Full Length (11-20 Actors)

64 pages

5 m, 4 w, 6 children

Inspired by the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Whatever became of that pale, lanky school teacher Icabod Crane after a Headless Horseman threw a pumpkin at him? Ichabod is either really angry at the way he was treated or he's dead. Or, because this is Sleepy Hollow, he may be both! This Agatha Christie-like adaptation is set in the present. The first act is a faithful retelling of the story by Washington Irving with a contemporary Ichabod living in secluded Sleepy Hollow that has not changed in three hundred years. Still consi...

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,...

62 pages

2 m, 6 w, 6 flex, plus ensemble, doubling possible

When a devastating earthquake strikes Haiti, age-old fears and superstitions rise to the surface in civilized Port-au-Prince. For Alanis Ducette, the daughter of an aid worker, it brings nightmares of her dead sister and a conviction that zombies are intruding on everyday life. To exorcize her nightmares, she enters the threatening world of Haitian vodou and black magic—and uncovers a mystery no one in her family had dared reveal. About an hour.

40 pages

11 m, 4 f, 1 Either + sprites, nymphs, reapers and sailors.

The plotting, the revenge, the tempered justice, requited love, compassion and forgiveness is all here in Shakespeare's fantasy-comedy masterpiece. This version has edited the archaic terms and unnecessary business and dialogue. Perfect for high school and college theatre departments. A special CD is available of sound effects and flute songs. (Song sample at right is "Nymphs and Reapers Dance.")

79 pages

6 m, 10 w, much doubling possible

“So you want to commit a murder.” This is the first line in a book purchased by Myron Bernhart. And here’s a guy who knows his books since he’s collected some rare ones and proud of it. That is until his nagging wife, Marge, decides to sell them. He tries to reason with her but is argued down, not only by her but the Civic Arts League, her cronies who, of course, meet constantly at their house. When all else fails, Myron realizes it’s time to take drastic action and plans it all out. Of course, his imagination tends to wander a bit--from German psychiatrists ...

59 pages

6 m, 5 w

Everybody knows that whatever you need, you can find it at Hurley Squonk's general store, the Hitchin' Post. Run by Hurley himself, who is always behind the counter, this sort of "everything store" serves as a meeting place for the locals. There's Pinch Burdett, who spends all his time hawking his wife's jams and making up stories; Mrs. Bastrop, a feisty lady who got thrown out of the town's softball tournament; and Gloria, or "Glow Worm," a romantic teen who camps out at Hurley's magazine stand. But the normal, laid-back pace changes when a young couple from...

75 pages

7 m, 6 w

Have you ever wanted to stay in an old, drafty English manor with a serial murderer and a ghost running loose in the dark? Who hasn't? Houndstooth Manor simply abounds with atmosphere. "We're lousy with it," the butler intones as he casts a suspicious eye over the paying guests, wondering who is next to be murdered. Will it be the pompous, retired Major who's always going on about how he stopped some uprising "with just a few well-chosen words and a flame thrower." Or maybe the honeymooning couple who know more than they'd like you to believe. Or maybe the fo...

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...

77 pages

Flexible cast of 13

The event begins in your theatre which is supposed to be the theatre of Pendleton Academy. Its millionaire founder, Anthony Pendleton, has passed away and the heirs learn that if they can find and follow specific clues, they will inherit the entire estate. Then comes even more startling news. Pendleton was murdered and chances are one of those present killed him and may kill again to gain his fortune. With this in mind, the heirs leave the theatre and split into three groups to search for clues. Members of the audience must choose which group to join. Three s...

68 pages

7 m, 6 w, extras. Doubling possible.

The classic story of two emotionally-stunted children who discover, through their love for a garden, and the teachings of a boy of the English moors, that the key to happiness lies in caring for others. The story opens as two British officers in India discover 10-year-old Mary Lennox alone, her parents having just died in the cholera epidemic. She is sent back to England to live with an uncle, Archibald Craven, whom she doesn’t know, in the foreboding Misselthwaite Manor. His son Colin is sickly and bedridden and his cries can be heard echoing down the dark h...

76 pages

5 m, 6 w

In this serious drama, the fairy-tale world is under a curse: Sleeping Beauty has insomnia, Snow White is on the verge of insanity, and Cinderella has lost her faith in magic. These and other fairy-tale characters have gathered in a castle for protection from a dragon which threatens to bring their "ever after" to an unhappy end. Into the midst of their despair steps a mysterious knight. The castle is divided: some think the knight will slay the dragon others doubt salvation is possible. The action builds to a final, climactic battle between the forces of goo...

63 pages

5 m, 7 w

World-famous author Charles Dickens falls asleep during an interview with London Times reporter Edwina Drood. He dreams a variety of his characters as passengers aboard a ship heading to England, but they are now in a future he doesn't quiet understand. Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella are luring Uriah Heep into a trap. Mr. McCawber is running from Madame Defarge, to whom he owes money. Captain Fagin tries to avoid the crewman Oliver Twist, who has become very adept at pickpocketing. Nancy, the barkeep, and Belle, the barmaid, are hiding secrets...

35 pages

14 characters, approx. 7m, 7 w

Here it is - an outrageous tongue-in-cheek 60-minute murder mystery that is ridiculously believable and will have your audience in stitches! It all happens when the whole arrogant family descends on Murdock Manor to witness the Colonel's reading of his final will and testament. Everyone wants a piece of the action including the big game-hunting sister, the stuffy older son, the young ivy-league son, the prissy daughter, the obnoxious grandkids and others. But the Colonel decides rather than split the estate, he'll leave it all to one person who will care for ...

50 pages

6 m, 6 w

Miss Duncan, the Stratford High School drama teacher, has always wanted to direct "Hamlet," but from the very start her production is doomed. The lead actor is a prima dona who exasperates his peers. The other actors are either jealous that they weren't cast in different roles, or clueless. On opening night the costumes still haven't arrived, the makeup is lost, and the actor who is to play Horatio calls from the hospital just before his emergency appendectomy. A member of the cast has a cousin who is a professional actor who recently performed in "Hamlet." W...

37 pages

11 characters, 4-6 ensemble

It’s 1851 and a young man walks into a Nantucket pub inquiring about how to board a vessel and go to sea on an adventure. What he finds is not the inspiring advice he bargained for. Ishmael, a hardened veteran of the sea, tells a cautionary tale of foreboding and woe about his own first-time voyage on the infamous "Pequod" under the maniacal leadership of Captain Ahab. As the story unfolds, the young man plays the role of Ishmael and is fully immersed in the retelling of Melville’s classic tale. Will the young man listen to the warning or will he choose to ve...