History Theatre / TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee

* PerfectlyCromulentWord: At least one always gets thrown at an audience member to spell.

* AbusiveParents: Implied in "The I Love You Song." Although depending on your interpretation, each speller has these to an extent.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Repeatedly for William "Barfy".

* CounterpointDuet: "Second"

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GranolaGirl: Leaf is a male version.

* HippieName: Leaf, as well as his siblings Marigold, Brooke, Pinecone, Landscape, and Raisin.
* HomeschooledKids: Leaf Coneybear.

** Logainne finishes "Woe Is Me" with one.
** Mitch holds one in the middle of "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor."

** Logainne describes herself as "half-Jewish".

* MissingMom / DisappearedDad: For Olive, both of her parents are absent in their own way. Her mother is on a self-discovery trip in India, while her dad is implied to be emotionally distant as a result. (As well as physically absent from the bee.)

* NoodleIncident: The Incident Five Years Ago.

* PalsWithJesus: [[spoiler:Marcy, apparently.]]

* PuppyLove: William and Olive.

* SeriousBusiness: Spelling. This is justified in the song "Why We Like Spelling," wherein the kids explain how being good at spelling fills an emotional void.

* SicklyNeuroticGeek: William
* SimpletonVoice: Leaf is generally played with one.

* SpellingBee: You didn't figure this one out?

* SweaterGirl: Marigold Coneybear is often one.[[note]] Although, because Marigold is an audience member chosen by the actors, this is not always her defining characteristic.[[/note]]
-->'''Chip:''' Hey, Leaf, is that your sister in the fourth row wearing the fuzzy sweater?

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles: Every member of the cast doubles. Traditionally, the double-casting is:
** Rona - Olive's mother
** Mitch - Olive's Father, Dan/Logainne's Father
** William - Leaf's father
** Leaf - Carl/Logainne's other father
** Logainne - Leaf's mother
** Marcy - Leaf's sister, usually Brook.
** Chip - one of Leaf's siblings, [[spoiler:Jesus]]
** Olive - one of Leaf's siblings

** Leaf - Carl/Logainne's [[HasTwoMommies other]] father

* TwoferTokenMinority: During Logainne's political speech, she often mentions that she not only [[HasTwoMommies has two gay dads]] but is also half-Jewish and mixed race.

* HasTwoMommies: Logainne is the adopted child of a gay male couple.

* MeddlingParents: Logainne's dads; Carl in particular.

** And of course, Barfee and his magic foot

* DefrostingIceQueen: Marcy Park. William Barfrée is a male example, initially being quite rude to Olive but later developing feelings for her.

* {{Unwinnable}}: The audience members ''cannot'' win the spelling bee; if they get too far, they'll unexpectedly get several hard words thrown at them in a row until they get one wrong. Justified, however, because the play wouldn't work properly otherwise.

* PositiveDiscrimination: Averted, and averted ''very deliberately''. Logainne is the most notable case: she's the child of a ''gay couple'', but they (though mostly Carl) are portrayed as deeply flawed, to put it ''mildly'', like any heterosexual parents are capable of being. Marcy looks like she plays this trope straight, being an Asian portrayed as one of the best, but then [[spoiler: she throws the bee after advice from Jesus, deciding not to live up to expectations]]. Chip's aversion of the trope is a variable case depending on the production; because his last name is "Tolentino", Chip is sometimes played by a Hispanic or Filipino actor. [[spoiler: And no, Chip doesn't win the bee either; he's eliminated when he's distracted by an erection he got from looking at an attractive girl, and because of his distraction he tries to back up and correct himself in the middle of a word, which is against the rules.]]

* [[EducationMama Education Papa]]: One of Logainne’s fathers, Carl, makes her practice for hours, and desperately wants her to win.

* [[SheIsAllGrownUp He Is All Grown Up]]: The epilogue states that [[spoiler: William]] grew up to be quite handsome.

* MatureWorkChildProtagonist: Most of the main cast is meant to be between ages 8-14 (though played by adults), but the play is written for general audiences, dealing with mature themes such as erections, innuendo, and abandonment. Exaggerated for explicitly R-rated productions.