69 pages
3 m, 7 w, 1 flexible, optional doubling
Mary Beth Langmeyer is charged with first-degree murder after she shoots her husband while he sleeps. She claims he had been physically and emotionally abusive during their marriage, and that she feared for her life if she reported it. The case becomes a battle of personalities between the district attorney and the defense attorney as they stretch the limits of civility and flirt with contempt charges. The jury of five women and one man deliberate, ultimately finding themselves deadlocked. In the end, the audience votes as to whether the lone male juror will ...
65 pages
Widely flexible cast from 12 to 50
Here's an energetic, engaging look at how theatre developed, from the first actor to speak aloud to the idea of using scenery. The play then segues into a variety of scenes from the great plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. The easy-to-present scenes show how ancient Greek plays, both tragic and comedic, became classics because they were insightful and entertaining. Features a special music and sound effects CD (#8128T) to immerse your audience into the theatre of 2,000 years ago, available when you order your cast set. "The script is w...
71 pages
6 m, 10 w
When April McKay inherits the Smuggler's Little Theatre, her dream of launching a career on stage comes true. But no sooner does April arrive at the small tourist town to open her box office, when the dream turns into a nightmare. Her boyfriend, Grant, wants her to return to New York, where he works on Wall Street. The owner of an auto repair shop wants the Little Theatre demolished so he can expand. A mysterious teenager appears and disappears at the back of the house. During the first night of try-outs for the season opener, one of the actors drops dead. Fo...
76 pages
10 m, 10 w, 4 flexible, plus extras
Adapted from the novel by Rafael Sabatini. All of the drama and adventure of pre-revolutionary France is captured in this action-filled adaptation. Andre Louis Moreau, a young lawyer reared with every advantage in life, vows revenge when his friend Philippe is killed in a duel trying to right a wrong with the Marquis. When the King's legal representative refuses to arrest the Marquis, Moreau incites the people to rise up, and he becomes an outlaw with a price on his head. He meets up with a group of traveling actors and joins them as the dashing Scaramouche,...
61 pages
3 m, 9 w
Tycoon Willard Witherspoon has been looking for his great-niece Earnestine since she was lost with her parents in the Amazon eighteen years earlier. Though her parents died, Willard has good reason to believe that Earnestine survived. With the help of his secretary Dudley and his housekeeper Beulah, Willard launches a search for his Earnestine so he can leave his fortune to her when he dies. After a media announcement, Earnestines appear from every corner of the country, but Willard finally settles on four to invite to his mansion for the weekend. Earnestine ...
70 pages
7 m, 8 w
Maura Milton applies for a bookkeeper's job at the home of one Tyrone Bartholomew. However, she soon finds out there isn't ONE Tyrone Bartholomew but many. The spry old actor flies from one character to another whenever dealing with the outside world - and that world seems to involve secret codes, hiding people, dodging gangsters with guns, and harboring a wild-eyed lady with an ax. Naturally, Maura starts to question her career choice. By the time the police turn out not to be the real police, Tyrone seems to be the only sane one around! Audiences will be ke...
61 pages
4 m, 4 w, 5-19 flexible, extras
Shakespeare's agent options his script "Macbeth" to a Hollywood producer who wants a "few" changes to make the play more contemporary. The trouble is the producer isn't sure what changes exactly should be made. Soon Shakespeare is casting the poor witches alternately as country singers, rappers, and punk rockers, while Macbeth and Lady Macbeth perform their lines as gangsters, farmers and Goths. A member of the audience is even pulled onstage at one point to help Macbeth rehearse a murder scene. If that's not bad enough, the final showdown between Macbeth and...
47 pages
Flexible cast of 9 m, 10 w, extras (or as few as 3 m, 3 w)
The early history of flight, alcoholism, the pressure of fame, dreams failed and fulfilled, and the never-ending need for courage are the themes of this play. It’s 1932 and Amelia Earhart is on her first great flight: a solo across the Atlantic. Her tiny cockpit becomes filled with specters of memory as she relives fragments of her life, fragments which challenge her right to fame and her ability as a pilot. Scenes flow seamlessly as she interacts with her family, including her alcoholic father, with other flyers, and finally with millionaire publisher George...
