Community Theatre One-Act

28 pages

5 m, 1 w

To save his crown, a distraught King of Bohemia comes incognito to 221B Baker Street to seek the help of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes quickly sees through the man's disguise. The throne is threatened by a photograph of the King and Irene Adler taken five years previously. She is threatening to reveal it, now that the King is planning to marry someone else the second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. Holmes makes valiant efforts to retrieve the document, but Irene Adler outwits his every move. On her marriage to Godfrey Norton, a lawyer, she indicates that she w...

29 pages

5 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

William Shakespeare retired at about age 48. Why did this prolific genius stop writing? How did he get along with his long-neglected wife, Anne, once he gave up the stage? “The Shakespeares” imagines what The Bard’s last years were like in Stratford-upon-Avon. The play is full of inside jokes for Shakespeare fans. But even for those unfamiliar with his plays, there are laughs (and a few tears) as we watch this profoundly mismatched couple try to make a go of it. Shakespeare’s confidante, daughter Susanna, realizes that her father’s creative spirit is being cr...

32 pages

6 m, 2 w, 1 flexible, extras

It's 1983. Peter Miller from Chicago, a recent college graduate, is determined to write an account of the pain and suffering caused by the new AIDS epidemic, so he persuades the directors of a clinic to allow him to masquerade as a patient. All goes well until the other patients on the floor discover his pretense. In an intensely emotional scene they hold him down and inject him with what he believes is the virus. In the end, Zeb, the last of the five patients to survive, has the honor of telling Peter of the subterfuge, that he was not injected the “bug” at ...

35 pages

3 m, 1 w, 16 flexible

A small California town is under mandatory evacuation as a huge wild fire threatens its citizens, their homes, and the surrounding forest. Just as the family is about to leave, their unsuspecting dogs Loony and Max are tricked by Prince, the evil cat. Following the cat’s sinister advice, the sweet but gullible dogs disappear to avoid the vet and to find the barbecue sausages, leaving the family no choice but to drive off without them. During their big adventure to find their family again, the dogs journey through the forest where they encounter pushy raccoons...

22 pages

2 m, 1 w, 2 flexible.

Here is a dark, suspenseful play that follows the life of Tiburtius Gerhardt, the gravedigger. As the cemetery he has worked in all his life fills up and comes to its end, Tiburtius tries to cope with his demanding and demeaning boss; his deceased uncle; and two other denizens who should or should not really be there. It’s enough to drive a man to his grave. Approximate running time is 35 to 45 minutes.

20 pages

4 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

Al Trainor hates selling cars. The former high school football star can only dream about what might have been – an exciting college football stint filled with glory and girls, and then on to a lucrative professional career. Unfortunately, a fateful knee injury ended his dream. And fate has more cards to play. The man whom Al holds responsible for his life-changing injury, Parker Robinson, his high school football coach, is walking into the dealership. Propelled in large part by Al’s gridiron greatness four years ago, Parker Robinson’s career has rocketed skyw...

29 pages

3 m, 4 w

A Confederate soldier, transporting a Yankee prisoner, stops off at his fiancee's home in hopes of arranging a quick wedding. But the women of the home fall under the spell of the prisoner. Is the Yankee lying when he tells the fiancee, Lisbeth, he has fallen in love with her? The would-be groom challenges the Yankee to a duel. They go outside to settle the matter of honor. There is a single gunshot. Lisbeth, in her wedding dress, waits to marry. The door opens, but who's there?

32 pages

4 m, 4 w

Friendships are tried, prejudice revealed, and self-interest is (dare it be said) exposed, in this fast-moving comedy. A small Iowa town must deal with the weighty issue of whether a stone statue violates the morals ordinance. Chorlis Deets, longtime resident of Lamb’s Corner, has a new lawn ornament in honor of his departed wife...a stone statue of Aphrodite...painted pink and “situated” on a swing in his front yard. An emergency meeting of the city council is called to debate the issue and decide whether or not to forcibly remove the statue. As the meeting ...

27 pages

8 m, 4 w

The clever short story, "The Three Strangers," by English Victorian writer Thomas Hardy, has been skillfully adapted to a rural Appalachian setting. On a snowy winter's afternoon, a farmer and his wife are celebrating the christening of their infant daughter with friends and family. The party is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, a poorly-dressed man seeking shelter from the cold. Soon a second stranger appears. This man is finely dressed but pompous and offensive. The guests are impressed by the humility of the first man, and angered by the arrogance ...

28 pages

6 m, 5 w doubling possible to 4 m, 3 w

This powerful one-act is based on the first pages of Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." The year is 1815 and Jean Valjean has been imprisoned nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. Now, after being released, Valjean finds it impossible to find lodging or food. Society has treated him like an animal and he feels like one. Finally he finds refuge at the Bishop's home. The clergyman welcomes him with kindness and even trust, using his best silver candlesticks at the evening meal, much to the dismay and warnings of the susp...

24 pages

2 m, 1 w, 5 or more extras as non-speaking soldiers

Following the end of the Civil War, Jed and Ben have arrived outside their home in northern Pennsylvania after having traveled on foot for nearly a thousand miles. The younger brother, Ben, espoused to the beautiful Mary Shae, refuses to go into town for fear that in his crippled state he will not make a suitable mate for the love of his life. In the end, Mary Shea and Jed succeed in persuading Ben to return home and marry her.

19 pages

4 m, 3 w

Charles Augustus Milverton is a blackmailer who preys on women who have at times slipped into indiscretions. Thus Lady Eva Blackwell wrote several imprudent letters to a young squire, which Milverton now possesses, and threatens to release them to her future husband if she does not give him 7,000 pounds. Sherlock Holmes, who agrees to represent her, refuses payment. Instead he and Watson resort to obtaining the letters by burglarizing Milverton's home. While doing so, they surreptitiously witness his meeting with a veiled woman whose letters had been sent by ...

28 pages

Minimum 2 m, 2 w, 2 offscreen voices. Maximum 10 m, 10 w, 2 offscreen voices.

Join this hilarious family as they struggle to endure being stuck at home – together! Why is the WiFi out, and will their old-school solutions work when all the needed cords are missing from the junk drawer? Will the family secure two-ply rolls of toilet paper in trade negotiations with Grandma? Wait… what has each of them been using? How many family game nights can teens endure? What foods (or beverages!) are critical enough to make a special run to the grocery store? And really, who is strong enough to endure more than one Dad joke?