Classics

36 pages

5 m, 5 w, extras

The classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles is moved to the fictional Fort Thebes at the end of the U.S. Civil War. The new fort commander, Col. Creon, proclaims that one of Antigone's brothers, loyal to the Union, will be buried a hero. Her other brother, loyal to the South, will be left unburied. Anyone defying these orders will be shot by a firing squad. Fierce, yet calmly determined, Antigone tries to provide a decent burial for her "traitorous" brother. When she is caught, Creon sentences her to death. But other soldiers, an old fortune-teller, and even his o...

46 pages

10 m, 7 w, extras as desired

Here's an exciting tale about two English youths, one the royal Prince Edward, and the other a pauper by the name of Tom Canty. Because they look so much alike, they laughingly decide to try on each other's clothes. For a few moments they find themselves daydreaming about "being the other." Suddenly, the unthinkable happens! The true prince, now dressed as the pauper, is unceremoniously thrown out of the palace by zealous guards while Tom, now dressed in royal clothing, is looked upon as heir to the throne. On the streets of London, the prince fights to prove...

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 ...

19 pages

4 m, 3 w

Charles Augustus Milverton is a blackmailer who preys on women who have at times slipped into indiscretions. Thus Lady Eva Blackwell wrote several imprudent letters to a young squire, which Milverton now possesses, and threatens to release them to her future husband if she does not give him 7,000 pounds. Sherlock Holmes, who agrees to represent her, refuses payment. Instead he and Watson resort to obtaining the letters by burglarizing Milverton's home. While doing so, they surreptitiously witness his meeting with a veiled woman whose letters had been sent by ...

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...

22 pages

5 m, 3 w, extras

Marcus lives in an exciting time for theatre: the very beginning in Ancient Greece. He wants to become a great actor and impress everyone at the Festival of Dionysus, especially the lovely maiden Chara. Unfortunately, he can't act, but the gods Dionysus and Apollo see this and decide to help him out. With his new, god-given talent of acting, Marcus is able to win the tragedy competition and the heart of Chara, but not without upsetting two goddesses on Mt. Olympus. Hera and Aphrodite are outraged and have plans to stir up the situation even more. This magical...

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...

32 pages

7 m

Jabez Wilson is a pawnbroker whose store is located on Coburg Square next to a bank. He consults Sherlock Holmes about the "League of Red-Headed Men." He had been told by his employee, Vincent Spaulding, that it is a group established by a red-headed American millionaire, now dead, who had left a large amount of money for men with such hair color. Spaulding introduced Wilson to Duncan Ross who is also red-headed and the manager of the operation. All Wilson needed to do to earn the money was to spend four hours a day at an office, copying out the Encyclopedia ...

29 pages

2 m, 2 w, 3 flexible

Adapted from the story "Peter Rugg, the Missing Man" by William Austin. This play tells the story of the phantom coachman Peter Rugg, a man doomed forever to race along the roads to Boston but never to arrive there. Overtaken by a fit of rage while traveling during a stormy night, Bostonite Peter Rugg made a dangerous promise: "Let the storm increase! I will see home tonight in spite of the tempest, or may I never see home again!" He never arrived in Boston. Now his ghost rides the roads leading to and from that city, and he always brings behind him the feroc...

37 pages

4 m, 6 w, 1 flexible

Adapted from the short story by H.H. Munro (Saki). When an old friend invites Jake, a science writer for a newspaper, to spend a weekend at a gathering of prize-winning scientists, he sees a way to write an impressive article and move on to being a sports writer, his real goal. At the gathering we meet a botanist, who has invented a rapidly growing vine that the Defense Department can use as a weapon of mass destruction; a systems engineer, who has invented a new software language only engineers can learn; a physicist, who has written a textbook that is a com...

44 pages

7 m, 11 w. Much doubling possible.

The terrible waste of war never seemed more contemporary than in these quintessential tragedies by Euripides set before and after the siege of Troy. Far from being “historical dramas,” they speak to any generation embroiled in conflict. We see up close and firsthand that war is the most pitiful—and most poetic—of human activities. In the first play, "Iphigenia at Aulis," the Grecian army waits to embark on the conquest of Troy. The army’s commander, Agamemnon, has been forced to offer his young daughter, Iphigenia, as a martyr to ensure victory. Valiant effor...

62 pages

4 -5 m, 4 w

“The Importance of Being Earnest” is Oscar Wilde's most perfect, and most popular, play. Since its premiere in 1895, it has given joy to generations of theatergoers. The play is often called a "comedy of manners," because in the world Wilde knew and wrote about, late 19th century British high society, manners were everything. In this play, young Jack Worthing and his good friend Algernon find themselves in a ridiculous situation after their fiancées learn they are coincidentally engaged to the same man. A glorious rendition of mistaken identity, Wilde's play ...

62 pages

4 m, 5 to 6 w, 2 extras

London. On a rainy evening in 1913, linguist Henry Higgins has a fateful encounter with an impertinent Cockney flower seller. When the girl shows up at  his laboratory the following day, the haughty and impulsive Higgins makes a bold wager with a colleague: employing his mastery of language he will transform Eliza Doolittle from a rough street urchin into an aristocratic lady in just six months’ time. And so begins Eliza's halting metamorphosis … but what will become of the poor girl once this “experiment” is over?

George Bernard Shaw's classic h...

80 pages

Flexible cast of 34 (doubling possible)

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Introductions and staging by Billy St. John. One all-purpose set serves as the back for these tales of mystery and terror. Although there are five separate stories included, you can perform only three or four and still have a 90-minute to 2-hour show. One character, Poe himself, narrates the plays and ties them together. Each section of Poe's narrative is set apart so that you can change or eliminate it depending upon which plays you choose to perform. Plays include "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask...

50 pages

24 parts

Here is Shakespeare's classic comedy condensed without losing the passion, humor, and magic that has made the play a theater favorite. This adaptation, while remaining true to the original, is cut to about an hour and a half performance time, making it ideal for junior and high school productions. This timeless story remains the same: two young couples are all in love, but with the wrong people. They chase each other in a fantasy world, a forest filled with fairies, love potions and even a donkey. Their journey makes for an outrageous romp that advances perfe...

76 pages

7 w, 3 m

This poignantly-drawn play chronicles the life-changing events of the March family during a turbulent period of the Civil War. Marmee, the loving mother, and Hannah, the loyal housekeeper, steer the family through troubled waters while Father is away ministering. The four March daughters include Meg, the oldest who's determined to acquire the finer things in life; Jo, tomboyish yet passionate about her writing; Beth, a quiet musician; and Amy, the youngest, an artist who tends to put on airs. Their joys, sorrows, loves and losses are played against the backdr...

74 pages

13 m, 14 w, 5 flexible, extras

Based on the novel by L. M. Montgomery. When elderly Marilla Cuthbert and her shy brother Matthew decide to adopt an orphan to help with farm work, they expect a boy to arrive at the train station. Instead, a talkative, imaginative girl with fiery red hair and a taste for romance shows up--Anne (with an "e") Shirley. What use will she be to them? asks reserved Marilla, but tender-hearted Matthew feels they might be of some use to Anne. It turns out that all three are much more than useful to one another: they're as vital as breathing. In joyful, hilarious adv...

76 pages

10 m, 16 w, many extras. (With doubling 8 m, 11 w.)

Jane Austen's timeless tale of romantic love touched by pride and prejudice is brought to the stage in this adaptation conceived especially for schools and small theatres. All the components of the novel remain: romance, love, rivalry, friendship and the many foibles and delights of family. While the clash between the lively Elizabeth and the arrogant Darcy remains at the heart of the play, love in all its many facets dominate all of the characters’ lives. The play remains faithful to the marital rites and manners of Regency England as courtships are explored...

68 pages

7 m, 6 w, extras. Doubling possible.

The classic story of two emotionally-stunted children who discover, through their love for a garden, and the teachings of a boy of the English moors, that the key to happiness lies in caring for others. The story opens as two British officers in India discover 10-year-old Mary Lennox alone, her parents having just died in the cholera epidemic. She is sent back to England to live with an uncle, Archibald Craven, whom she doesn’t know, in the foreboding Misselthwaite Manor. His son Colin is sickly and bedridden and his cries can be heard echoing down the dark h...

63 pages

5 m, 7 w

World-famous author Charles Dickens falls asleep during an interview with London Times reporter Edwina Drood. He dreams a variety of his characters as passengers aboard a ship heading to England, but they are now in a future he doesn't quiet understand. Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella are luring Uriah Heep into a trap. Mr. McCawber is running from Madame Defarge, to whom he owes money. Captain Fagin tries to avoid the crewman Oliver Twist, who has become very adept at pickpocketing. Nancy, the barkeep, and Belle, the barmaid, are hiding secrets...

59 pages

5 m, 4 w

Adapted by Pat Cook From the short story by Oscar Wilde. Hiram and Lucy Otis can't wait to move into their pastoral English manor house...just as soon as the ghost moves out. That's right, Canterville Hall comes complete with a howling, green ghoul, but only if Sir Simon (the ghost) can remember to bring the green mist with him. This classic Oscar Wilde tale spins the Otis family through a maze of dithering maids, blustering bosses and an English realtor who's always looking for a free lunch. The mystery unfolds amid flashes of thunder and disappearing guests...

41 pages

6 - 21 performers possible

From the story by Hans Christian Andersen. "The Snow Queen" is an enduring tale of faith, devotion and the magic of friendship between a young boy, Kay, and his best friend, Gerda. One winter evening, Gerda's grandmother tells them the story of an evil troll whose magic mirror shattered into a million pieces. When a sliver from that mirror lodges in Kay's heart and in his eye, he becomes mean and ugly, and is carried off in the Snow Queen's sleigh. Gerda sets out all alone to search for Kay, and in her perilous venture meets an Old Woman who casts a spell on ...

68 pages

6 m, 8-9 w, 2 flexible

Based on the famous Oscar Wilde story, this adaptation is touching and funny. Sir Simon Canterville, the 500-year-old ghost of Canterville Manor, is suddenly faced with an English ghost’s worst nightmare -- Americans! The Otis family moves in, and Sir Simon wants them out. When 16-year-old Virginia, who wants to be anywhere but England, and Sir Simon meet, they have an instant dislike for one another. Soon, though, they find they have a very special link. Insert two rambunctious twins, a stuffy English butler, and a handsome young English duke, and this becom...

54 pages

11 m, 11 w, 2 flexible, 8 boys, 6 girls.

This faithful yet unique adaptation of the Charles Dickens' holiday story begins in "another world" where Tiny Tim appears. More than just an employee's crippled son, he is a symbol of Scrooge's own infirmity. Scrooge's deceased business partner, Marley, is granted permission to return to Earth with a small but powerful army of holiday spirits on his adventure to convert the covetous old sinner into a Yuletide saint. The most popular scenes of the novel are dramatized, but especially powerful is the future scene of Bob Cratchit's gut-wrenching loss of his bel...

73 pages

4 m, 4 w, 3 flexible, numerous extras

Young, gifted opera singer Christine Daae has just filled in for La Carlotta, the reigning prima donna, to a stupendous ovation at the Paris Opera. Christine has been tutored by an instructor whom she thinks of as the "Angel of Music." She convinces him to let her see his hidden world, for she realizes he is the feared "Opera Ghost," though he tells her his real name is Erik. Reluctantly, he takes her to his lair where she sees the wonder of a world that totally revolves around music. Curious, she pulls off the mask he wears and sees the hideous visage beneat...

75 pages

Large, flexible cast

Six separate stories of the macabre will test your goosebump factor. In "Effigy," members of a high school football team learn a gruesome lesson when school spirit is carried too far. In "Voices in the Attic," a sleepy father tries in vain to assure his kids that the sounds they keep hearing are only in their imagination. But can the boys' imaginations make an attic stair creak or turn a doorknob? In "Night-Screamers," why do the children who live in the ancient apartment complex on the edge of town have so many nightmares? One tale makes use of sign language...

41 pages

Flexible cast up to 42

Here's an hour-long adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel that's as practical as it is entertaining. While staying close to the original novel in dialogue, this version adds additional speaking roles. Along with the hard-hearted Scrooge, the Christmas Spirits, the Cratchit family and the beloved Tiny Tim, there are carolers, goblins, and guests as well as two storytellers, Mrs. Candlewick and Mrs. Peartree, who help keep the action flowing. Because the cast is so flexible, you can combine roles for a small cast or expand it into an all-grade performance. C...

52 pages

Large, flexible cast

Here is a classic tale of courage, determination, and love. Journey back to a time when the gods and goddesses determined the daily fate of the world and all the humans upon it. In this tale we meet Odysseus as he returns to his beloved home of Ithaca. Soon he is sent by the goddess Athena to fight in the Trojan War and undergoes a journey that takes him much further - and much longer - than ever expected. Odysseus's path home from the battle is detained and crossed by many gods and goddesses, and the often dangerous creatures they have created such as the Cy...

43 pages

7 m, 7 w, 15 flexible

Adapted from the novel, "The Wizard of Oz," by L. Frank Baum.  7 m, 7 w, 15 flexible. Much doubling possible. Extras as munchkins and winged monkeys.  Trapped in Kansas and longing for a mall, Dorothy and Toto are suddenly whirled off stage, right into the audience, where a yellow brick road weaves in and out of the tables and munchkins are serving food. In this outrageous version of L. Frank Baum's lovable book, the Tin Man has frozen in front of a computer, and the Cowardly Lion stands on a guest's chair to escape a mouse. As the plot unfolds, we eventually...

71 pages

11 m, 10 w, 3 flexible, 1 boy, extras

Ah, what fools these mortals be! Whimsically adapted from Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy, this musical features the usual magical forest and spellbound lovers, but also an upstart Puck who decides to liven things up by modernizing the dialogue and adding song and dance numbers. It's all fun and games until William Shakespeare, fresh from spinning in his grave, leaps onto the stage, demanding to know what on earth is going on! The 13 songs capture a wide range of emotions, including the enchanting "Moonbeams," sung by Titania and her Fairies; the hilari...