Community

67 pages

3 m, 3 w

Lois Lancaster is a big-city journalist writing about the current state of mental health facilities. Her research takes her to a hospital populated with a unique group of quirky inmates who imagine they are crime-fighting superheroes. Speed Freak thinks he can run at incredible speeds, while Dim Bulb, the most enthusiastic person on the face of the earth, thinks he has the ability to turn off lights with his brain. Mental thinks she can read minds, despite being prone to sudden outbursts of bizarre non-sequiturs. Kevin, much less quirky and flamboyant than th...

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...

22 pages

2 m, 3 w

A mysterious storyteller leaves a grisly talisman with a Midwestern farm family, assuring them that it will grant them three wishes, but warning them to pitch the monkey's paw on the fire, as it will bring them nothing but death. The father makes the first wish, but even good is twisted into evil as the family's lives spiral hopelessly out of control. (Excerpted from the author's full-length play, "Fright Night.")

62 pages

4 m, 3 w

What do you do to prepare for a visit from your parents? Plenty, when you're the daughter of strict Italian Catholic parents who expect to meet your female roommate, who is actually a guy. John was hoping to celebrate his and Maria's two-year anniversary as housemates by proposing to her. Instead he finds himself as "Suzanne" wearing a dress and trying to cope with Maria's cranky father, her overbearing mother and her wild younger sister. Then there's Maria's old childhood friend who tries to make his move on Maria as well as "Suzanne." Add John's trouble-mak...

55 pages

6 m, 9 w

Who would suspect that before the live telecast is over for the TV quiz show "It's a Living!" the hardest problem to solve would be, "Who killed Tony Fabrizi, the show's sponsor?" And why was he murdered? Was it for the now missing diamond bracelet he had brought for the commercial, or was he shot for personal reasons? Homicide detective Lt. Jim Slate, along with Amanda Maxwell, a little old lady amateur sleuth, discover that most of the TV show's cast had motives to murder the man - including his Italian wife with a fiery temper. Rounds of the fictional game...

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...

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...

30 pages

1 w, 12 flexible

A famous doctor, who is destined to make a world-changing discovery, has been killed in a car accident, and two angelic members of the “Representatives of Order” have 48 hours to assemble a group of possible candidates to reverse time and save the doctor’s life. The price? Three of the candidates must be willing to serve as a substitute, trading their lives for his.  What would you do for the greater good? The eight people must quickly decide during a hearing where the “Forces of Chaos” are working against them, and all are adjudicated by the ominous “Judgeme...

65 pages

8 m, 9 w, doubling possible

"All we want is a simple wedding," agree Mark and Colleen as they get engaged. And their simple wedding stays simple, for about two minutes. Then the families get involved. There's the McMasters, who think the Frobishers are a bunch of snooty dudes, and the Frobishers, who picture the McMasters as a crowd of hillbillies. The bride's father keeps offering the soon-to-be-wed couple thousands of dollars to elope, "No questions asked!" The bride's mother decides to call in her sister, who is a sweet, lovely woman, until she becomes "The Coordinator, " a drill ser...

40 pages

4 - 5 m, 4 w

Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” gets turned upside down in this sequel ... of sorts! Far from the Gothic mood of the original story, this is a broad comedy-mystery with a little bit of the macabre thrown in for fun. Some characters from the original story, as well as a few new ones, are now trapped in a different mansion. They’ve been called together on this dark and stormy night by a mysterious host for a reading by Poe. The guests are unknown to each other, yet there must be a connection because one by one they disapp...

15 pages

6 w

Six alert and active senior ladies go on vacation and rent a condo with only one bathroom. From trying to get all of their luggage into one minivan, deciding who sleeps where and what to eat, to finally selecting the activities, life gets wild and silly, all intensified by lack of sleep. About 20-25 minutes.

Also join the ladies in these other comedies: "Ladies at Lunch" (#1648) "Ladies at Poker" (#1816)

56 pages

5 m, 7 w

Control freak Amber is getting married to easygoing Scott, and she's going nuts trying to organize the perfect wedding. Her goofball siblings Keith and Frankie aren't helping, and her pushy mother won't listen to her. Then Mom comes up with an inspired idea: a double wedding with Amber and Scott, and with crabby Grandpa and his slightly senile girlfriend Bonnie. Keith, entrusted with finding musical entertainment for the wedding, mistakenly hires two exotic dancers (and accidentally proposes to beefy bridesmaid Donna along the way). Amber's frustration mounts...

75 pages

4 m, 4 w

In this faithful adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, a traveling troupe of commedia dell'Arte players re-create the Victorian world of “A Christmas Carol” on a bare stage. All of the many wonderful characters are portrayed by these 8 players with cleverness, skill, and comedy. Dickens, an actor, playwright, and enthusiastic theatergoer himself, used many theatrical characters in his novels, especially characters from the commedia dell'Arte tradition. The most notable of these is Ebenezer Scrooge, who is played in this adaptation by commedia's cranky bu...

54 pages

11 m, 11 w, 2 flexible, 8 boys, 6 girls.

This faithful yet unique adaptation of the Charles Dickens' holiday story begins in "another world" where Tiny Tim appears. More than just an employee's crippled son, he is a symbol of Scrooge's own infirmity. Scrooge's deceased business partner, Marley, is granted permission to return to Earth with a small but powerful army of holiday spirits on his adventure to convert the covetous old sinner into a Yuletide saint. The most popular scenes of the novel are dramatized, but especially powerful is the future scene of Bob Cratchit's gut-wrenching loss of his bel...

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 ...