Full Length (21 & more Actors)

58 pages

9 m, 8 w, 5 flexible, extras

Adapted from the play by William Shakespeare. A ship at sea is suddenly swept up in a fierce tempest. The King of Naples, the Duke of Milan, and others become shipwrecked upon a mysterious island. Unbeknownst to them, the island is ruled by Prospero and Prospera, the rightful Duke and Duchess of Milan. With their magical powers they have cast the royals upon the island with an ultimate plan. But will Prospero and Prospera's scheme be cut short by their own prisoner/slave, Caliban, who along with the drunken butler, Stephano, have hatched a scheme of their own...

84 pages

13 m, 21 w. (With doubling 5 m, 8 w. )

TELL-TALE is loosely based on the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe. It is, in essence, Poe’s last confession. It takes place in the Baltimore hospital where he lies in a delirium before his death. Poe is forced to look at his life, his mistakes, his outrageous behaviors, and, in the end, he must try to find peace. This peace in death comes by way of the only peace he had in life -- telling a story. Poe starts his story by casting himself as the dashing, tragic hero, but as the play progresses, his own memories slip from his control, turning on him and forcin...

64 pages

10 m, 3 w, 11 flexible, extras

This adaptation of William Shakespeare's zesty classic comedy remains true to the original, but with its tighter construction is more easily accessible to junior and senior high school actors. Set in Padua, Italy, in the late 1500s, the story concerns the shy Bianca and the mean-spirited Katharina, the two daughters of a rich merchant named Baptista. Though Bianca is being courted by a number of young men, Baptista announces that she may not marry until Katharina is wed. None of the men in town are willing to marry Katharina, so Bianca remains unwed, even as ...

59 pages

7 m, 9 w, 6 flexible

Life is anything but dull in the Great Okeeadokia Swamp. At Lester's Bog Mart Convenience Store, locals gather to purchase supplies, check out video rentals (a wide selection of three) or try Lester's delicious "Almost Fresh Catfish" or "Kind of Fried Chicken." The local book club has been working on "War and Peace" for months, and they're up to page 5. Young local resident Everett Mudd is trying to make a low-budget independent horror film which he wants to enter in the Sundown Film Festival. Five biology students become lost in the swamp when their professo...

55 pages

15 m, 25 w, 2 flexible, doubling

Loosely based on Dickens' "Oliver Twist." It's 1955 and young Oliver is taken from a dismal orphanage by the oppressive MacDonald family. Oliver dreams of having a family like the one on the TV series, "We Love the Brewsters," and runs away to Hollywood hoping to join them. Instead, he meets up with Nancy, a waitress at Tinseltown Malt Shop, and Bill Sikes and his band of pickpockets. Oliver has the good fortune to try to pick the pocket of the producer of the Brewster show, and Oliver actually lands a spot in the perfect television family. But just when life...

52 pages

Large, flexible cast

Here is a classic tale of courage, determination, and love. Journey back to a time when the gods and goddesses determined the daily fate of the world and all the humans upon it. In this tale we meet Odysseus as he returns to his beloved home of Ithaca. Soon he is sent by the goddess Athena to fight in the Trojan War and undergoes a journey that takes him much further - and much longer - than ever expected. Odysseus's path home from the battle is detained and crossed by many gods and goddesses, and the often dangerous creatures they have created such as the Cy...

73 pages

8 m, 11 w, 3 flexible

A student archeological dig has yielded a lot of experience and many artifacts, but little excitement. That all changes when one of the girls finds a scroll she hopes to bring back as a souvenir. But when Benny, the guide, reads the scroll for her, they find out it's a curse. Soon, strange things start happening: Queen Nefutari's mummy, whose tomb the kids had been exploring, suddenly begins to walk. Then the headmistress is murdered in the very manner prescribed in the curse. The first-time-on-a-big-case inspector who arrives can't handle anything and keeps ...

