55 pages
Ensemble cast of 6 to 27
The magic of theatre now weaves three tales from around the world together into more than an hour of captivating entertainment for young audiences. In a Chinese play, Little Red Maiden and her older brother learn that riches do not always bring joy. Too bad the selfish dragon learns the hard way! In a native American play, the Cinderella story is retold as Little Burnt Sand endures the cruelty of her sisters before becoming the bride of the new Micmac chief. In a delightful English fairy tale, we find that too much curiosity can be a mite unhealthy. Show the ...
41 pages
5 m, 3 w, 2 flexible
Mayhem and comedy are guaranteed when a small troupe of animal actors perform "The Taming of the Shrew" for King Louie, a lion, and Queen Marie, a lioness. Bartholomew, a fox, and Cassandra, a cat, are the leaders of an acting troupe consisting of a sarcastic crow, a bumbling bear, a young rabbit, and a sleepy dog. Include a diva cat opera singer, Miss Bianca, and the fur is guaranteed to fly! As the stage story of "The Taming of the Shrew" unfolds, we see that the actors are like the characters they portray. We also see how much can go wrong when performing ...
48 pages
with doubling 4 m, 4 w
A humorous urban romp through familiar tales by the Brothers Grimm. Everybody is having a bad day in the Enchanted City. Little Theodore Hood's grandmother is gravely ill and he must get a powerful medicine to her as soon as possible. But Theodore's grandmother lives on the other side of the Enchanted City and the sinister Stranger will stop at nothing to get his hands on the medicine. Meanwhile a young lady names Summer Greene has recently inherited a large fortune, making her the wealthiest person in the Enchanted City. Summer's wicked stepmother, Bertha, w...
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...
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 ...
44 pages
3 m, 5 f, 5 flexible, many extras
An optimistic and friendly Grévy’s zebra sees a reward poster for a rhino horn nailed to an acacia tree. She quickly hatches a plan and convinces a feared lioness and a hesitant, red-billed oxpecker to sneak out of the wildlife conservancy and save the endangered black rhinos. Soon these three endangered species and unlikely friends head into the perilous bush, which is filled with poachers hiding behind every tree. With the help of the lioness’ old friend, a puff adder and her snakelets, they save not only a herd of rhinos but a tigoni reed frog, a mama elep...
52 pages
7 m, 2 w
The Robinson family is on a journey overseas to begin a new life. After a harrowing storm, their tall-masted ship sinks, and they are shipwrecked on a deserted island. Mother and Father and their three children, Fritz, Ernest and Franz, are now forced to truly begin a new life: a struggle for survival. Salvaging what they can, the innovative family constructs a tree house in which to live. They embark on daily scavenging treks to recover what food, weapons, and other supplies have washed ashore the uninhabited island...or is it? Soon, strange things begin to ...
29 pages
4 m, 3 w, 2 flexible
Here is a classic children's tale told with Japanese Kabuki theatre techniques. Gosho-no-Goodo, an evil Samurai, has stolen the sword of Subi-Sumo, the good Samurai. Subi would not care that much because he'd rather paint than do battle, but unfortunately, he must retrieve his sword at all costs. To a member of the Samurai, a stolen sword is a disgrace. If he doesn't recover it, Subi cannot marry his love, a princess named Kyo-no-Imi. As Subi and his two servants go on a quest for the sword, they meet a witch posing as an old woman. They help her and she thanks Subi with a potion which s...
35 pages
3 m, 2 w, flexible cast of 25, doubling possible
Deep in the forest on a cold winter's night, an owl tells his friends about another winter's night when a shooting star lit up the sky, fell to the ground, and left a human child in a hollow tree. A woodcutter, who sees the shooting star, finds the child, takes him home, and rears him as a member of his family. The Star Child grows up to be a very handsome young man, but he doesn't have compassion or kindness. He mistreats the poor and the sick, he hurts the animals of the forest, and he shows no love for the family that raised him. Eventually he loses his ha...