82 pages
6 m, 2 w
World War II rages. In London, the mysterious and charming Mae arrives home in the blackout to find herself accused of spying for Nazi Germany. Following the death of Mae’s brother, his diary has revealed to the authorities a dreadful and secret past. In flashbacks, the young Mae, her brother, and their friend find a wounded Nazi pilot who has parachuted to safety in a forest in rural Norfolk. They imprison and interrogate him, but find him fascinating and bewitching. Tonight, with her life on the line, Mae must reveal all her secrets before the bombs hav...
66 pages
5 m, 6 w
Mickey Chigger, a nasty newspaper critic, turns up dead at the Chestnut Hollow Little Theatre’s final dress rehearsal of “The Curse of Infant Isle.” The players, desperate for a box office success, will go to any lengths to avoid a scandal. And that means, yes!, moving the critic’s body from the rest room where he died to the parking lot. That way the late Mr. Chigger will keep his dignity, even thought he doesn’t really deserve it, but even more importantly, the theatre won’t get bad press such as “The play was so bad it killed him!” But just when they think...
52 pages
3 m, 6 w, doubling possible
A small-town funeral parlor is a hilarious place to visit in this trilogy of one-acts. In "All Laid Out," Mama, who stubbornly clings to out-dated manners and mores, finds being with her two squabbling daughters, the stuffy and pampered Lorena, and the free-spirited Ronnie, more stressful than being a new widow! In "Dust to Dust," the widow of Rick, who was a traveling salesman, and the widow of Fred, who was also a traveling salesman, meet face to face at the same coffin! But their outrage turns into understanding as they compare notes and jokes about Fredri...
64 pages
5 m, 4 w, 6 children
Inspired by the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Whatever became of that pale, lanky school teacher Icabod Crane after a Headless Horseman threw a pumpkin at him? Ichabod is either really angry at the way he was treated or he's dead. Or, because this is Sleepy Hollow, he may be both! This Agatha Christie-like adaptation is set in the present. The first act is a faithful retelling of the story by Washington Irving with a contemporary Ichabod living in secluded Sleepy Hollow that has not changed in three hundred years. Still consi...
72 pages
3 m, 3 w, 2 flexible (one non-speaking)
A madman is on the loose and college student Penny, somewhat flighty, has gotten a gun for protection over the objections of her brainy roommate Janice. The objections prove all too true when Penny accidentally shoots her boyfriend, Glen. Granted, his sense of humor often makes people want to shoot him, but this was truly an accident. Fortunately, Janice is a pre-med genius and she is able to use a very unorthodox method to save Glen’s life...kind of. His head at least, but only temporarily. While Glen protests to being stored in the TV cabinet, Penny is conc...
63 pages
5 m, 4 w, extras
A Commedia dell'Arte troupe invades a town square on market day and performs a hilarious play. In it, two young men and their servant have come to the town to find love. And they do with two young ladies. But their father, an impoverished man, has plans to marry one to his rich, fat friend, who happens to be the father of one of the young men. The daughter would rather marry the other young man, of course. Meanwhile, a rich, widowed contessa begins to pursue the girls' father. It falls to the faithful servant to arrange all the romances, forcing him to preten...
78 pages
3 m, 3 w, 2 flexible roles
Valerie Simpson, a suburban housewife, has begun seeing visions of murders, kidnappings, suicides and even family members threatened with impending accidents. But the most incriminating vision may concern someone close to Val herself. She hesitates to go to the police because her husband works for a conservative firm ("Wall Street and psychic phenomena don't mix"), and because she has spent some time in a mental institution. Val's brother, a caring neighbor, and a psychic researcher, all offer support and understanding. But why is her husband so violently aga...
56 pages
2 m, 4 w
A young mother, penniless and desperate, moves to a lonely lighthouse with her infant to escape her rich and possessive husband, a doctor used to getting his own way. So when the baby is kidnapped, it seems so obvious the father is behind it. But like an intricate and suspenseful chess game, there are numerous moves which simultaneously reveal and confuse. A suspicious car only Karen, the young mother, spies. Her long-buried secret of a child that died in her care. A grandmotherly housekeeper who so conveniently appears to help. A dead stranger. Insurance mon...
67 pages
10 m (doubling possible), 6 w
Elaine has had enough. Ralph, her exasperating, risk-taking husband, has got to go. With the help of Pookie, her younger sister; Anthony “Prettyboy” Ferrari, her father; and Rudy Gambruzzo, her father’s personal assistant, Elaine sets out to stage an accident that will rid her of marital stress. In the space of one morning, Elaine accidentally gets the pool guy and the mailman killed before finally clobbering Ralph. Then she learns that Ralph must be alive that afternoon to sign a vital contract or she will be not only happily widowed, but unhappily bankrupt....