Children's Theatre Plays

49 pages

Flexible cast of 8-10. (5 m / 1 w + 2-4 flexible)

Arlecchino, the crafty trickster, always has his head in the clouds. He doesn’t want to do any work or take any responsibility. He would rather pretend he’s an adventurous pirate on the high seas or on a remote island looking for buried treasure. Today he is leading his commedia friends to the Kingdom of Isola del Tesoro to present their play. Unfortunately, he’s lost the map! Now they are lost and only have a few hours to get to the kingdom. While the company sets up camp for the night, Arlecchino stumbles upon a treasure map to Stromboli Island. Now Pantalo...

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...

31 pages

1 w, 6 flexible

The Empress of China learns about a wonderful bird in her garden and demands the bird perform that evening in court. When Miss Nightingale appears, everyone is disappointed by her drab, gray appearance. However, she makes up for it with her beautiful birdsong which even moves the Empress to tears. She decides to have a silver cage built, to keep the bird forever. Just then a gift is received from Japan -- a marvelous, jewel-studded mechanical bird which sings its own mechanical tune. With the attention on the new gift, Miss Nightingale steals away, back to th...

36 pages

4 m, 4 w, 1 boy, 1 girl, and extras

The people in the Apple Kingdom live on apples: apple soup, apple salad and, of course, apple pies. Jonathan and Blossom are two fun-loving but not so innocent twins who play a trick on the townspeople that backfires. They say that an “applephoon” is coming that will destroy all of the apples in the kingdom’s orchards. The villagers, all being selfish, immediately run to the orchards and begin picking all the apples and carrying them home by the buckets full. After all the apples are picked the villagers find that they are stricken with a strange case of “app...

34 pages

3 m, 3 w, extras

When young Guy discovers that his inheritance consists only of a cat and a pair of boots, he is highly distressed, until he gets to know the cat. Saucy and one-of-a-kind, Boots the cat vows to help Guy achieve his goal of marrying the beautiful princess from next door. Boots also helps free the town from the clutches of Ugolin, an evil ogre who has magical powers to turn himself or others into any animal he chooses. Guy and Boots trick the king and queen into thinking Guy is the "Marquis of Carabas" and also trick the ogre into turning himself into an insect ...

43 pages

From 2 to 12

There’s nothing like real, live storytellers to catch the imagination of youngsters. With these six tales, each told by a pair of storytellers, students can go on an enchanted voyage, whether they’re in a classroom, cafeteria or theatre. Let your young audiences, from grades 2 through 9, connect, learn, and be entertained through these inventive scripts in one of the oldest forms of entertainment -- storytelling! Running from 6 to 12 minutes each, they include: "Anansi and His Children,” the classic African folk tale of a man and his unusually named children;...

29 pages

4 m, 7 w, and 7 flexible. Extras and sound effects/musicians for ensemble.

The drama club members assemble to perform “The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales,” but realize there isn’t enough time to do the whole collection and still eat the cookies waiting in the lobby for after the show. The actors condense the tome down to their favorite parts, mixing, matching and mashing up characters, while a clever casting director challenges stereotypes to meet the demand for princess roles among the girls in the company. With the help of a group of musician-dwarfs to play and punctuate the story, the characters head out on a quest to find t...

39 pages

5 m, 6 w, 2 flexible

Here’s unconventional, humorous, and easy-to-stage treatment of the famous fairy tale. Rather than one huge ball to find his future Princess, the Prince has met eligible ladies of the kingdom at smaller, separate gatherings called “Choose a Princess Parties.” Now, after 118 parties, where the Prince has danced with “364 clods,” the Zanzibany family has finally received its invitation. The formidable sisters Wartzella and Bageena, along with their domineering mother, go to the party escorted by Cinderella’s meek father and their clumsy farmhand. Cinderella is ...

56 pages

Large, flexible cast

Cindy R. Ella and her nasty stepsisters and stepmother are the richest family in town, but Cindy is required to do all the housework. She only wants two things: to attend a Stagnant Rocks concert to see the star, Nick Lynx, and to spend more time with her father, who is always away on business. She gets her first wish from the Godfather, but at the concert she loses her hat. Like all good fairy tales, "Prince" Nick arrives with the hat, looking for the girl of his dreams, and Cindy's father vows to be at home more. Lots of parts, including nosey reporters, en...

41 pages

5 m, 7 w, 1 flexible

In this variation of the classic fairy tale, two human-sized dwarves, Beryllium and Boron, must help handsome Prince Suave find a bride. The sometimes sharp-tongued, but often wise Mirror helps Beryllium deal with his mischievous brother. Boron is a clever rascal who ends up tricking the mirror and involving the two inept Wong brothers in his schemes. The Prince speaks fluent medieval English which adds to the charm of the play. Now he must choose one of the White sisters for his bride: Snow White, the eldest; Egg White, the brain; Bleached White, the airhead...

35 pages

5-15 actors.

Four spellbinding stories from Native American lore. In the first, the Raven, great trickster bird of all the Northwest Native American tribes, creates the world and the creatures in it. When Man complains about the darkness Raven fills the sky with the sun, the moon and the stars. Soon the new inventions are stolen by the greedy Ganuk. Raven turns himself into Ganuk's infant grandson to return the lights to the sky. In the second story, Raven disintegrates a giant, blood-thirsty cannibal into all the mosquitoes of the world. In the third story Raven's tragic...

