43 pages
7 m, 7 w, 15 flexible
Adapted from the novel, "The Wizard of Oz," by L. Frank Baum. 7 m, 7 w, 15 flexible. Much doubling possible. Extras as munchkins and winged monkeys. Trapped in Kansas and longing for a mall, Dorothy and Toto are suddenly whirled off stage, right into the audience, where a yellow brick road weaves in and out of the tables and munchkins are serving food. In this outrageous version of L. Frank Baum's lovable book, the Tin Man has frozen in front of a computer, and the Cowardly Lion stands on a guest's chair to escape a mouse. As the plot unfolds, we eventually...
32 pages
Approx. 15 m, 15 w, much doubling possible
Here's a delightful and easy-to-do version of Dickens' Christmas story, faithfully adapted for young people and their families. Originally written as a touring show, it is adaptable to any theatre or stage facility. All the beloved characters and scenes are included: Scrooge and Cratchit in the counting house; the Ghost of Christmas Past; Scrooge’s sweetheart Belle at the Fezziwig ball; the Ghost of Ghost of Christmas Present and the Cratchit home with Tiny Tim; and even the sensitive scenes at the pawn shop and graveyard. Of course, there’s the happy ending ...
75 pages
5 m, 7 w
Newlyweds Sam and Margaret Howard discover they are in line to inherit $3.5 million from his great-grandmother whom he has never met. But before she is willing to add them to her will she wants to meet Sam and his new wife face to face to make sure they are “worthy.” Of course, nothing goes smoothly, especially since Sam is hiding an expensive diamond necklace for his boss, two burglars mistake their home for another, and the neighbor’s vague grandmother has wandered off…and may be somewhere in their house! Their friends, Rob and Kelsey, go to extremes to hel...
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...
69 pages
Flexible cast, approx. 6 - 8 m, 6 - 8 w
"Dear Santa" is composed of a number of short scenes that range from the hilarious to the touching. Many views of Santa are seen - from the point of view of the child who alphabetizes her Christmas list and sends it out in August as well as that of children at various stages of belief - and disbelief! Santa and his helpers shed light on many of the mysteries surrounding him, including why you don't always get the gift you ask for, how Santa delivers all those gifts in one night, how he finds children spending Christmas away from home, and how his power transc...
44 pages
4 m, 3 w
Two married couples pool their resources to buy a diner in the middle of the desert. Excited and enthusiastic at first, they come to realize their dream isn’t turning out to be the success they wanted. Unable to afford to fix the diner’s broken sign or pave the dusty parking lot, the hoped-for customers continue to drive by without stopping. Inside the diner, with failing equipment and dwindling funds, the two couples discover they can’t even sell the building for a portion of what they paid for it. They are about to give up in desperation when a handsome, ch...
80 pages
5 m, 9 w, extras
Billionaire industrialist Wentworth Jefferson invites private investigator Joey (Jo Ellen) Reynolds to a party at his mansion where she meets, and secretly photographs, the people he believes might wish to see him dead. Frozen for a moment, as if caught on film, we meet the suspects: his flighty wife, Mamie; her children, playboy Sam Kane and sculptress daughter, Selena; his bitter ex-wife, Julia Jefferson; society columnist Felica Phillips, whom he once jilted; his spinsterish personal assistant, Debra Mason; and a senior executive in his firm, Paul Carter, ...
68 pages
4 m, 5 w
Charles Lansing, a staid and humorless millionaire, has been found murdered at his country estate and Lt. Paris is in charge of the investigation. Alibis are re-enacted by the suspects, including the third wife married to Lansing for less than a year; the brooding stepchildren; the deceased's attorney, a woman opposed to his latest marriage and the changes in his will; Madame Arcadia, who predicted his death; and the handyman and his wife, who wish to leave their jobs. Everyone had motive and opportunity. At the end of Act I, Lt. Paris leads the audience in a...
59 pages
3 m, 5 w
Everyone seemed to hate Derek Moore, so no one is surprised when the smooth-talking actor is found dead in the middle of a dress rehearsal. Archie Lewis, a well-intentioned but goofy detective who happens to be in the theater, offers to solve the case, but things turn out to be more complicated than he had anticipated. Why does the female stagehand, Ed, talk only in lines from classical literature and popular songs? Why does the laconic Francis keep covering for the unsmiling Jessica? Is there more to naive Terri than devotion to Derek? Do Maria's wisecracks ...
69 pages
1 m, 6 w
"If there's any skeletons in the closet, I'll find them!" states Angie, who then opens a closet and has a skeleton literally fly in her face. This is one of the many surprises that faces the undercover police woman who just took on a job as a "domestic engineer," hired by Dr. Hugh Bernard to "find out what's going on." Five elderly spinsters live in the same house and all, apparently, hate each other. And what a group. There's Evelyn, who keeps acting out death scenes for Fiona, who's writing some sort of novel. Then there's Catherine, who keeps alluding to h...
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...
82 pages
Flexible cast from 16 to 50+
This great romantic melodrama of the Yukon Territory has it all! Come visit the world of Lester Lawless, Lotta Pidee, Loooney Yoursin, and many others including miners who can't find stakes, trappers who can't find pelts, and Mounties who can't find anyone as they weave a story of Wild West intrigue. Narrators and Sign Gals help dictate active audience involvement as villains are thwarted, heroes and heroines are blissfully united, enemies become friends, widowed matrons are reunited with lost children, and orphans live happily ever after. In addition to a co...
60 pages
12 to 30 (4 m, 8 w with doubling) (7 m, 13 w, 10+ flexible)
In 1890s London, a recent night of fatal violence has terrorized the city. Scotland Yard fears that the infamous Jack the Ripper has finally returned home. Inspector William Wright has staked his career on bringing the killer to justice and believes he finally has his man. Wright will stop at nothing to make sure that George Bessel goes to the gallows for the crime. However, Bessel’s partner and friend, Theresa Vincey, protests his innocence. The leading witness to the crime, Vincey holds the key to Bessel’s fate. As the investigation unfolds with interviews,...
23 pages
2 m, 4 w, plus 3 optional roles for the flashback scenes
The play opens with a typical living room scene: a good, old-fashioned dad sitting in a comfy chair reading a good, old-fashioned newspaper. However, things quickly take a turn for the absurd when Mrs. Wright, a professional and serious-looking person, enters the room and is subjected to a barrage of cheesy jokes and puns from the dad. As the rest of the family enters, it becomes clear that they've called Mrs. Wright in for a "Dad-Joke Intervention." But will she be able to help? Or is this family doomed to be forever subjected to the dad's endless supply of ...
68 pages
6 m, 5 w
WHAM! The Masked Wonder leaps into the room and fights off four or five henchmen without even wrinkling his cape and then...? Then the Hollywood writers of the Majestic Film Studios have to figure out what he does next. Pop, Tiger Lil, Stu, Howard and Dena are stuck until they meet the latest addition to their writer's stable. "Like any of us are writers," says Howard, "or stable." As the new kid on the team, Freddie has a lot to prove, mostly to his overbearing mother. Does he give up and leave with Mom? No chance! Especially not with Dena around! These two ...