57 pages
3 m, 6 w
You think it's easy to write a murder? Just ask the Marquis Crossing Ladies Society for the Arts. They decide to do just that, especially when they find out they have to pay royalties to do someone else's play. "Anybody can write a murder," Emma tells the others, and Opaline immediately begins to try to strangle the other members "just to figure out how to do it." The ladies soon find themselves writing an "operatic murder mystery dinner theater with possible audience participation," providing no one sells fruit to the audience. Then two actual convicts on th...
83 pages
3 m and 7 w (With optional extended ending: 7 m and 8 w)
Penny Ramsey is a young woman who, like all of us, has different sides to her personality. They are personified in the story by comically stereotypical characters, collectively known as the Egos. The five Egos make up her decision-making process, which gets a lot more complicated when Penny overhears only one side of her boyfriend Matt’s phone conversation and believes he has betrayed her. It’s a stressful time for Penny, made even more confusing by the introduction of a potential new suitor named Rick and the nosy involvement of Penny’s mother (and Matt’s bo...
62 pages
4 -5 m, 4 w
“The Importance of Being Earnest” is Oscar Wilde's most perfect, and most popular, play. Since its premiere in 1895, it has given joy to generations of theatergoers. The play is often called a "comedy of manners," because in the world Wilde knew and wrote about, late 19th century British high society, manners were everything. In this play, young Jack Worthing and his good friend Algernon find themselves in a ridiculous situation after their fiancées learn they are coincidentally engaged to the same man. A glorious rendition of mistaken identity, Wilde's play ...
76 pages
7 w, 3 m
This poignantly-drawn play chronicles the life-changing events of the March family during a turbulent period of the Civil War. Marmee, the loving mother, and Hannah, the loyal housekeeper, steer the family through troubled waters while Father is away ministering. The four March daughters include Meg, the oldest who's determined to acquire the finer things in life; Jo, tomboyish yet passionate about her writing; Beth, a quiet musician; and Amy, the youngest, an artist who tends to put on airs. Their joys, sorrows, loves and losses are played against the backdr...
52 pages
4 m, 4 w
Waiting in line? Waiting your turn? You don’t have time! Here’s a comedy in six scenes for those who are time-challenged. In the first scene a desperate woman has only 20 minutes to get to the airport to catch her flight and no matter what her beleaguered taxi driver says or does, they remain stuck in a traffic jam. In a different scene, things start to get physical at a restaurant when a couple with dinner reservations (and theatre tickets!) see others entering and being seated before them. In another scene, a jumpy hypochondriac is forced to wait in a docto...
60 pages
3 m, 5 w
Six current-day ghost hunters set out to find the truth in the murder legend of Vinney Keller, a naïve teenager who was found dead in her farmhouse cellar in 1903. Historical opinion places the blame on the Keller’s hired hand: Enos Patchett, a lumbering, illiterate man in his 40s, who was with the Keller family for years. But there were other suspects as well. The ghost hunters hope to contact Vinney’s spirit to find out the real story. But for some of the hunters, truth is secondary to hyping their methods and results to increase their media popularity and ...
68 pages
7 m, 2 w
At the height of WWII with a frantic need to produce food, yet faced with a critical shortage of labor, American farmers were compelled to accept help in their fields from prisoners of war. While farmers’ sons fought men just like them in trenches and tanks in Europe, the presence of these POWs in rural America led to plenty of emotional conflict at home. Isabelle Hunt knows her husband Fred needs help with their beet crop, so he grudgingly allows German POWs from a camp nearby to work the family’s fields. Fred is furious over the food and privileges the POWs...
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...
68 pages
11 m, 13 w (with doubling 4 m, 5 w)
It is time again for the county fair in Flat Rock, Texas! In between the jelly judging, local politicin' and some extraordinary spoon playing, folks can see "Nature's Boo-Boos," an exhibit where teenager Tommy Rogers feels right at home, especially when he tries to do "Shakespeare in the Park"! Meanwhile, the Ladies' Auxiliary is hoping to collect funds for a hedge around the courthouse to keep all the dogs from frequenting it, while school supporters have set up a fortune-telling booth for money to get the school bus repainted yellow instead of camouflage `c...