Children's Theatre Plays

27 pages

3 m, 8 w, 5 flexible, doubling possible

Adapted from the English fairy tale. Baroness Agatha, a rich and powerful noblewoman, learns from a hermit that her newborn son, Alex, will marry Marie, a mere peasant's daughter. The Baroness will have none of this! She intends to kill her, but the baby somehow survives being thrown into a river and ends up being raised by a fisherman and his wife. Fifteen years later, Alex accidentally sees Marie and instantly falls in love with her. The Baroness again arranges to have Marie murdered, but a helpful innkeeper intercepts the fateful letter and changes it to r...

44 pages

6 m, 7 w, 6 flexible, extras

At last, Rumpelstiltskin gets to be the hero! Based on the original Grimm fairy tale, this traditionally misunderstood character earns a well-deserved happy ending, winning the hand of Freya, the beautiful miller’s daughter. Both comic and suspenseful, and using elements of other fairy tales and classical myths, this adaptation involves King Grood, the (not very) Good; his vain son Prince Werther; and an unscrupulous chancellor. Rumpelstiltskin, a handicapped young man, is actually Prince Werther’s twin, whom the soft-hearted miller could not bring himself to...

26 pages

2 m, 4 or 5 w

Prince Charming Smile meets Steve, an itinerant narrator, and after a furious swordfight they become friends. Prince Charming Smile tells Steve that he is the only Prince Charming without a lady fair, and he is on the quest for one. When he meets Rapunzel, “imprisoned” by the wicked witch Imaboil and the New Age witch Esmepus, he falls deeply into shallow love. He decides to rescue her and win her as his wife. But the rather vapid Rapunzel doesn’t want the Prince, so Steve conjures up a sleeping Snow White for him and a happy ending for all the characters. Tw...

26 pages

Flexible cast

These four plays are ideal for young actors in school, for children's theatre groups, or even for summer camp talent shows. With plenty of rhyming and choral recitation, they can be presented easily with only a few rehearsals. Though each requires strong leading characters, any number of children can participate. Included with each piece are suggestions for simple staging, but feel free to use your own creative ideas. 30-40 minutes. Each play is 7-10 minutes long. 

"Lost in the Forest...

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 ...

35 pages

5 m, 15 w, extras

The King, his court, and all the villagers are enjoying a festival when the comic captain and his guards rush in to announce that the princesses have again slept through the day, and their shoes have been mysteriously worn out during the night. Distraught, the King orders that no one in the kingdom shall be happy until the riddle is solved. A young beggar comes into the kingdom and the princesses' matron sends him to the enchanted forest where he sees the princesses dancing the night away. We find the beggar is a prince in disguise and the matron explains her...

53 pages

Gender-flexible roles; approx. 3 m, 15 w, doubling possible

Prudence E. Witch is sick and tired of being burned in the oven while Hansel and Gretel run free. She decides to re-write some of the best loved children’s tales into a more modern narrative. Come join Chicken Little, the Three Pigs, Jack and Jill, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Prudence as they discover a new reality. Chicken Little finds that with a little therapy she can believe in herself. Foxy Loxy turns a new leaf…as a therapist. Two of the three little pigs practically insist on being eaten, and Cinderella rethinks the...

29 pages

6 m, 9 w, 12 flexible characters

Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm have been in competition for over 200 years and the friction between them doesn't seem to be abating. When Mother Goose takes off on vacation leaving Simple Simon in charge, the Goose employees go on strike. The only way Simon can bring them back to work and get the company out of the red is to agree to appear on a fairy-tale TV special with the Brothers Grimm employees. They, however, plan to sabotage the presentation on the live broadcast, destroying Mother Goose's company once and for all! But Mother Goose finds a way to...

16 pages

11 m, 6 w

In this farce, a narrator helps the action and humor even to the point of shooting the good queen, who doesn't want to die after Snow White is born. The evil queen can't make up a rhyme that's worth a darn before the magic mirror, and she even forgets her apples are poisonous and eats one at the wedding of the Prince and Snow. About 25 minutes.

51 pages

6 m, 6 w, 1 flexible

This beloved tale from Hans Christian Andersen gets an original spin when set in the kingdom of Pilsenferfer! The King and Queen think it’s high time their son Prince Albert found a bride and settled down. But shy Albert can’t stop collecting butterflies for his conservatory long enough to find and woo a royal maiden. And really, who needs to go to all that trouble when the lovely Anne, one of the Queen’s maids, shares his passion for butterflies AND sews the buttons on his coat. If only she were from royal linage like the other candidates, including the food...

