60 pages
Minimum 4 m, 2 w, 2 flexible, 2 offscreen voices. Maximum 15 m, 13 w, 2 flexible, 3 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? How are the pets holding up? What foods (or beverages!) are critical enough to make a special run to the grocery store? How do first dates and book clubs work while social distancing...
31 pages
2 m, 2 w, 5 flexible
Leaping llamas! "The Fourth Wall," a play within a play, begins as a murder mystery, but the murder victim won't keel over. The playwright forgot to give the characters names, and a rude audience member keeps interrupting the show. Even the ending of the play stinks! Everyone is supposed to die and then the character Death is supposed to do an interpretive dance. Thankfully, the audience's agony is cut short halfway through when the actors break character because Death accidentally kills the Host and then leaves the set to move his car. Without Death, how can...
60 pages
5 m, 3 w
The Webbs, a wealthy and eccentric family, are in the midst of preparing for oldest brother Alex's wedding when Donald Webb, a long-lost brother given up for adoption years ago, shows up. Not wanting to split the Webb family fortune with yet another heir, greedy sister Rhonda schemes to oust Donald from his new-found family. What follows is a hilarious, dizzying parade of quick entrances and exits as the off-beat characters vie for their place in the family. Additional characters include a dimwitted lawyer, Alex's sweet-as-sugar fiancee with a few surprises o...
38 pages
4 or 5 m, 4 w
Psychologist Dr. Henry Valentine is unexplainably late for an open house demonstration of his innovative group therapy ideas. Anna-Lee Silverstein, a temp stepping in due to Dr. Valentine’s secretary’s maternity leave, has never met the doctor. Learning this, a would-be patient, Elliot Noodleman, decides to impersonate the psychologist. As other potential patients arrive, Elliot creates his own “innovative” ideas for emotional therapy. Add in Lydia Bedford, a woman suffering from sinistrophobia (the fear of objects to her left); a community theatre director, ...
47 pages
2 m, 6 w
Rev. Longacre is gathering a small group of church members together at a potluck supper to broach the subject of starting a building fund. Duty-bound Hazel arrives first to set up everything and tell the Reverend she hasn't yet found out who's been sending him anonymous love letters. Several others arrive including Annie, the church secretary who is hiding something under her coat, and Lillian, the richest woman in town who seldom attends Sunday services. Before Rev. Longacre is able to give his two-hundred-plus reasons for the drive, Lillian startles everyon...
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
4 m, 7 w
It's business as usual for Wilson and Associates, a suspiciously funny firm consisting of three flat-broke lady con-artists. They'll do practically anything to meet the rent, from reading horoscopes over the phone to renting themselves out as graveside mourners. One client, a dithering old lady, absent-mindedly drops the tidbit that she has just held up the local bank and the action springboards from there. The girls find themselves in a web of arson, counterfeiting and robbery and then, their worst fears are confirmed, the Better Business Bureau shows up! On...
31 pages
6 m, 5 w, extra flexible roles
World War II lingers on. The unspeakable operations in the death camps are slated for closure, but there is still time for one last train to deliver prisoners before the Americans arrive. Two young German soldiers, Hans and Eric, are sick at heart and know their country is in ruin. They are assigned to assist the loading of the last car. Eric is shocked when he hears Anna, a childhood friend, call out to him for help. But Anna doesn’t have her papers, and no matter what Eric says to his superiors, he cannot convince them it is wrong for her to be there. Hans ...
28 pages
4 m, 4 w
Adapted from the short story by Susan Glaspell. A farmer has been found dead and his wife, Minnie, is the prime suspect. The sheriff, a deputy and other men meet at the lonely farmhouse to go over the evidence while two wives gather some clothes and necessities for Minnie, who is in jail. Two neighbor ladies, the Gains sisters, arrive to see what they can learn about the disturbing events of the previous day. As the men go about the business of investigation, the women make a remarkable discovery: the motive for the crime. Set in 1917, three years before wome...
36 pages
3 m, 7 w
The fairy tales of Cinderella and Snow White are lassoed together in this high-kicking western melodrama! Goldie Miner had to give up her infant daughter, Ashabelle, 18 years ago to eke out a living panning for gold, but she thought she left her with a good family. Now she's returned with plenty of gold for her daughter but finds Ashabelle wears patched clothes and does all the stepfamily's chores. When Ashabelle isn't allowed to go to the ball, her mother fixes her right up, including a pair of new boots. The next morning Earnest Lee Feelgoode finds the bell...
61 pages
3 m, 7 w
All the ladies at the Thelma Underwood Health Resort are either trying to date Duncan, the new counselor, or plotting how to get rid of Mr. Loggins, a sinister investor with visions of turning the place into a parking lot. Well, most of the ladies are plotting. Francis is busy mugging the cab driver for his Baby Ruth. And just when Duncan makes a play for the secretary, a newspaper reporter shows up to blow the lid off the place. Ulterior motives, hidden secrets and outrageous situations boil up in this all-too-human comedy about what some people will do to l...
31 pages
2 m, 6 w
On a sunny summer afternoon on the lawn of a country estate, Desiree and her guests gather for tea. Though the conversation is witty and sophisticated, one senses that underneath all the frivolity, something is wrong -- but what? What subjects has the new maid been instructed to avoid? What is implied in the guests' covert glances to one another? Why does Desiree's daughter, who is away at boarding school, write for permission to visit a friend over the holidays rather than come home? It's not until the last few minutes of the play that the audience learns th...