Community

14 pages

2 m, 3 w

Time has passed. Della and Jim, the young couple from O. Henry's short story, are now elderly. At their yearly Christmas Eve visit to a simple coffee shop, they encounter a melancholy woman. Touched by her sadness, they tell their story in a flashback scene of their first Christmas together when they each sold their most precious possession to buy the other a present. That experience changed forever their idea of buying expensive Christmas gifts. Instead they exchange the most priceless of all, love.

64 pages

Flexible cast

This 45-minute operetta, with over 15 sparkling songs, is the perfect choice for a combined grades presentation. Based on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," the parts of Scrooge, Fred, Bob, Jacob Marley's Ghost, Mrs. Cratchit and 2 Gentlemen can be played by older students while the parts of Peter, Tiny Tim, Ragamuffins, Grocery Lads and Shopping Lasses can be played by younger students. Other characters, including Angels and Festive Ghouls and Ghosts, are ideal for any age students. In addition to the even distribution of parts, the song melodies are within easy ...

12 pages

2 m, 1 w, 3 flexible, 1 offstage voice

It's Hogwarts meets Zoom!  The students of Dogwarts have their first day in Professor Snope’s virtual classroom. How are they supposed to practice the magical arts of wizardry on a computer?  What’s in Plotter’s closet? And what about this year’s prom? This ten-minute comedy was written to be performed online.

* To order:  Under “BUY NOW” select Digital Download and then select 1 Printmaster Copy.  This allows you to distribute copies to your cast and crew.  One performance is included. Additional performances are $10.

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...

24 pages

1 m, 1 w

A male nurse is facing a stalemate after years of sessions with his therapist…until today. Finally, the hole in his mind is filled by the actual memory of moments of terror. His realization? That in keeping a few co-workers and himself alive behind a blocked door, others were killed on the other side of the door while begging to be let in. It is, sadly, a story of a shooting that is all too timely. Here is a play that will open some conversations that we don’t really want to have about an issue we wish would go away. When the evening news no longer leads with...

33 pages

1 m, 2 w

This play deals with the heartache and the trauma of being old, being alone in the world and forgotten. Mrs. Delmonico, a former actress, lives in a tenement building in New York. She exists mostly in her imagination and takes her torment out on her neighbor, Mrs. Quinn. They are unable to get along in any way until this Christmas Eve when Mr. Gartch, one of the roomers whom they have never met, happens upon the scene. He becomes their catalyst - motivating them to look at things differently. Because of his being so positive and hopeful, and because he is ano...

17 pages

1m, 1w

One male actor and one female actor each play two parts that's the challenge and fun of this one-act play. All the action takes place in front of a simple park setting. First a teenage boy and girl discuss their young love, he the romantic, she the practical one. She leaves (late for work) and the actress returns as a middle-aged woman, who gives the young romantic some sage advice on love from her lifetime experience. The boy rushes off to save his girlfriend's job and the actor returns as a middle-aged British man who is wooing the older woman. Their scene ...

36 pages

2 Actors

David Radman, a young journalist, must write a story about The Vaudeville Theatre, which has recently been designated for destruction.  He reluctantly arrives at the building for an appointment with the President of the Theatre Rescue Society, but is instead greeted by Charles Grimm, the janitor.  Grimm shows Radman the magic of theatre.  During a series of theatrical explorations—in which they dance a soft-shoe, eat lunch on the backdrop, explore the props cabinet, and fence—Grimm and Radman peel away years of heartache and ang...

16 pages

2 m, 1 w

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse gather in a park to usher in the start of Armageddon. But Famine's running late and isn't answering his cell phone. Should the other three kick off the end of the world anyway? What will happen if they do? Or do they need to wait for their fourth member to maintain proper symmetry? Well, at least there are chicken fingers... 

About 30 minutes. This show contains adult language.  Substitutions are permitted.

45 pages

2 m, 2 w

The zany antics of the commedia style, with lots of bumbling, scheming, incorrigible improvisations and very physical comedy, allows just four traveling actors to create this fast-paced story of Aladdin. Arelquin, Punchin, Columbine and Rosetta portray all the many roles in the story of a lazy young boy who needs to work to help support his mother, especially since his father froze up and is standing in a forest where birds nest in his hair! Aladdin almost falls for the machinations of an evil magician, but instead he saves himself and gains access to the Gen...

50 pages

2 m, 2 w

In this faithful 1-act adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, a traveling troupe of commedia del arte players re-create the Victorian world of “A Christmas Carol” on a bare stage. All of the many wonderful characters are played by these four actors with cleverness, skill, and comedy. Dickens, an actor, playwright, and enthusiastic theatergoer, used many theatrical characters in his novels, especially characters from the commedia del arte tradition. The most notable of these is Ebenezer Scrooge, who is played in this adaptation by commedia’s big-nosed Punc...

38 pages

2 m, 2 w

Based on the short story "Twin Spirits" by W. W. Jacobs. This delicious comedy tells of Gilbert and Addie Cox, whose marriage is based on her money and headed for the rocks. When Gilbert begins to pawn household items to pay for his gambling, Addie confides in her nosy neighbor, Doris. The two women concoct a plan involving Doris' lazy Uncle Joseph. He is to pretend to be an agent from the bank repossessing the house and property. But the two men conspire to turn the tables on the women and get more money out of Addie. Addie and Doris, however, are smarter th...