28 pages

2 m, 8 w, 2 flexible parts

In this 40-minute frumpled version of Lewis Carroll's story, Alice comes face to face with a Jaberwocky who could be Fonzie's twin! The Jaberwocky cons Alice into stepping through the looking glass. Then he steals her book so he and his four supremely cool Jaber-Babes - Daphne, Daisy, Dimples, and Delli - can get into the real world. Alice must quickly find them before they use the book or she'll never get back home. She gets lots of confusing "help" from the Messenger Rabbit, Tweedle Dum and Dee, and the Red and White queens.

38 pages

4 m, 2 w, 3 flexible. Some doubling possible.

This play presents a new, fun version of the story of Aladdin! While Aladdin is a lazy, unmotivated young man, his sister, Maliha, is resourceful, courageous, and compassionate, looking after him upon the death of their parents. One day an unscrupulous sorcerer pretends to be their long-lost uncle. He cons Aladdin into retrieving a buried lamp and traps him in the bowels of the earth. Thanks to Maliha and a friendly snake, Aladdin is rescued by rubbing the ring the stranger lent him. The Genie of the Ring becomes Aladdin’s slave but is befriended and freed by...

36 pages

With doubling: 2 m, 4 w.

Before putting "Through the Looking Glass" down on paper in 1860s, Lewis Carroll told a colleague’s young daughter, Alice Liddell (the real Alice in the books), the story of talking chess pieces. The novel, of course, was a sequel to his earlier one, "Alice in Wonderland." This play is set in the early 1920s as a now elderly Alice Liddell reflects on the telling of the story. Faithful to Carroll’s expression of childhood fears of growing up, this adaptation keeps the Victorian charm and merriment by maintaining Carroll’s scenes intact. The audience is transpo...

60 pages

4 m, 2 w, 3 flexible

The Hero Squad, four superhero friends, decide to make amends and invite their arch-enemy, the nefarious criminal mastermind Nikolai Oshgoshbgoshnikov, over for a Christmas party and caroling. Little do they realize, Nikolai is secretly plotting against the heroes with special eggnog designed to turn them evil. Meanwhile, an old roommate from Nikolai's past, the gargantuan bovine supervillain Angus Khan, has returned with his own plan to rule the world. The Hero Squad have a lot on their plate: Not only must they deal with the wrath of one very angry cow, as ...

36 pages

3 m, 3 w, 1 voice

Friendship, adventure, integrity, an evil mime, a mysterious butler, stolen dinosaur bones, a man with a mailbox on his head -- it’s all just a part of the fun in this one act. Follow the heroic adventures of Princess Mystic Starfish, a charming and unconventional superheroine who battles her enemies with dogged persistence by firing bubbles in an attempt to confuse them (or possibly get soap in their eyes). Despite her unorthodox methods, the Princess’ success in apprehending wrongdoers is somehow perfect. One day she is given an invitation to join the great...

49 pages

2 m, 2 w, 7 flexible parts, doubling possible

The characters in this version of Pinocchio are guaranteed to delight everyone. They include Pinocchio, an innocent kid who believes anything; three irrepressible urchins, Zip, Petey, and Dew "Duh"; the Fox and Cat, a comical pair of con artists; and the Blue Fairy, a grandmotherly type who keeps coughing whenever she emerges from a puff of smoke. Easy sets, easy to tour. About 50 minutes. 

37 pages

Cast of 20 or more, doubling possible

Lots of small, easily learned roles plus narrators make this 45-minute version of the story of Aladdin a breeze to rehearse and tour. The sultan wants to marry off his four beautiful daughters to neighboring princes and when the daughters object, he sends them on a journey. Ali Baba and his band of thieves kidnap the daughters to get a king's ransom, but luckily Aladdin, a poor young man, comes to the rescue. With a little help from the Genies of the Lamp and Ring, Aladdin saves the day. Simple staging yet lots of action and adventure to enchant children's au...

23 pages

6 m, 8 w

Christine's in big trouble. Her mother warns her not to open the old book of fairy tales, but Christine breaks the rules and opens it anyway. Now the pages are strewn across the stage. The book just happens to be magic, and the characters from the stories inside soon appear in Christine's family room. Chaos ensues as Cinderella kisses the Frog Prince, and the evil Queen from Snow White falls in love with Rumpelstiltskin. Hansel and Gretel are eating the aluminum siding off the house, and the Miller's Daughter convinces Rumpelstiltskin not to kidnap her baby, ...

35 pages

8 m, 7 w

What happens in a toy store after hours? The dolls come alive in a world filled with comedy and adventure. Meet totally clueless Pretty Hair Melinda, and her pals, Beach Buff Ben and Surfer Sam. There's also streetwise Jewel and playboy millionaire doll, Mike, who is really secret agent, James Pond, 007. Raggedy Freddy and Franny, lovable and mischievous, tangle with the grumpy and sarcastic Teddy Bear and have to run for their lives. When a group of the dolls venture over to aisle 10 for a little excitement, they accidentally unleash the Bionic Warrior doll....

