67 pages
10 m, 10 w, 3 flexible parts
Fiddledeedee! Just as beautiful young Charlotte O'Mara is starting to have a good time at Magnolia Plantation's annual barbecue, that blasted Civil War breaks out! All the eligible young men rush off to join the fight - all except Magnolia's faithful servant, Bret Butler, who suffers from fallen arches. Four years later, as the war draws to a close, the O'Maras owe back taxes on Magnolia and unless they can come up with the money, their former overseer, Carlton Creepstone, now a villainous carpet-bagger, will take it over and turn it into the Sassafras Saloon...
80 pages
11 m, 12 w, extras
The Globe actors are rehearsing Shakespeare‘s newest show, "As You Like It," when word arrives that the license has been denied. Forced to be gone for the day to deal with the problem, Shakespeare leaves star actor Richard Burbage in charge. While Shakespeare’s gone, his wife, Anne, and their two daughters arrive to help out. Soon, the elder daughter, Susanna, is falling in love with one of the actors, while the younger daughter, Judith, is trying to ferret out the spy that is trying to sabotage her father’s theatre. Anne, meanwhile, is getting into a power s...
57 pages
4-26 m, 14-24 w, doubling is appropriate.
Ivan’s greatest ambition has always been to learn the Language of the Birds. When he shows off his pet nightingale for show and tell at school, he is teased until he runs away. Seeking shelter in the forest, Ivan protects baby birds from a storm. In gratitude, the mama bird grants Ivan’s wish and teaches him to speak Bird. When his parents Mama Lou and Papa Joe find out that Ivan not only can speak Bird, but is now speaking in a heavy Russian accent, Ivan promptly finds himself sold off as a cabin boy on a ship. A band of tough girl pirates soon takes over, a...
64 pages
6 m, 8 w, and ensemble cast of 7 w or more
It’s January 1942, in the throes of World War II. Eddie, the owner of Eddie’s Auto Parts Factory in Cook County, Illinois, is struggling now that there is a freeze on the manufacturing of car parts. His secretary, Rosie, wonders if the factory can secure a government contract and be converted to make airplane parts instead— if only they can find the manpower. At a time when the radio and the mail were the main sources of information, and ration books were in every household, Rosie is willing to shed tradition, roll up her sleeves and do her part. She is chose...
80 pages
Flexible cast of 34 (doubling possible)
Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Introductions and staging by Billy St. John. One all-purpose set serves as the back for these tales of mystery and terror. Although there are five separate stories included, you can perform only three or four and still have a 90-minute to 2-hour show. One character, Poe himself, narrates the plays and ties them together. Each section of Poe's narrative is set apart so that you can change or eliminate it depending upon which plays you choose to perform. Plays include "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask...
44 pages
3 - 4 m, 11 - 14 w, 3 flexible, + extras
Welcome to the Mount Olympus Diner, where Zeus is the chef and Hera is your waitress. The food is great, but what the customers really love about the diner are the stories told there, the stories of Greek mythology. Diner Network star Sparky Guy arrives to do research on the restaurant and is treated to a variety of tales. This play features contemporary and family-friendly retellings of the myths of Hades and Persephone, Echo and Narcissus, and Arachne and Athena. A Greek Chorus of diner staff takes on multiple roles and keeps the ...
67 pages
Flexible cast (Approx. 7 m, 14 w, extras)
Gram Hawley and granddaughter Cindy Lou run the general store in Happy Hollow, deep in the Ozarks, but there is a new highway coming through and that means Happy Hollow soon will be dynamited off the map. It's discovered Gram's property contains the biggest store of natural gas ever, and a couple of crooks want to have the unsuspecting Gram sign her land over to them. Enter some folks from Hollywood who insist on making a movie about life in the hills - if they can find some money - and some snobbish California relatives who loathe every minute with the weird...
71 pages
3 m, 12 w, 2 flex and ensemble cast of 5 or more
Amelia Jones’s life is falling apart. Her father has left, her mother is usually drunk, and her brother, a high school senior before being expelled, must now try to support the family, such as it is. Then there’s Courtney and her posse who are dedicated to bullying Amelia, who finds herself with few friends. Now, another challenge. In a long-standing school tradition, each freshman must make a presentation on an American hero. Failing to choose a hero for herself, Amelia is assigned the historic female pilot, Amelia Earhart. Soon Earhart begins showing up in ...
55 pages
2 m, 9 w, 10 flex. Possible extras and doubling.
It’s the year 1890 in Saddlesore City. The Carson Hotel is a fun place to hang your hat and jist have a good ole time with friends and neighbors - playin' cards, dancin', laughin',singin', gossipin' and…drinkin' sassafras root beer by the gallons! Well, that's the way it used to be when Charles was alive but now it's just a sorry-eyed, sad-faced, ghost of a place where even the spiders are bored out of their minds! Widow Henrietta has become overwhelmed with both the duties of hotelin' and tryin' to raise Liza and Skeeter. Her once happy attitude has now turn...
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...
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...
75 pages
6-12 m; 9 w; 6 or more women as extras
By itself, the sweetness and wholesomeness of "Little Women," the story of a tomboy and her three sisters coming of age during the Civil War, might be a little too saccharine for a cynical modern audience. But this warm, intelligent play is grounded by scenes from Alcott's real life, as a daughter of an abolitionist father, as a published author in a male-dominated business world, as a volunteer nurse during the war, and as a suffragette. Woven into her novel, we see just how radical these independent girls were for their time.