Classics

37 pages

4 m, 3 w

Monsieur Harpagon is a miser, through and through. Although he has his beloved treasure buried in the garden to protect it from thieves, he abhors waste such as warmth and food! He tells his children, Elise and Cleante, they may only marry with his consent, and he looks for spouses for both of them with the help of Madame Frosine, a matchmaker. She quickly finds a future spouse for everyone, including Monsieur Harpagon. Little does he know Cleante has fallen for Marianne, who Harpagon himself plans to marry, and Elise has fallen for the penniless Valere. The ...

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...

54 pages

4 m, 3 w

Hailed by George Orwell as “the wittiest play” G.B. Shaw ever wrote, Arms and the Man is a true classic in the history of theater, blending social commentary, romantic comedy, fun and lively characters, and crackling dialogue that leaps off the page! We are in the 1880s, and Raina Petkoff is a young Bulgarian woman, worried about the war her father and fiancé are currently fighting. No sooner is she warned that enemy soldiers may be nearby, than Captain Bluntschli, a war-weary enemy, breaks in and holds her hostage. To their surprise, and the audienc...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

46 pages

5 m, 4 w, 1 flexible, extras

This tale of King Arthur's boyhood opens with a band of medieval actors arriving at a village. The role of Arthur falls to an inexperienced apprentice, unsure of his abilities. The play follows Arthur as he grows up in Sir Ector's castle with Merlin the Magician as his teacher. Morgan le Fay, with her servant Niniane, attempt to break through Merlin's protective barrier to harm Arthur before he ever becomes king. On his way to the climactic tournament where the new king will be crowned, Arthur must undertake a perilous journey through the forest where he meets a dragon, a damsel in distr...