51 pages

8 m, 5 w, 9 flexible, extras

This adaptation, appropriate for middle school and high school students alike, contains much of Shakespeare's original poetry and language but with an additional female role, that of Nerissa, a gentlewoman of the court. The play, a satiric comedy about "romantic" love, features two contrasting couples. There is Benedick, a cad, who has sworn to forever remain a bachelor. But as it turns out, he meets his match when he encounters Beatrice, a strong, intelligent, witty woman. Beatrice doesn't need a man, and she doesn't want one either. Then there is Claudio, t...

66 pages

9 m, 15 w

It's the turn of the century and the late Mr. Asbury has willed each of his three grown children a million dollars...with a few conditions! Talkative William must not speak one word; shy Margaret must sing on stage; and Joseph must fall in love and marry. And the conditions must be met in seven days at a country inn under the scrutiny of the scheming attorney and the family butler, who will become rich themselves if the children fail. Also at the inn are several lovely - and lonely - young ladies who'd like to marry; their pushy mothers; a traveling showman; ...

74 pages

12 m, 13 w

Katie O'Brien and her four daughters land in America with plenty of hope and little else. They quickly fall prey to a scheming landlord, but despite this, one of Katie's daughters, Colleen, falls in love with his son -only to realize he may be as conniving as his father. Another daughter, Mary, finds herself torn between helping their desperate neighbors and keeping the trust of her family. The other daughters must cope with schoolmates who hate immigrants and a young bunch of pickpockets. Despite all the hardships, however, each of the newcomers ultimately c...

45 pages

11 m, 18 w, 8 flexible, extras and doubling

Hold on to your tumbleweeds 'cause here comes the legendary Katastrophe Kate, the most dangerous woman in the West! Whaddaya mean you never heard of her!!? Didn't ya know that Texas has a panhandle on accounta she was such a great cook?! This Tex-Mex tall tale begins when Katherine, a mild-mannered, Eastern-born and bred protegee of world-famous chef, Madame Julia Enfant, must transform herself into Katastrophe Kate in order to conquer the Wild West with her chili recipe. In a steamy cook-off at Miss Lillian's Saloon, Kate also has a little romance simmerin' ...

71 pages

7 m, 9 w, 25 flexible, doubling possible

Adapted from the stories by Rudyard KiplingHere's an energetic dramatization of the classic tale of Mowgli, the man-cub, who was abandoned as a baby in the jungle and raised by wolves. With Baloo, the bear, and Bagheera, the panther, as mentors, the growing boy has no trouble avoiding Shere Khan, the tiger, who wants to eat him. But when his two protectors leave him alone in the jungle to test his mettle, Mowgli suddenly finds he's got more trouble than he knows how to handle. The monkeys kidnap him and haul him off to the Forbidden City. Then two hyenas, who...

70 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 8 m, 14 w, extras

Teenager Jane Hastings inherits remote and creepy Wolfbane Abbey. It's a combination school and clinic for students who have trouble "adjusting." No wonder - they're werewolves! The doctor who runs the Abbey decides Jane must be driven out of her mind so he can be trustee. This isn't as easy as it sounds - even though the place is filled with more horrors than a wax museum. With two friends, Jane does her best to sort out the Abbey's problem and "curse." The characters are great fun to play in this fast-paced spoof, including bewildered police, a werewolf hun...

72 pages

Flexible cast of 32

Those wild and loveable Ozark hillfolk, the Hawleys, decide to pay a surprise visit to their California cousin, Charles "Chicory" Seabury, and his snobbish wife, Josephine. They couldn't have picked a worse time for Josephine is planning an exclusive reception for visiting royalty. After trying unsuccessfully to get rid of the relatives, Josephine decides they'll have to attend charm school. When that fails, she locks them in their rooms. But the clever hillbillies, led by Gram Hawley, are not so easily put off. On top of it all, Josephine realizes someone ha...

80 pages

17 m, 15 w, 4 flexible. With doubling 9 m, 10 w.

The life of the poor country lad, Pip, changes one day when an unknown benefactor sees that the young man is brought to London and made a gentleman. But who is behind Pip’s “great expectations,” and why is it kept a secret? By the time Pip learns the truth of his circumstances, he has gotten involved with some fascinating people and undergone a vital change of character. This adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic is an excellent choice for schools in that it stays true to the novel, including the amusing theatre scene in which a humorous heckler wreaks ha...