Children's Theatre Plays

39 pages

Flexible cast of 8 to 15. Min: 1 m, 1 w, 6 flexible

Periwinkle, a curious caterpillar, feels compelled to find out what happens when caterpillars climb up the Great Tree –and never return! He decides to follow grumpy Thistle, who seems to be next to do the climb, but Periwinkle encounters some big obstacles he must overcome, including evading the clutches of a black widow spider. Meanwhile, on the ground, Periwinkle’s worried “family,” Sepia and two boisterous babies, escape their own predators, vicious wasps and a praying mantis, along with a comical pair of hungry flies. Finally, Thistle emerges from his coc...

32 pages

15 - 30

Jack's family makes and sells the best cheese and butter in the world. That is, until the competition gets jealous. Vegetable merchants Vlad (who is not-so-nice) and his sister Carol (who is missing a few cards in the deck) make a wish with some pink magic beans to ruin Jack's family's livelihood. When Jack's cows suffer strange and dramatic demises, and Jack's dad is captured by ruthless and revolting Ruffians for his cheese-making skills, Jack's mom goes on a daring adventure to rescue her husband with a ladle as her only weapon. Jack is left to do one thin...

33 pages

Widely flexible cast, minimum of 12. (Approx. 4 m, 3 w, plus 5-23 flexible, extras)

Adapted from Washington Irving's short story. No one will be caught napping as Washington Irving's supernatural tale comes to vibrant life in this action-packed comedy that combines faithfulness to the original text with slapstick humor, hilarious dialogue and fascinating characters. Young Rip Van Winkle escapes from an overly-critical wife, bowls with the ghostly Henry Hudson in the Catskill Mountains, then mysteriously awakens 20 years later to find life in his colonial village vastly changed. With minimal set requirements and maximum involvement by an extr...

26 pages

Approx. 3 m, 3 w.

Help! please. How do you teach civility when Miss Manners and Mary Poppins aren’t around? For three professional bedroom monsters, the assignment to change young Sheena is business as usual – almost. This case has a lot riding on it. If not successful, Fredrick will be forced to retire, nervous Igor will fail, and Petra will be partnered with a monster she dislikes. Never before has the future of this hairy team rested in the palm of a little, spoiled, rude girl – and all under the inquiring eye and note-taking hand of another monster, a snooping New Orc Time...

34 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 puppet.

Y’all know of Pecos Bill, the first Texas cowboy! He was raised by coyotes, made the first lasso out of a rattlesnake, broke a cyclone down to a gentle breeze, tamed the longhorn cattle and almost married Slewfoot Sue, who caught his attention by riding a giant catfish. Unfortunately, this Pecos Bill is a little confused. Ya see, the setting is in the present at a performance of “Pecos Bill's Wild West Show,” patterned after the Wild West shows of the late 19th century. But Bill and the other performers still live in the past. They believe everyone comes to t...

30 pages

Cast of 20 or more

The touching story of Beauty and the Beast is recreated here as a delightful half-hour show for young audiences. A festival celebrating all the good works done by the rich Baron von Holwitz is interrupted when his ships sink. Devastated, the Baron runs into the woods, where an ugly Beast will spare his life if one of the Baron's five daughters returns in his place. Only Beauty gladly offers to go. She finds the Beast ugly to look at, yet he is intelligent, gentle, and terribly lonely. She convinces the Beast to go back to town, where her kiss transforms him i...

43 pages

28 parts (doubling possible)

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to have fun we go with this modern version of the beloved fairy tale! When the Huntsman fails to bump off the beautiful Princess Snow White (although he still gets his ticket to Bermuda), the vain queen decides to do the job herself. Dressed as an Old Hag, she cons Snow White into buying a candy bar as a girl scout fund-raiser. Like, who can resist chocolate, especially if it's for a good cause? But at the first bite, the princess falls into a deep slumber. Luckily Snow White has lots of friends. The seven dwarfs immediately call 911, b...

41 pages

1 m, 1 w, 3 flexible

Here is a troika of short, story-theatre plays that will take you on three very unusual journeys. First stop is a town where the cow-dreamer ran away... and we all know that without someone to dream cows there simply are no cows. Then we travel to a farm where the devil comes to call every day at noon. Only the dog knows who he is, and it's up to her to save the farmer and his wife. Finally, we visit a marsh and find out what happens when the Sun gets so curious about the Earth that she comes down to see what it's like for herself. Because the narration fills...

36 pages

Cast of 15 to 53

Take your young audience on a journey around the globe discovering other cultures. From Africa we have the tale of why the Sun and Moon live in the sky. From the Pacific Northwestern Native Americans is the story of the ocean and its tides. From South America we learn how the beetle got its beautiful coat, while from Asia is the tale of why toads croak before a rain storm. The play ends with an Aesop fable from Europe that tells why the bat flies alone and at night. Weaving it all together is a Cherokee fable that explains the bringing of stories into the wor...

53 pages

Large, Flexible cast

Welcome to the mythical Forest of Fables, home of the Tortoise and the Hare, the Ants and the Grasshopper, the Lion and the Mice, and many other colorful creatures. This realm is also the home of Aesop, the friendly storyteller from Ancient Greece. The animals and two immortal Muses prepare for Aesop's surprise 98th birthday party, until they realize that they have no music for their upcoming celebration. The problem is solved when a nervous Donkey, a vain Cat, a hopeful Rooster, and a dim-witted Dog join forces and ensure that old Aesop gets the party of a c...

30 pages

Ensemble cast of 5 to 22 actors

Some of the gentle, humorous, and well-loved characters from the writings of Beatrix Potter come alive in this gem of a story theatre play for young audiences. The play consists of adaptations of three Beatrix Potter stories: “The Tale of Benjamin Bunny” (one of the Peter Rabbit tales); her renowned Christmas story, “The Tailor of Gloucester”; and “Grasshopper Belle and Susan Emmet,” Potter’s adaptation of the Aesop fable. Also included are two poems from the “Apply Dapply Rhymes” and a third inspired by them. The pieces are short, the action continuous, and ...

23 pages

9 m, 6 w, children, extras

An infestation of rats plagues the beautiful, perfect town of Hamelin, and the angry towns people give the Mayor and town council one last chance to solve the problem. A curiously dressed piper arrives just in time to save the day. He promises to lead the rats out of town for a fee of $1000. The town agrees and the rat problem is solved, but the people, arguing that the price was too high, refuse to pay. The angry piper takes all the children with him instead, leaving the town unhappy and without a future. But wait! The storyteller runs on stage to offer an "...

20 pages

3 m, 11 w

Take seven inept campers who must win a variety show competition on which the whole camp's reputation is based and what have you got? Instant disaster! Luckily for the campers, Jo White, who would rather sing than whistle while she works, has escaped to their cabin. Hilarity and confusion follow, but the camp's reputation is saved!

23 pages

6 m, 7 w, extras

In this melodrama for fifth and sixth graders, Peter Prune steals Priscilla's homework to give to his girlfriend to gain brownie points. Foulfellow Fern, a not very efficient detective, is called in. But as always, the hero, Godfrey Goodfellow, methodically narrows the suspects down to the nasty villain.

27 pages

12 to 14 flexible parts

All the familiar characters from the classic fairy tale are here but with a little bit of a modern-day twist, including gullible, inquisitive Jack and his poor mother; a smart, determined cow; the magical egg-laying goose; and a not-so-scary Giant and his wife. Children will be laughing out loud when Jack's cow refuses to be sold and is constantly chased across the stage, first by the bean seller and then additional characters from other fairy tales! The smart aleck Narrator almost gets into a fight with the Mother about the magical qualities of the beans and...