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...
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, ...
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,...
58 pages
Flexible cast. With doubling 8 m, 4-5 w, 1 child.
In this retelling of Edmond Rostand's play, "Cyrano de Bergerac," Roxanne is smitten by the superficial charms of a handsome young soldier, Christian, who is new to Paris. When she tells her three friends of her "love" for this dashing fellow, they are eager to give advice on the budding romance. Roxanne is oblivious to the love Cyrano feels for her. While they have been close friends since childhood, she has never considered him in a romantic way. Cyrano and his rival Christian form a strange alliance in order to win Roxanne's heart. Even as their guard unit...
74 pages
7 m, 10 w, 1 flexible, extras
Mrs. Brown has moved to Hoke's Bluff to study rural school life. She's used to schools equipped with state-of-the-art computer labs and up-to-date technology. At Hoke's Bluff, however, high tech is an intercom system consisting of an aluminum can with a piece of string attached. On the first day of school, the sheriff shows up looking for leads to cow-tipping pranks. Her study of "these people" may be more than she bargained for. But as relationships are built, Mrs. Brown not only teaches her students a few lessons, but she learns a few of her own. And when C...
57 pages
Flexible cast of 15, extras, doubling
Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain. Sir Boss, a computer wiz, is transported back in time to the age of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After proving his "magic" is more powerful than Merlin's, Sir Boss begins to modernize Camelot. The new TV station has Morgan La Faye as chief newscaster and Merlin as the "predictor" of the weather; the Knights of the Round Table form a basketball team, the Camelot Pacers; and everyone is getting e-mail. All goes well until King Arthur and Sir Boss travel through Camelot, disguised as peasants, so the King ...
68 pages
3 m, 1 w, 5 flex; total of 9 with doubling, 42 w/o doubling
Ever forced to wait and wait…and wait? Want to scream at nonsensical bureaucracy? Then you’ll sympathize with Mr. Poosch who, after he accidentally leaves his well-made coat in the country to the North, finds tremendous hurdles when he attempts to get it back. First, he cannot obtain the right paperwork to travel, and then, when he finally arrives, it is Sunday and the country is closed on Sundays. A homeless man finds the coat and finds his luck turns around while wearing it. Meanwhile, poor Mr. Poosch finds himself broke, hungry, and laboring in the street....
68 pages
Flexible cast (40+) to a minimum of six (4 m, 2 w)
Beguiled in early childhood by his nursemaid's grim and ghoulish stories, Charles Dickens harbored all through his life a fascination with ghosts, apparitions and chilling coincidence. This play is a collection of eerie tales from the greatest storyteller of all. The stories are a lively mixture of comedy, pathos, and the supernatural and include: "The Signal-man," "The Bagman's Uncle," "The Letter From Afar," "Trial for Murder," "The Queer Chair," "Sisters From Perth," "The Portrait Painter," and "The Lawyer and the Ghost." These stories are perfect as a new...
85 pages
Flexible cast
Author H.H. Munro, also known as Saki, wrote about upperclass English society before the first World War and satirized its foibles with dark humor and acid wit. Playwright Burton Bumgarner has updated and Americanized three of Saki's stories, dramatizing their impish ironies, exquisite mischief, and O'Henry-like twist endings. All three stories, which are played before one basic living room set, may be presented for a full evening's entertainment, or each can be presented separately. (See individual listings in the One-Act Section.)
65 pages
5 m, 9 w
Joanna Garner, a caterer, has good reason for being over-protective of her 16-year-old daughter Holly - reasons she has told no one. As guests begin to arrive at an exclusive party which Joanna is catering with Holly's help, there's a phone call. A hideous, disguised voice tells Joanna she must do exactly as she's told or Holly will die. Joanna desperately tries to get Holly out of the mansion, but another call from the voice reveals her every move and gives her further instructions about adding cyanide into the food she is preparing. Which one of the wealthy...
68 pages
6 m, 8-9 w, 2 flexible
Based on the famous Oscar Wilde story, this adaptation is touching and funny. Sir Simon Canterville, the 500-year-old ghost of Canterville Manor, is suddenly faced with an English ghost’s worst nightmare -- Americans! The Otis family moves in, and Sir Simon wants them out. When 16-year-old Virginia, who wants to be anywhere but England, and Sir Simon meet, they have an instant dislike for one another. Soon, though, they find they have a very special link. Insert two rambunctious twins, a stuffy English butler, and a handsome young English duke, and this becom...
77 pages
Flexible cast of 20 (doubling possible)
It's called Camp Paradise and no wonder - it's a fine arts, a computer, and a nature camp all rolled into one! Join the artistic, the scientific, and the plain ol' back-to-nature types for a unique summer in the deep woods. Custom-design this play to your specific needs and tastes with the 21 different scenes ranging from campfire ghost stories to a first summer love. All the feelings that camp can generate - from homesickness to hilarity - can be found here. The play ends with a feeling of camaraderie as the cast sits around a campfire on their last night to...