Full Length (11-20 Actors)

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...

43 pages

4 w, 4 m for small cast; 8 w, 7 m, 2 flexible for large cast

Melisande dreams of catching a unicorn, Ana dreams of capturing the perfect sunrise, River dreams of finding the all-consuming love of his life, while Kristi seeks to unlock her love. These are just a few of the stories of love lost and found in “A Day of Dreaming.” We meet young people with powerful dreams which they write in a Dream Journal that is nestled in a covered bridge (which exists today in Winterset, Iowa). There is always the hope that if they write down their dreams, they will come to fruition. The stories run the gamut from forging new connectio...

59 pages

7 m, 8 w, extras

   El Fuego, a hot sauce empireowned by the Cienfuegos family for generations, has recently been falling victim to the newer, sleeker Hielo Azul, a corporate giant that wants to crush El Fuego for personal reasons. The Cienfuego family includes Violeta, the matriarch with dark family secrets; Hector, the wandering vagabond who left the family and the business many years ago but has suddenly returned; Julio, the playboy son and heir to the empire; and Margarita, his brilliant and bookish twin sister. They, along with Julio’s supermodel girlfriend and Margarita...

72 pages

7 m, 11 w, doubling possible

Hawthorne's masterpiece comes vividly alive in this adaptation which begins at the gallows as Colonel Pyncheon greedily steals the land of Matthew Maule to build a magnificent house. But with his dying words, "God will give you blood to drink," Maule curses the Pyncheon family for generations. A hundred and fifty years later, Hepzibah Pyncheon, an aging old maid, is forced to open a cent shop in the now decrepit house to keep herself and her child-like brother from starving. It seems all hope is lost for the family. But that's precisely when pretty, 17-year-o...

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 ...

51 pages

Widely flexible cast (14 or more)

Kipling's dramatic and entertaining stories about how the Camel got his hump, how the Elephant got his nose, how the Whale got his spout, and other richly woven tales come to life in this engaging full-length play. Mr. and Mrs. Kipling and their two bubbly yet unpretentious daughters serve as narrators. The story weaves from several animal tales to the final human one, how Man-or in this case an enterprising young girl!--wrote the first letter. Especially engaging is the two-person whale which is a great theatrical device. Easy to produce, this whimsical play...

44 pages

Minimum 2 m, 7 w; maximum 3 m, 12 w, 1 flexible

Getting old feels like the end … especially for Margo. She’s worked hard to build her career and her life with husband Lars. But her 30th birthday isn’t what she planned. Already late to her own party, she and Lars quickly eat the last of the food before greeting guests. In hindsight, the crab salad may have been a little off … Apparently WAY off! Now they must start over in the after-life. But before they can rest in peace they must find a house and help the occupants. With the help of a celestial guide, they view three houses. There’s the far-out beach bung...

46 pages

5 m, 4 w, 1 flexible, extras

This tale of King Arthur's boyhood opens with a band of medieval actors arriving at a village. The role of Arthur falls to an inexperienced apprentice, unsure of his abilities. The play follows Arthur as he grows up in Sir Ector's castle with Merlin the Magician as his teacher. Morgan le Fay, with her servant Niniane, attempt to break through Merlin's protective barrier to harm Arthur before he ever becomes king. On his way to the climactic tournament where the new king will be crowned, Arthur must undertake a perilous journey through the forest where he meets a dragon, a damsel in distr...

47 pages

10 m, 15 w, or with doubling 6 m, 6 w

This is Ruben Delgado’s final day in New York City. He left home eight months earlier to seek his fame and fortune, convinced he could sell his 896-page novel, but all he found was rejection. As he retrieves his single box of possessions and his original manuscript, he sees his car being towed. In an attempt to stop from losing his means of escape from the city, he tosses his unbound manuscript out of his 23rd floor apartment window. As sheets of paper rain down on the city, we are transported into the novel one page at a time. There are now three interwoven ...

68 pages

3 m, 11 w

As the Nazi noose tightens around the neck of the common German, the effects are felt even in a classroom at the Scholoss Strasse School for Girls. Dorchen Werth, a young teacher just beginning her career, sees her students as a microcosm of society. Eleanore is in love with the local Hitler Youth leader; Hilde is a hard worker who strives to protect her young sister, Gertrude; Lilli is desperate to find a man who will show her affection; Paula has aspirations to attend the university; Renita is afraid because of her heritage; Annabelle is torn by divided loy...

48 pages

18 flexible parts, doubling possible

The play takes place during a graveyard shift in a big city police booking room where alleged criminals' mug shots are taken by two cops, a hardened veteran and a rookie on her first night. Some of the "criminals" include an African-American graduate student who infiltrated a meeting of the Klan; a drunken driver who caused a fatal accident; a pistol-packing pizza delivery woman; a husband who helped his dying wife commit suicide; a raving husband obsessed with the talk-show host who has influenced his newly liberated wife; and others. Pathetically, tragicall...

45 pages

7 m, 8 w, 5 flexible

Finding a prom date is tough in a normal world, but in a world dominated by the Queen and King of Teens and all their teen spirits, it's nearly impossible. In this side-splitting send-up of the Shakespearean classic, four teenagers only want to attend the prom with the teen of their dreams. Mia wants to go with Lyle but her father insists she go with Dean. Mia detests Dean but her best friend Helen adores him. Yet Dean wants nothing to do with Helen. Mia and Lyle decide to sneak off to attend another school's prom but to do so must sleep in the woods overnigh...

56 pages

Flexible cast: 9-30 actors.

Gather ‘round, friends. Here are four Appalachian folktales your audiences will love … and your actors will love performing, too! Our favorite folk hero, Jack, appears in all four stories: “Jack’s Mother’s Second Marriage,” “Jack and the Mean Old Man,” “Foolish Jack,” and “Soldier Jack.” All four tales are fast paced and humorous, and still hold true to the oral traditions of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In fact, playwright R. Rex Stephenson gathered some of the material from the archives of the WPA Virginia Writer’s Project and some tales from interviews with l...

61 pages

9 m, 6 w extras

Wilhelm Frankenstein, last remaining heir of Victor Frankenstein, has come into the possession of Victor's notes. Having recently suffered the loss of his young wife, he becomes obsessed by the idea of re-creating her by following Victor's methods. A young medical student, Jurgen Bruchner, discovers Wilhelm's plans and begs to help him. However, as the task nears completion, Jurgen begins to have second thoughts about the morality of their work. In a dramatic laboratory scene, the "bride" is created. Having been made of many different parts and memories, Wilh...

77 pages

8 m, 6 w, 1 flexible, optional extra women

Not entirely happy with the way "Romeo & Juliet" ended, Prince Escalus decides that everything would’ve been better had the two famous lovers lived and the ending of Shakespeare’s classic is rewritten. With Romeo and Juliet alive and their fathers agreeing to end their vicious feud, it appears that we finally have a happy ending. Preparations are made for the couple to renew their vows in front of both families to cement the new peace. Will they live happily ever after, or will the fickleness of being a teenager – coupled with Romeo’s knack for getting th...