71 pages
10-15 m, 10-18 w, doubling possible
It's the 1950s and you're all set for a big night at the drive-in movie! Roll down your car window, hook up the speaker, and hear the movie manager, Mr. Gleason, announce the rules to enjoy yourself, "in the comfort of your own car!" Upcoming attractions are acted out onstage, including "Time Travelers in Space Suits," as is the latest installment of a Western serial "The Adventures of Rocky Rhode." But not all the drama is coming from the big screen. Young lovers Tony and Gloria are arguing about the main feature, the scary "The Vampire's Hickey," and countr...
58 pages
3 m, 3 w
It's a few minutes to eight, New Year's Eve, 1940, at a radio studio and a group of beleaguered employees are desperately trying to put on a live show. It's the most important episode ever of "Invitation to Danger," but everything is going wrong -- the organist and the sound effects man have eloped, the director is missing, one of the cast has passed out on the sofa and the script has arrived at literally the last moment! Will our heroes Steve, Blackie and Pete finally uncover the true identity of the Hooded Terror or will he escape them again? Will our pluck...
76 pages
7 m, 6 w, 3 flexible, doubling possible
After being part of the richest family in Boston, the adult Webb kids try to adjust to sudden poverty when crazy brother Elwood is given total control of the fortune. But they just don't know how to be poor. They try everything from renting rooms in the mansion to taking a job as a clown for children's parties. Their luck changes with the reappearance of their mother, whom they thought dead; their cranky butler, Fenwick; and the surprise introduction of Fenwick, Jr. Junior is a boorish, obnoxious lout, but is also now the sole heir to the Webb fortune. The ex...
45 pages
3 m, 5 w, optional extras
Here's a delicious comedy which can be followed by your own dessert sale or cakewalk. Two older ladies, Helen and Fern, are the force behind the church's program to feed the poor. (Well, actually Helen thinks it is she herself who must do everything to get it done right, with Fern as her helper.) But their outreach program of serving soup and sandwiches may not last much longer because the church just doesn't have the funds. That's a real blow since the church across town puts out a much better spread and more often! Helen decides the only way to continue is ...
72 pages
5 men, 5-6 women, 2 boys, 1 girl, 2 extras
Eddy is a struggling playwright and also a dad in charge of taking care of the house, the kids, and the mother-in-law while his wife works the daytime shift at a fast-food restaurant. And boy, does he have his hands full! The house is a disaster, and as far as taking care of the children, what can he really do? Rambunctious triplets and an adventurous teenage daughter are not meant for the inexperienced! Then there is his mother-in-law whose age seems to be affecting her mind, and a neighbor lady with opinions, but without manners. Toss in a couple of FBI age...
73 pages
9 m, 11 w
Several guests go to a remote ski lodge for a mystery weekend during which actors, posing as other guests, simulate a murder which the real guests try to solve. The event is barely under way when the host is murdered, the cable car is sabotaged, and the phone lines are cut, stranding everyone with a killer. Suddenly, a thrilling weekend becomes the height of danger. Among the guests are a famous mystery writer, a former TV detective and his starlet girlfriend, a Texas millionaire and his beauty queen wife, a couple on their honeymoon, and a mysterious bandage...
74 pages
8 m, 7 w, 1 flexible, plus 3 optional roles
When resident stage manager Kate Ellinger discovers that one-time soap actor Brayden Cole has agreed to play the lead in their production of “Romeo and Juliet,” she finds she has her hands full, not only dealing with a TV star’s ego, but also with the easy-to-panic director and zany locals who make up the rest of the cast. Brayden misses the first rehearsal, and later admits he’s in way over his head. He went from waiting tables to soap opera uber-star with no formal stage training. But the other actors are more than willing to help him. Duncan, an older man ...
56 pages
3 m, 3 w
Lacy Casey is socially awkward, has a goofy sense of humor, and has raised clumsiness to an art form. If you look in the dictionary under "adorkable," you'd find a picture of Lacy. Her friends Sue and Trevor love her quirkiness and accept her for who she is. When Lacy goes out on her first date with Bryce, she assumes it will be their last date. After all, her ungraceful mannerisms practically destroy their dinner, and he keeps calling her by the wrong name. But he comes back for more ... Meanwhile, Trevor harbors a ...
