Classics

34 pages

6 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, doubling possible

Based on the story by H.H. Munro (Saki). Wealthy Uncle Lulworth eagerly awaits the next meal from his uncommonly skilled, but foul-tempered cook, Mrs. Sebastian. His niece, Ellen, visits him shortly before dinner after their aunt's funeral. As executor of the estate, Ellen has run across a series of letters to the aunt from another relative, Uncle Peter, who died years earlier under mysterious circumstances. Through re-enactments based on the letters, we learn Uncle Peter was a despicable human being and was probably killed by a "common" criminal, perhaps som...

18 pages

3 m, 3 w

A psychotic murders an old man and then copes successfully with the village constable, only to be trapped and betrayed by conscience and a twisted mind. Increasing the story's playability is the addition of two nieces of the old man who suspect murder, and an innocent bride of the murderer. A smashing climax with thunderous "heartbeats" of the dead man. (Please state adaptor's name when ordering.)

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 ...

46 pages

3 m, 2 w

Edgar Allan Poe, his wife, Virginia and his editor, Griswold are frozen in time, endlessly repeating the moment of Virginia's death. Annie and Owen, two contemporary teenagers, enter the condemned building haunted by the trio and get locked in the room where they are unable to see the specters. Annie, with the help of Edgar and Virginia, starts looking for a lost letter Griswold hid from Poe, which keeps Edgar and Virginia apart. Frightened at first, Owen soon joins the search, motivated by the money the letter might bring. Meanwhile, Griswold watches the pro...

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...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w

Adapted from the story by Edgar Allan Poe. A husband and wife are known for violent quarrelling, especially over their cat. Obsessed, the man tries to kill the animal but accidentally kills his wife. He covers up the murder until the cat's howls are heard from within the cellar wall.

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...

71 pages

13 m, 12 w, 8 flexible

In this adaptation of Frank L. Baum's book, "Tik Tok of Oz," the Queen begs her old friend Dorothy to take the mechanical man, Tik Tok, and rescue the Wizard of Oz who has been kidnapped! The journey will be long and perilous, but Dorothy will do anything to save her old friend. Along the way, Dorothy and Tik Tok meet other colorful characters, all of whom decide to find the Wizard in the hope that he might be able to solve each of their problems. But even after the kidnapper, Ruggedo, is defeated, the fearful group must enter the Metal Forest to find the Wiz...

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...

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...

60 pages

Flexible cast of 10 or more

This adaptation has kept alive the monsters and dragons that inhabited the original poem. However, it is told from the point of view of a Scop (Shope), a teller of tales, who had traveled and fought with Beowulf. The Scop is now a prisoner of the Saxons and while a prisoner tells this tale of courage to a priest who eventually agrees to preserve it by writing it down. The tale the Scop tells is substantially the same as the poem we know, however, the Christian ethic is removed and the tale is presented, as the playwright believes it originally was, with the g...

48 pages

4 m, 6 w, many extras

Ashley, a freshman sprite, makes her first visit to Mt. Olympus to meet the powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. She is overwhelmed by the way the Great Olympians live and the power that they wield, and wants to grab a little of the glory for herself. She becomes friends with Persephone, the goddess of spring who is running away from her brooding husband, Hades. Together the women set off on an ambitious odyssey to steal Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, and Hades' helmet of invisibility and take over Mt. Olympus! They are pursu...

25 pages

3 men, 2 women, 4 flexible

Adapted by Burton Bumgarner From the tale by Oscar Wilde. Hugh is in love with Laura and she is in love with him. They want to marry but Laura's father, a gruff and greedy man, won't hear of the marriage of his only daughter to a lowly actor. In order to win the girl he loves, Hugh must come up with the astounding sum of $10,000, or Laura will be forced to marry an attorney, a man her father has selected. Set in New York City during the Great Depression, actors and artists, as well as millionaires and beggars, populate this one-act play. Hugh's best friend, T...

23 pages

4 m, 2 w

Adapted by Burton Bumgarner from the tale by W.W. Jacobs. A wife demands that her husband leave the house unless he can get help for his gambling problem. He murders her with a paring knife and tries to hide her body from the maid. While he's still frantically searching for his wife's car keys to dump her body, a burglar breaks into the house. Thinking fast, the husband tries to cover up the murder by framing the burglar. The husband calls the police and while waiting for them, scuffles in the darkness with the burglar and plants the knife on him. But things ...

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...