72 pages
From 14 to 26 speaking roles, extras. (5 m, 5 w, 4 flex)
Inspired by the life and works of Rudyard Kipling. Celebrated author Rudyard Kipling is shocked after receiving news that his only son John is missing in action in WW I. Kipling bottles his grief, throwing his focus on a new book. Suddenly he’s interrupted by a mysterious little girl named Priyam. Charmed by her innocence, he shares his famous story “The Jungle Book” with her. As the tale of Mowgli springs to life, Kipling’s own memories of how John became a soldier start to intertwine. As truth blends into fiction, Rudyard’s memories shift to nightmares. He ...
47 pages
19-33 or more. (6 m, 6 w, 7 flexible, much doubling possible.)
Team Justice, a team of four incredibly obnoxious superheroes, must overcome a group of supervillains who have ingratiated themselves with the city council of Littleton. The villains have taken over the city by entangling its superheroes in a nightmare of tickets, citations, and bureaucratic red tape. The only way to repeal the supervillains’ nefarious legislation is for the arrogant, socially incompetent superheroes to somehow convince enough random citizens to sign a petition…without using their superpowers, which are now illegal. They must do this before t...
54 pages
6 m, 16 w (doubling possible)
Blanche Dunwitty's passionate romance novels are hot sellers. Little does anyone know (although his neighbor suspects) that the author is really one Ed Bartlett, a likable, thoroughly masculine man who chomps on his pipe when working. His identity is kept top secret because if the female fans knew, they would become violent! The only problem is the upcoming romance writers' convention. Young, attractive editor Elaine Hall is to give a speech as "Blanche" but a last-minute emergency forces a reluctant Ed to go. Dressed in women's clothes but still chomping his...
74 pages
5 m, 6 w
When Letha Gordon keeps an appointment with her ex-husband, she suddenly finds herself the prime suspect in his murder. But who would want to kill the headmaster of a prestigious New England prep school? Perhaps it's his neighbors, who have had their eyes on his property. Or maybe it's the embittered housekeeper whose son was expelled from the school, the same son who is now hiding out there because he hasn't anywhere else to go. What about the music teacher who lives in a dream world of fear and fantasy? Or could it be the victim's second wife, Letha's own s...
87 pages
6 m, 8 w, 4 flexible
Julie, an event planner, has been tasked with organizing a soccer conference at her uncle's run-down hotel. However, no one has registered, so Julie faces being fired. Dan, who has a crush on Julie, asks his sister Effy to pretend to be a world-famous soccer player at the conference to help sell registrations and save Julie's job. Effy is a wannabe actress who looks just like the person she is asked to portray, but she knows less than nothing about soccer. As Dan tries to keep Effy's identity secret, interference from an uptight bellhop, a bitter rich lady, t...
74 pages
3 m, 7 w, 3 flexible parts
Did Julie Marshall beat her fianceé to death with a fireplace poker? Her attorney, Sam Zangrillis, thinks he can prove her innocent, but District Attorney Adrienne Bancroft, a former friend and colleague of the deceased, is out for revenge. Here's a slick and suspenseful courtroom drama that will keep everyone in the audience guessing because the witnesses seem to cloud the case rather than illuminate it. Julie's main alibi, her roommate, is a single, lonely woman, possibly envious of Julie having a serious relationship. The dead man's sister, who discovered ...
66 pages
4 m, 7 w
The Dark Harbor Lighthouse, abandoned by Sheriff Wilde after his wife's mysterious disappearance, sat empty for over ten years. Now the Hanson family has moved in, but before long, strange things begin to happen in their dream house: lit candles in the windows, eerie music from the piano room, moving furniture, and a shadowy figure who walks the lighthouse tower at midnight. As Raven, the disaffected teenage daughter, and Ethan, a next-door neighbor, try to discover what dark secrets Aunt Rosemary is keeping and the true identity of little Penny's imaginary f...