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...

52 pages

7 m, 7 w

This play is a new twist on the old-fashioned fairy tale. Two emperors from tiny, neighboring kingdoms are good friends but compete in wearing the latest fashions. Because they each continually want new, sumptuous wardrobes, their kingdoms are broke! Even their wives have to resort to doing dirty castle chores because there’s no money to pay any staff. Finally an elaborate ruse is planned where both emperors are taught a lesson about vanity and trying to impress others by clothes. If there were flashlights and spotlights in this historic time when men wore be...

67 pages

11 m, 13 w, doubling possible

Bring the exciting, inspiring story of the most famous Native American woman to life on your stage. This play is filled with challenging characters who played important parts in a turbulent, fascinating life - Powhatan, the chief; John Smith, the fearless adventurer; Capt. Argall, the greedy sea captain; Governor Gate's three lively daughters; and Pocahontas, the princess who longs for a world beyond the forest where her people live. The story is woven through the memories of an old woman who takes her granddaughter on a walk in the forest. The representation...

71 pages

4 m, 2 w, 9 girls, 2 boys

During the last years of his life, Mark Twain, entertained a group of young girls that came to be known as the Angelfish Club. Twain told his young friends stories, provided snacks for them, and seemed to have become a grandfather who loved to share his home with the group. Several years before, when Twain was living in New York City, Albert Bigelow Paine was selected to take dictation as Twain recalled the events of his life for his autobiography. Twain often became a bit cantankerous, making Paine shoot billiards, or eat with him before he would dictate. Th...

52 pages

9 m, 9 w, 8 flexible, doubling possible

Seeking comfort from her miserable life and an easy ticket to the prince's ball, our heroine Ashenputtel cries out for her Fairy Godmother. The magical matriarch who arrives, however, is a no-nonsense narrator who works her magic by giving lesser-known folktales a playful yet empowering twist. This Fairy Godmother offers no magical pumpkin carriages, but rather spins three separate tales of women from around the world who make their own happily ever after. Story one, from Ecuador, is "The Search for the Magic Lake," which features a peasant girl who must bold...

67 pages

5 m, 8 w, 23 flexible, doubling

Alice has accidentally discovered a strange new world and she's convinced her two friends to explore it with her. They meet the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, all on their way to the castle for the Princess' homecoming from college. But the Princess is now a tattooed tough girl who has brought home some very unsavory friends. The Queen has them all arrested and the King allows them one phone call. They call Monstressa, an opportunist who wants to turn Wonderland into an amusement park. Alice and her friends must...

34 pages

Flexible cast of 19

An evil computer virus - named Virus - invades a disk containing children's beloved fairy tales, stories, and nursery rhymes. He causes all of the story characters to become mish-mashed together. Imagine Little Red Riding Hood's confusion when the Wolf in the woods asks about Three Little Pigs instead of the way to Grandmother's house! Byte and Bit are computer chips who try to set things right and defeat the evil virus before he infects other computers. Things look so bad, even the witch of Hansel and Gretel and the evil queen of Snow White help out against ...

49 pages

3 m, 3 w, 2-4 flex

The Hero Squad of Metro Valley, Iowa—a team comprised of superheroes 3-D, Lindy, Iron Lung, and Slapshot—are enjoying a bit of a peace in their home city. All that changes when their archnemesis, the ever-scheming Nikolai Oshgoshbgoshnikov, gets a visit from his teenage niece Veronica. Veronica is a supervillain-in-training with a knack for robotic henchmen and a devious plan to destroy the Hero Squad from the inside out. Posing as a super-fan, Veronica infiltrates the Hero Squad’s HQ and begins to plant seeds of dissension among the four friends. Things come...

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...

38 pages

4 m, 2 w, plus extras

Pantalone and his company are traveling the countryside sharing their plays with anyone who will listen. It has been a long journey and the patience of the company is starting to wear thin. They finally take a rest and Pantalone decides to share some of his favorite stories from Aesop. Unfortunately, he is constantly interrupted by the squabbles and needs of the other company members. If he could only get everyone to work together, Pantalone could finish telling his story!

Join us as our troupe of players presents some of ...

39 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

Based on the Grimm Brothers Folktale. Queen Ysabel of Oldmark sends her daughter, Princess Jorinda, to marry King Ferdinand of Eastphalia in order to seal an alliance between the two kingdoms. Elsa, an ambitious and devious maid-in-waiting, leads Jorinda to believe that her future husband is ill-tempered and ill-favored, and convinces the princess to trade roles: Elsa poses as the bride, and Jorinda is given a position as a lowly goose girl. Ferdinand, of course, proves to be neither ill-tempered nor ugly. In fact, there is a definite attraction between Ferdi...