Community

50 pages

6 m, 3 w

Hard times have come on Gumption Gulch and Grandma Gertie Parker is forced to open a clothes-washing service to earn extra money. Even Sheriff Gideon Gumption is “moonlighting” (though the term has him totally baffled) at the stagecoach office and a local lunch spot. Grandma Gertie’s old nemesis has sent her two boys, Luther and Ulysses Bragg, to town to put Gertie’s laundry service out of business as payback for an old feud. Add in a possum-farming brother and sister couple (Elrod has a serious case of “the anxieties”), a blacksmith who dreams of being a com...

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.....

70 pages

5 m, 5 w

"Doing a kiddie TV show is like playing the bagpipes," Uncle Neddy says. "Who knows when you make a mistake?" And whether it is hunting down an escaped snake or sawing a lady in half, he and his sidekick, Skeezix the Clown, have been at it for decades. However, when the new station manager plans to get rid of his show, it is time for action! Filled with oddball characters, from a neurotic moose-toting puppeteer to a muscle-bound yes-man, this frantic slapstick comedy races along with action on both ends of the stage. Everyone is tuning in to the final show to...

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...

17 pages

6 m, 6 w, extras

Poor Santa is being tried in court for breaking and entering, unfair interstate trade practices, illegal parking, unfair wages, and flying with no flight plan. Witnesses are cross-examined by the attorneys and the jury takes very little time to reach a verdict. One act.

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...

74 pages

3 m, 7 w, 3 flexible parts

Did Julie Marshall beat her fianceé to death with a fireplace poker? Her attorney, Sam Zangrillis, thinks he can prove her innocent, but District Attorney Adrienne Bancroft, a former friend and colleague of the deceased, is out for revenge. Here's a slick and suspenseful courtroom drama that will keep everyone in the audience guessing because the witnesses seem to cloud the case rather than illuminate it. Julie's main alibi, her roommate, is a single, lonely woman, possibly envious of Julie having a serious relationship. The dead man's sister, who discovered ...

80 pages

11 m (one non-speaking), 9 w

A terrible storm is raging, forcing an odd assortment of characters to seek shelter at Moss Manor, a broken-down old inn run by Mother Moss. As fate would have it, this is the night Mrs. Moss' son, Pete, returns from the service to marry his sweetheart, Terri Cloth. Terri's uncle is violently opposed and comes to the inn to demand the marriage not take place. At the height of the storm, the lights go out and someone is murdered! Who is the victim? And if the victim is supposed to be dead, how come the guests keep finding the body in different places? Who is t...

42 pages

7 m, 9 w

Unlike most villains, who only have to fight a hero in trying to win the lovely lady, Egar Duntley has to face Miss Lil's whole boardinghouse full of zany characters. There are Miss Lil's mischievous little brothers who dislike him, the deaf lady who keeps staring at him, the men-hungry spinsters who are chasing him, and others. Even more laughs come from Della, Duntley's cleaning lady accomplice. She is chased by an old boarder and served some "fruit juice" which makes her stiff as a board - a part any comedic actress will love to get her teeth into. The her...