76 pages
4 m, 3 w
It’s the 1930s, the glory days of radio. Radio dramas are thriving! Well, everywhere except Portland’s local station KOD. This run-down station is struggling to stay on the air. After receiving a cease-and-desist letter, the long-running show “Stan Shade, Private Eye” must come to an end. In an effort to save the station, owner Fredrick Glass has secretly worked out a deal to become an NBC affiliate. All he has to do is introduce a new hit show that will keep the advertisers happy until the contract is signed. Finally, all the success Fred has always wanted.....
55 pages
1 m, 3 w
Two sisters, Claire and Dora, are opposites when it comes to just about everything, and this night is no exception. Claire has spent her day at a funeral, while Dora has been at a wedding. But while Dora complains of not being able to meet anyone at the wedding, Claire admits to running into an old fling, Peter, at the funeral. The two sisters are in the middle of a fight when Peter calls and says he must see Claire right away. Claire hurries to get ready for his arrival when their eccentric mother unexpectedly arrives ready to cook a roast. The two sisters b...
61 pages
5 m, 6 w
Ideal comedy for community theatres! Ned is the 30-ish son of Ma and Pa Boodle whose efforts to introduce girlfriends to his family don't turn out very well. His family is somewhat "colorful"-his mother is a June Cleaver type at her homiest; his father is pretty clueless his grandpa manages a cat (rescue) house; and his sister Lulu is a hypochondriac with an equally germ-o-phobic boyfriend, Luke. Also there's the ever-helpful Jack, who resides in a cardboard appliance box in the middle of the Boodle living room, and the neighbor, Mrs. Doodah-Doodah. But Ned's...
80 pages
12 m, 14 w, 5 flexible; doubling possible; extras as aliens
Elise Sims has just finished college, and she's ready to take on the world. Now she just has to tell her family about her plans. But they live in Oyer’s Corners, a town full of odd folks who make a living by selling tours and souvenirs to UFO seekers. Elise's grandfather, Jebediah Sims, started the UFO legend nearly forty years ago when he claimed he was abducted and taken aboard a flying saucer. New technology is making it increasingly difficult to fake UFO evidence, and the townsfolk are struggling to keep the legend -- and Oyer’s Corners -- alive. One fact...
75 pages
1 m, 3 w and flexible extras
Miss Ida Ingram's dying wish was to have her ashes scattered over the Grand Canyon - no small request for the two remaining sisters, Isabelle and Imogene, as they are elderly and have never before ventured out of South Carolina. Into the picture comes a long-lost nephew, Brandon, who agrees to drive his maiden aunts to Arizona to give himself time to think through his own mid-life crisis. Leigh Ann, a young neighbor woman who was practically raised by the elderly triplets, soon catches up and joins them on this incredible trip where they meet everyone from a ...
42 pages
1 m, 5 w
In this rollicking comedy two brides-to-be get caught up in a web of lies and half-truths while shopping for their wedding dresses at Tammy Ann Rennert’s One-Stop Bridal Bootique in rural Texas. When an iconic image of the Virgin Mary makes a miraculous appearance on the back of one of the gowns, chaos ensues. Secrets are revealed, hair is let down, and each woman reconsiders her attitudes towards marriage, men, morals, and miracles. Ultimately, everyone gets her heart’s desire. About an hour. Winner of the 2007 Hill Country Playwriting Festival in Marble Fal...
60 pages
4 m, 4 w
A funeral parlor is the perfect setting for this quirky, off-kilter farce where family and “special” friends come to mourn, to surprise, to plot, and even to negotiate their futures. Everyone thinks Donny D’Silva was killed in a car crash. But it wasn’t Donny at all. Then again, it was – until everyone assumes the real victim is Rodrigo Benitez, Donny’s former employee. Then, Rodrigo shows up, so it’s not him either! Throughout the confusion, the families of the would-be dead make every effort to take advantage of the loss of their respective loved one. So wh...