris was an American playwright who wrote 36 plays for children, estimated at the time of his death in 1996 to have been performed on over 30,000 occasions...

 (1985 and 1967).

Published by Anchorage Press Plays

Cinderella

The Elves and the Shoemaker

Flibbertygibbet

The Indian Captive

Jack and the Beanstalk

Little Red Riding Hood

Robinson Crusoe

Rumplestiltzkin

The Sleeping Beauty

The Three Bears

Published by Dramatic Publishing

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Alice in Wonderland

Hansel and Gretel

The Magic Horn

Many Moons, based on the illustrated book of the same name

Many Moons

Many Moons is a children's picture book written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. It was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1943 and won the Caldecott Medal in 1944. Princess Lenore becomes ill, and only one thing will make her better: the moon...

 written by James Thurber

James Thurber

James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...

Rip Van Winkle

Published by Samuel French, Inc.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Tom Sawyer's Treasure Hunt