Community Theatre Holiday Plays & Musicals

53 pages

11 m, 10 w, 3 boys, and 12 flexible (With doubling, 4 m, 3 w, 1 boy, 6 flexible)

Ebenezer Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser, choosing to spend Christmas Eve alone instead of with his cheerful nephew, Fred. That night, he is visited by his old colleague, Jacob Marley, who explains that three ghosts will come. After seeing his Christmas Past, Present, and Future, Scrooge awakens with renewed faith. In his redemption, he embraces family and friends and gives generously, forever changed. Following the story of Charles Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol," this unique version incorporates singing narrators, traditional carols, and continuous action on ...

53 pages

Flexible cast of 10 to 34

Meet a theatre troupe whose Christmas spirit sparkles far more than their acting talent! In this two-act collection of comedy scenes, amateur thespians are preparing a Christmas Eve production at the community center, but nothing is working right. Meet Jordan, who demands fresh flowers in his dressing room (the broom closet); Nicky, whose Christmas monologue is "enhanced" with all the wrong sound effects; and Red who's more than a little worried that Marley's ghost haunts the backstage. Boss, the director, is about to lose his mind! And it doesn't help that L...

23 pages

(3 m)(2 m, 1 w)(1 m, 1 w)

Too much sugar this Christmas season? This trio of 10-minute plays provides the perfect antidote, a fun and funny twist to the holiday season. In "Another Turn of the Scrooge," (3 m) the old curmudgeon we all know and love pays the price for his first good deed as his life takes yet another Christmas turn. In the second play, "The Man Who Shot Santa Claus," (2 m, 1 w) a man on trial for killing Santa Claus is defended by a slick lawyer, who argues that Santa had it coming! In the final play, "Gift of the Magi - The Untold Story," (1 m, 1 w) reality sets in ju...

78 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 male teen

An emotional, heart-opening journey about love, friendship, family, sacrifice, and what it truly means to give begins with an enormous Christmas tree wrestled into the warmth of a Colorado cabin. The Britton family, Brad and Tina and their son Nick, are eagerly anticipating the joy of a fun-filled holiday vacation spent with their close friends, Kyle and Jan, who arrive bearing gifts of sentiment, sarcasm, and sass. The two couples merrily begin to share their laughter, their affection, and their memories of the good ol’ days, but too soon Jan begins to quest...

21 pages

2 m, 2 w

Perhaps the most perfect Christmas parable ever written is O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." In this one-act play version is the timeless story of Della and Jim, a struggling young couple who seek to give the other the ideal Christmas gift. They barter their most valued possessions to purchase each other's gifts: Della's beautiful long hair for a watch fob and chain Jim's watch for a tortoise shell comb set for Della. While the physical gifts prove useless, their love is enriched beyond measure.

41 pages

Flexible cast up to 42

Here's an hour-long adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel that's as practical as it is entertaining. While staying close to the original novel in dialogue, this version adds additional speaking roles. Along with the hard-hearted Scrooge, the Christmas Spirits, the Cratchit family and the beloved Tiny Tim, there are carolers, goblins, and guests as well as two storytellers, Mrs. Candlewick and Mrs. Peartree, who help keep the action flowing. Because the cast is so flexible, you can combine roles for a small cast or expand it into an all-grade performance. C...

66 pages

Widely flexible cast

A father tells his young daughter a story of Ebenezer Scrooge on his terrifying and exhilarating journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas. But we do not realize until the end that the characters in this adaptation are more real than ever before. The covetous old miser who finds his heart turns out to be the little girl’s Great-Uncle Scrooge, and her father is Tiny Tim, an even kinder, more insightful soul as an adult than he was as a child. This unique adaptation, infused with popular Christmas carols, is sure to make your audience feel alive with ho...

64 pages

5 m, 4 w, 3 girls

"Dear Editor, is there a Santa Claus?"- a question innocently asked by 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon. Christmas was coming and all was right with the world ... until her friends mischievously fill her in on the "facts" about Old Saint Nick. Who could tell her the truth? Not her father, a doctor who is always fighting against old world cures. Not her teacher, who is already fed up with Christmas even though it hadn't arrived. So Virginia writes a letter to the editor of The New York Sun, for her father always said, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Virginia'...

55 pages

4 m, 5 w, 2 girls

J. D. Morse has been looking high and low for a special Christmas gift for his grandson. Finally, as a last resort, he wanders into Nick's Emporium, an old-fashioned store chock full of all sorts of gifts and knickknacks. He has a hard time explaining to Nick what he's looking for, but finds himself falling under the old storekeeper's spell. Just when Morse is about to buy something, he runs to the street to chase kids away from his car. When he returns, he finds the store suddenly dark and quiet. A policeman then shows up to run him off because, "This place ...

61 pages

3 m, 6 w, 1 flexible, 2 girls doubling possible

You ever get a Christmas letter?  You know, one of those notes inserted into a Christmas card tell you way more than you ever wanted to know about the senders?  Karen Brookshire loves writing them. With a boy-crazy daughter, a smarty-pants son and a klutzy husband she has her hands full. So Karen has to write their Christmas letter by herself recalling such events as their daughter's first date, which unfortunately occurred at the same time as two overly-adoring aunts were visiting, and their son's high school graduation where he not only won the embarrassing...

76 pages

5 m, 5 w, 1 girl

“Who IS that guy?” That’s what they’re asking each other at the local police station when Santa Claus shows up handing out gifts. This Santa seems to know them all so well…but they haven’t a clue who he is. It’s not like they haven’t seen people dressed for the holidays, especially since Earlene visits costumed first as an elf and then as a big bunny. Even Chief Culpepper has been known to don the Santa suit. As if this weren’t enough to keep them guessing, state investigator Russell Brooks arrives to check on some irregularities. It doesn’t take long for Bro...

17 pages

2 m, 8 w (doubling possible) 1 b, 1 g, and carolers

This turn-of-the-century Christmas is going to be a white one for bachelor Robert Kelley: white because his white lie has caught up with him! His boss, who only hires family men, wants to meet Robert's wife and kids. Robert decides to rent a family but has to disqualify several zany applicants. He is desperate until he spies sweet Mary O'Riley selling fruit. This one-act play is lighthearted, easy-to-stage and includes suggestions for favorite carols as well as one new song.

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...

69 pages

4 m, 2 w

It’s Christmas Eve, and the interstate in Virginia has closed due to major snowstorms.  Frank, a brash billionaire businessman, and his secretary Kristine – who’s not the “sharpest bulb on the tree” – are forced to seek shelter in a highway rest area.  They are soon joined by Tom, a hitchhiking wannabe country music singer, and Mary Beth, a young, very pregnant widow.  Of course, Charlie, the rest area janitor, is stuck there even though he just wants to get home to dinner. 

But this ...

41 pages

13 m, 11 w, 4 flexible, extras, much doubling possible

Every month many look to their calendars and start counting down the days until the next holiday. But what about those who are working behind the scenes to make these holidays great? What about the everyday problems of Cupid, leprechauns, and the New Year's Baby? Do we ever stop to think about their needs? Their wants? No! And that's why they're on strike. Journey through the bizarre, strange, and riotously funny underbelly of the holiday world as the icons we all know and love go on strike in this comedy. See what happens when hunters try to shoot down Rudol...