50 pages

Approx. 8 m, 8 w (doubling possible)

Travel back in time as the real story of "The Elves and the Shoemaker" unfolds in a flurry of magic and mayhem. It begins when seven zany Elves - not just two as Mr. Grimm wrote - end up lost at the shop of Hans, the shoemaker. They need to perform three good deeds to get back, and no one could use help more than poor Hans, who has just enough leather to make one pair of shoes. The trouble is, elves don't go around wanting to do good deeds. They have to be coaxed! But one pair of perfectly made shoes leads to another and then, after Mr. Grimm tells Hans' stor...

21 pages

(1 m, 9 w)(3 m, 5 w)

Here are two short, funny but gentle plays that are just right for very young audiences. The first, "Wishing You Were Here" (1 m, 9 w), is a tender story about a young fairy, still in training, who gives a little girl everything she wishes for. The trouble is, when the wishes come true, they don't create the ending the girl or the fairy thought they would. In "The Slumber Party" (3 m, 5 w), a group of girls are confiding their secret hopes and crushes - until some "ghosts" burst in. Brothers can be such a pain! Together both plays run a total of about 30 minu...

64 pages

15 to 24 or more

Eighteen-year-old Katie has a problem: she's a tooth fairy who’s just not interested in the family business. While out exploring the human world, Katie meets Max, a young man who inexplicably is able to see her. This is unusual in that the fairy troops are not visible without their consent. Although forbidden to return to the world of humans by her father the king, Katie is determined to see Max again. Their growing friendship becomes moot when during the Centennial, a celebration of all the fairy troops, the Troll King demands his reward for not having kidna...

56 pages

7-13 actors

The Hero Squad literally stumbles across a plan by the nefarious criminal mastermind Nikolai Oshgoshbgoshnikov that involves a mysterious kidnapped princess. Once the princess learns the heroes' true identities, she is determined to join their cause fighting for justice. Meanwhile, Oshgoshbgoshnikov blackmails the city's established and arrogant hero, the Good Knight John-Boy, to help re-kidnap the princess and vanquish the Hero Squad. John-Boy has grown pretty tired of the four heroes stealing his spotlight. So with the help of a couple of bank-robbing bottl...

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 ...

24 pages

4 main characters, additional cast of 13 or more.

In this new version of the fairy tale, all the characters are likable - the greedy king is now a kind ruler looking for money to save endangered species and the passive young woman who must spin straw into gold is resourceful and self-reliant. Even the funny little character, whose name reflects his rap-style speech, is likable, just lonely. Luckily, the Hunters-of-the Perfect-Wave help the play have a happy ending.

37 pages

Flexible cast

"California, Here We Come" is a celebration of California History in a pageant of song, dance, and tableaux. The pageant covers the history of California from the early days of the Indians, the present and the future. The pageant is presented in short scenes with music and dance of the appropriate times. Riders with various flags help set the scenes. The stage decor includes a back with a stylized California landscape which remains in place throughout the presentation, and risers on which the various characters of the show are placed as they exit from scenes,...

36 pages

2 m, 2 w

Four commedia dell’arte actors perform all roles in this fast-paced, hilarious play. The rats of Hamlin (dressed with black ball caps) are hungry and demand the Mayor “set things rat, rat now!” And so you can see how poor pronunciation of a simple word created a terrible disagreement between the rats and the citizens of the clean little hamlet. The Mayor, portrayed by Punchin, the dell’ arte character with the big, proud nose, asks the Queen of the Cats, the Duke of the Dogs, the Earl of the Eagles, the High Prince of the Possums, and even the Countess of Cat...

56 pages

9 m, 9 w (or with doubling 5 m, 5 w)

Here’s the familiar story of Snow White but with enough plot twists and turns to keep all of us guessing what will happen next! The Dwarfs, including three sisters and four brothers, are a regular-sized family named Dwarf. While Snow’s appearance in their midst is a surprise, they show that unlike the Queen’s focus on physical beauty, real beauty is in caring for each other. At the end Snow does not automatically ride off with the Prince because he’s handsome. She makes a rational decision about who loves her, whom she loves and why. Full evening. Perfect for...

44 pages

4/5 m, 4 w

This hour-long tale has all the classic characters: two poor but beautiful sisters, a handsome prince turned into an animal by evil magic, a mean troll, and even meaner tax collectors. Unlike traditional tales, however, these characters have a lot of personality. Rose Red ignores everything while trying to find the troll's treasure. Meanwhile, her sister, Snow White, thinks everyone should work instead of having fun. The Prince is selfish and sticks to the letter of the law, the tax collectors are greedy, and the evil troll - well, he's evil! When the Prince ...

37 pages

2 m, 3 w, 2 flexible

There's more to Rapunzel than just her long, long, hair! Locked in a high tower as a baby, she grew up, raised by Gothel, the witch, and her parents who talked to her from the ground. Rapunzel's father, fancying himself a scholar, taught her how all the planets revolve around a flat earth, and her mother, who thought herself wise in the ways of the world, taught Rapunzel never to have an opinion of her own. One day a goofy prince rides in on stick horse and vows to free her. But here's where the traditional story changes. Our heroine frees herself and learns ...

56 pages

Flexible Cast

Welcome to “Kidskits,” a collection of ten humorous skits for stage or classroom. The short, reproducible skits can be put together with a limited number of rehearsals and require little in the way of props, costumes, lighting or sound. To avoid the problem of memorizing lines, students may hold their scripts for most performances. A touch of melodrama can only enhance the scripts’ inherent silliness. Suitable for children of various ages and reading ability, including classes of emotionally and/or physically challenged students. Skits include: