Classics

21 pages

4 m, 2 w

It's Christmas time. An old man sits in his sitting room eating his porridge. Just then Marley bursts in and begins to rattle his chains, scaring the man half to death. You all know the story or do you? "I have come to save you from a horrible fate, Ebenezer Scrooge!" Marley shrieks. "I'm not Scrooge!" the man points out. "He moved!" Sure enough, Marley is at the wrong house. Not only the wrong house but on the wrong night. "This is Christmas eve EVE," the old man tells him. "I'm sorry, I've been dead!" Marley alibis. Then the other three ghosts show up. "Wil...

43 pages

6 or more flexible characters

Twelve short scenes depict events in the life of Edgar Allan Poe -- or how his life might have been in today's world! Some of the more popular tales are represented: "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a police investigation; "The Cask of Amontillado" is a Jerry Springer-type TV show; and "The Masque of the Red Death" has a group of Hollywood types hiding out in a castle. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe himself pitches the story to a producer for a horror film. Other scenes depict Poe as he might have been in elementary school; seeing a psychiatrist; trying to w...

26 pages

4 m, 6 w, 1 flexible, 1 child

The Hillsdale Community Theater wants to produce "A Christmas Carol," but they don't have enough actors to play the extraordinarily large number of parts. So their undaunted director, being resourceful (if not totally realistic), has triple and quadruple-cast the roles. And since everyone in sight has been recruited, the cast also fills in as costumers, stagehands and technicians. The impossibility of this situation brings tensions to a comical head as the final rehearsal invites one calamity after another. "Scrooged Up!" provides a Dickens of a time for ever...

22 pages

2 m, 3 w

A mysterious storyteller leaves a grisly talisman with a Midwestern farm family, assuring them that it will grant them three wishes, but warning them to pitch the monkey's paw on the fire, as it will bring them nothing but death. The father makes the first wish, but even good is twisted into evil as the family's lives spiral hopelessly out of control. (Excerpted from the author's full-length play, "Fright Night.")

41 pages

5 m, 8 w, 4 flexible, extras (including a few children from the audience)

In this adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's beloved tale, all of the town's children gather round a traveling storyteller to hear the story of a wayward little fairy girl. When an old woman wishes on a magic flower, her heart's desire for a child of her own literally blossoms before her eyes. Her magical little girl, only a few inches high, is named Thumbelina, and although the friendly child is very helpful around the house, and very kind to the nearby forest creatures, she just doesn't feel as if she fits in. A gossipy Frog Lady convinces Thumbelina tha...

36 pages

5 m, 10 w, 7 flexible

Here is a hip, contemporary version of "The Emperor's New Clothes," complete with election politics and news media spin. President William Lee is too busy with international politics to worry about whether his striped tie clashes with his plaid pants and argyle socks. His devoted wife is understanding but the media sure take a stab at his wardrobe, as does his election opponent, Horace Grinchley, and Horace's overly-ambitious campaign manager, Myrna Snerd. The two get several people to pose as wardrobe consultants to strip President Lee down to his "bare" ess...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w

Two girls pursue art careers in New York, sharing a dingy, one-room flat. One grows sick when her paintings fail to sell. Only a vigorous desire to live can enable her to survive. She counts dead ivy leaves on a vine outside the window, convinced when the last leaf falls she will die. The morning after a fierce wind storm, when surely all the leaves will be gone, she sees a single leaf remaining. (Enjoy more O. Henry in "The New York Stories.")

27 pages

8 m, 4 w

The clever short story, "The Three Strangers," by English Victorian writer Thomas Hardy, has been skillfully adapted to a rural Appalachian setting. On a snowy winter's afternoon, a farmer and his wife are celebrating the christening of their infant daughter with friends and family. The party is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, a poorly-dressed man seeking shelter from the cold. Soon a second stranger appears. This man is finely dressed but pompous and offensive. The guests are impressed by the humility of the first man, and angered by the arrogance ...

45 pages

2 m, 2 w

The zany antics of the commedia style, with lots of bumbling, scheming, incorrigible improvisations and very physical comedy, allows just four traveling actors to create this fast-paced story of Aladdin. Arelquin, Punchin, Columbine and Rosetta portray all the many roles in the story of a lazy young boy who needs to work to help support his mother, especially since his father froze up and is standing in a forest where birds nest in his hair! Aladdin almost falls for the machinations of an evil magician, but instead he saves himself and gains access to the Gen...

28 pages

4 m, 4 w

Adapted from the short story by Susan Glaspell. A farmer has been found dead and his wife, Minnie, is the prime suspect. The sheriff, a deputy and other men meet at the lonely farmhouse to go over the evidence while two wives gather some clothes and necessities for Minnie, who is in jail. Two neighbor ladies, the Gains sisters, arrive to see what they can learn about the disturbing events of the previous day. As the men go about the business of investigation, the women make a remarkable discovery: the motive for the crime. Set in 1917, three years before wome...

31 pages

8 m, 8 w

As Christmas day approaches, a young girl asks her father for a story. He spins a delightful tale about a little girl named Betsy who makes a wish to have Christmas every day of the year. Her wish comes true. At first it is all very exciting, with Santa's visit, the opening of packages, the singing of carols, and the arrival of the cousins for dinner. But soon the daily repetition wears thin. Santa is too exhausted to deliver presents and goes to sleep in Betsy's living room. The carolers have no energy to sing, all of the forests are cleared of Christmas tre...

40 pages

6 m, 3 w, 4 flexible (or with doubling 2 m, 1 w)

Here is a faithful stage retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel. We meet Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed with finding the secret to recreating life. Of course, he famously succeeds, but fearing he has overstepped the bounds of science, quickly abandons his creation and the promise to make it a mate. The creature, betrayed and forsaken, vows to ruthlessly destroy all that his creator loves and cherishes. The unrelenting pursuit goes to the very edges of the earth. Clever theatricality, such as using actors as lightning and thunder, and as profes...

32 pages

Flexible cast of 7 to 18

A lonely boy receives a wonderful Christmas gift and a toy rabbit learns some valuable lessons about life and love. In this humorous and touching adaptation of the children's classic, the Velveteen Rabbit encounters the antics of toys and wild rabbits in his faithful quest to be "real." About 40 minutes.

26 pages

4 m, 5 w

Adapted by Philip Lerman From the classic by Euripides. The scene is the port city of Aulis, where 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 in the coming war. Valiant efforts by her mother, Clytemnestra, and the Grecian hero, Achilles, to prevent the sacrifice have proven futile. Iphigenia is left to choose between a war she abhors and violent civil unrest in Greece if the war is aborted. Concluding that the welfare of her co...

30 pages

5 m, 5 w, 9 or more flexible

From the short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Stephen Vincent Benet. Poor Jake Stone is a total loser. When he finally loses the worst job he's ever had, he makes the claim that he would do anything to be a winner. Soon he meets Lucy, a seemingly attractive, professional woman who can make a special deal with him: she gives Jake wisdom, and he signs away his soul. Rather than waste his opportunity, Jake becomes a kind and intelligent person who gives much to the world. As the time to relinquish his soul draws near, he seeks out the counsel of Daniell...

35 pages

5 m, 5 w, 1 B, 2 G + chorus (can be doubled to 3 m, 3 w, and 3 chorus)

Joanna Spyri's classic story of the orphan who spreads sunshine everywhere she goes is well represented in this fast-paced adaptation. Heidi conquers her grandfather, Peter, Klara, Herr Sesemann and all those with whom she comes in contact.

28 pages

6 m, 5 w doubling possible to 4 m, 3 w

This powerful one-act is based on the first pages of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." The year is 1815 and Jean Valjean has been imprisoned nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. Now, after being released, Valjean finds it impossible to find lodging or food. Society has treated him like an animal and he feels like one. Finally he finds refuge at the Bishop's home. The clergyman welcomes him with kindness and even trust, using his best silver candlesticks at the evening meal, much to the dismay and warnings of the susp...

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...

36 pages

5 m, 7 w, 3 flexible, extras, doubling

From short stories by H.H. Munro (Saki). "The Mouse and The Storyteller" are two hilarious tales which take place aboard a train traveling from Philadelphia to Boston. In Philadelphia two architects board the train and sit next to a frail, elderly sleeping lady. They have checked out a dilapidated building so full of mice, that they inadvertently bring one onboard the train. Their quest to catch the mouse, which they both fear, without waking the sleeping passenger is outrageous. After they detrain in New York, a woman and her four horrible children share the...

33 pages

4 m, 4 w, 6 flexible, doubling possible

Charleston, South Carolina, sometime after the Civil War. A poor woman borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy friend to wear at a party. She hopes that this outing will change the circumstances of her life and fortune, and that the other guests will see that she and her husband really belong within the ranks of the upper classes. But things go awry, and she loses the necklace. Pride will not allow her to tell her friend of the loss. Instead, she has another necklace made to match the one that was lost, and she and her husband spend the next 12 years paying...

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 ...

32 pages

Approx. 15 m, 15 w, much doubling possible

Here's a delightful and easy-to-do version of Dickens' Christmas story, faithfully adapted for young people and their families. Originally written as a touring show, it is adaptable to any theatre or stage facility. All the beloved characters and scenes are included: Scrooge and Cratchit in the counting house; the Ghost of Christmas Past; Scrooge’s sweetheart Belle at the Fezziwig ball; the Ghost of Ghost of Christmas Present and the Cratchit home with Tiny Tim; and even the sensitive scenes at the pawn shop and graveyard. Of course, there’s the happy ending ...

25 pages

6 m, 4 w

Edgar Allan Poe is called an American literary genius and here are three of his short stories dramatized for Reader's Theatre. “The Masque of the Red Death" is a fantastic tale of how, after half the people of his country have died, Prince Prospero gathers knights and ladies to his castle and locks the doors to avoid the devastating “red death” disease. In "The Cask of Amontillado" we find that if a man seeks revenge, there are many ways to do it. In "Lionizing" Poe mocks authors who get recognition when they write nothing but trivia and nonsense in flowery a...

20 pages

2 m, 1 w

Part of The Half-hour Classics Series. This adaptation of "The Marriage Proposal" shows how hilarious and ridiculous a situation can become when the excitable and "ailing" Lomov comes to propose to the attractive, but equally excitable, Natalia. They soon enter into rowdy quarrels about land boundaries and hunting dogs. Will they marry? Will they fight their way through life? This adaptation has been created especially for high school students.

33 pages

2 m, 4 w, 2 flexible, extras, doubling possible

Here is a hip, contemporary adaptation of O'Henry's famous short story. Bonnie, Bridget and Billy Driscoll are living in a dumpy apartment, their credit cards charged to the max, trying to make it on their own in New York. When Bridget brings home Dolly, a seemingly sweet lost little girl, (perhaps a bit "high strung"), the siblings soon realize that she is the daughter of an extremely wealthy New Yorker. While Billy plays cowboys and "indigenous people" with Dolly, the sisters jokingly write a ransom note on the computer for the modest amount of $25,000, eno...

34 pages

8 m, 6 w, extras, doubling possible

This re-creation of Robert Louis Stevenson's well-loved action classic will delight audiences of all ages and can easily be taken on tour. Young Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map and the adventure is on. If crossing the ocean is not adventuresome enough, Long John Silver and his band of pirates plan to take over the ship and steal the treasure for themselves. With the help of a castaway named Ben Gunn and a group of islanders, the pirates are defeated in battle and the treasure is recovered by Jim and his friends. About 40 minutes.

28 pages

4 m, 4 w, 3 flexible

In this rowdy farce, the ambitious, but foolish, Monsieur Jourdain wants to socialize with the nobility, even though he knows nothing of proper language or social graces. From his highbrow music, dancing, and philosophy teachers to his obsequious tailor, Jourdain makes a fool of himself with his ludicrous attempts to be important. His behavior even allows him to be exploited by an unscrupulous friend who continues to borrow money. Happily, Jourdain’s weakness is played to full advantage when, after an elaborate masquerade, he finally gives his daughter’s hand...

15 pages

2 m, 2 w, 2 flexible, 3 narrators

In ancient Thebes, Antigone determines to give a sacred burial to her brother, Polynices, who had died on the battlefield. But her uncle Creon, the tyrant king, forbids her to do so under pain of death, because, he says, Polynices is a traitor. Antigone gives up her family, her fiancé and even her own life to do what she believes is right.

32 pages

4 m, 2 w

Lord Bellinger and the Right Honorable Trelawney Hope, Secretary for European Affairs, visit Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker street to have him find a missing document, which, if published, could lead to war. It had been kept in a dispatch box at the Secretary's home. Holmes suggests to Watson three possible individuals, any one of whom could have stolen the document to use for bribery. One of them, Lucas, is found murdered at his home, which Holmes visits with Inspector Lestrade. They find that the bloodstain on the carpet is not in the same position as the on...