Holiday Plays

18 pages

Flexible cast of 18 – 30+

Three hobos gather in New York City in the early 1900s. Winter is approaching, and they hatch a plan to get themselves arrested so they can winter in jail, where at least they will have a warm bed and three squares a day. They proceed with multiple attempts to get themselves nabbed, but each attempt fails, for one reason or another. Dejected, they wander the streets until they come to a church where they hear a Christmas hymn playing. The beauty of the scene and the power of the music prompts them to pledge to reform their lives and start afresh—and it’s at t...

54 pages

5 m, 4 w, 2 flexible, extras

’Tis the night before Christmas, and the employees at the local Shop Smart are forced to work a double shift. Soon a no-good Secret Santa with questionable intentions shows up to pay off the layaway. Will greed win out or will he get put on the naughty list? Throw in a live broadcast with a disgruntled local news anchor, a once in a lifetime mystical fog, and Santa’s giant energy weapon powerful enough to destroy Earth (Pew! Pew!), and you have a superstore full of workers ready to take down the capitalist machine and ultimately help everyone celebrate the ho...

68 pages

Flexible cast of 15 to 50

Here's a comedy package of 12 yuletide sketches just perfect to give your audience for an evening's entertainment this Christmas! Everybody in the little town of Christmas is friendly and funny and you'll meet them all, including Skeezix and Sylvester, an elf comedy team that is short in stature and long in laughter; Dancer, the reindeer with a whacky sense of humor; Mrs. Claus, the REAL boss of the outfit; and a hilarious street corner Santa, tested and almost bested by one tough little kid with a sticky sucker. Also included are old favorite stories such as...

38 pages

4 m, 4 w [1 is a teenager]

Without their knowledge, the residents of the sleepy country town of Mistletoe Ridge are about to be on national television. When TV producer Nash Adams is stranded in the town and forced to stay at the Pear Tree Inn, he meets the proprietor, Trixiebelle Partridge – and a few other colorful residents who are obsessed with the Christmas holidays. With the Tearjerker Television Network’s failing ratings, Nash Adams realizes that an undercover Christmas special about them would be the perfect solution!

Add in apocal...

60 pages

5 m, 4 w, 3 boys, 4 girls

A small group of weary travelers discover the power of the season while trapped in a lonely train station on Christmas Eve. As a blizzard rages outside, the troubled people are forced to turn to each other for companionship. Trying to make them more comfortable is the old stationmaster, Charlie. When the clock strikes midnight, there is a knock on the station door and seven youngsters appear. They've seen the station lights from the nearby church where, in secret, they've been practicing the story of the nativity which they plan to present at regular service....

69 pages

4 m, 5 w

Missing the Christmas spirit? Has the Yuletide you up in knots? Then subscribe to the Herald Tribune, where editor J.J. Garnes makes sure he uses the holiday to his own advantage, whether it be to expose the crooked mayor or sell a few more issues with just the right angle. And he thinks he finds that angle when he receives a letter from a small boy who "don't want no more Christmases." Delilah and Sarah, Garnes' assistants, are equally cynical until they find a "Wish Moose," a Christmas ornament that grants their fondest wishes. Do they believe? It's up to B...

53 pages

Flexible cast of 10 to 34

Meet a theatre troupe whose Christmas spirit sparkles far more than their acting talent! In this two-act collection of comedy scenes, amateur thespians are preparing a Christmas Eve production at the community center, but nothing is working right. Meet Jordan, who demands fresh flowers in his dressing room (the broom closet); Nicky, whose Christmas monologue is "enhanced" with all the wrong sound effects; and Red who's more than a little worried that Marley's ghost haunts the backstage. Boss, the director, is about to lose his mind! And it doesn't help that L...

64 pages

5 m, 4 w, 3 girls

"Dear Editor, is there a Santa Claus?"- a question innocently asked by 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon. Christmas was coming and all was right with the world ... until her friends mischievously fill her in on the "facts" about Old Saint Nick. Who could tell her the truth? Not her father, a doctor who is always fighting against old world cures. Not her teacher, who is already fed up with Christmas even though it hadn't arrived. So Virginia writes a letter to the editor of The New York Sun, for her father always said, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Virginia'...

55 pages

4 m, 3 w

Christmas in West Texas can be pretty drab, especially for three ranch hands who usually just decorate a cactus with painted barbed wire. However, when it looks as if their boss' ranch may be bought out from under them, Smitty, Bubba and Eddie decide they better come up with something and fast! Sara, their boss, has just about given up and is putting up a valiant front for her 9-year old daughter Jordan. "This has to be the best Christmas ever," she says to the boys. With "Santy" landing on the wrong roof, Eddie's duck getting loose, and the three ranch hands...

42 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 girl

   Father Christmas has been kidnapped! And it's only a week ’til Christmas! Facing disaster, Mother Christmas calls the Council of Fictional Christmas Characters (who have developed some humorous quirks since their stories ended) to solve the crime in this comical Yuletide mystery spoof. With bright dialogue, plot twists and comic confrontations, this show is for everyone! Mother Christmas, Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jack Frost, the heroes of O. Henry’s “Gift of the Magi” and the strange little girl Want from “A Christmas Carol” join forces to bring their Victorian-...

44 pages

5 m, 4 w - 1 optional

Detective Vic Torious is called to the Broken Leg Theatre where the leading lady has suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. The theatre’s Christmas extravaganza was her return to the stage after a long hiatus. Clearly, she did not disappear of her own volition, but where is she and who is responsible? From a visiting Hollywood producer, to a jealous understudy, to an ex-fiance, to an opportunistic scriptwriter, eight different suspects remain at the theatre awaiting detective Vic Torious’ arrival. His pun-filled inquiries take the audience on a hilarious seri...

75 pages

4 m, 4 w

In this faithful adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, a traveling troupe of commedia dell'Arte players re-create the Victorian world of “A Christmas Carol” on a bare stage. All of the many wonderful characters are portrayed by these 8 players with cleverness, skill, and comedy. Dickens, an actor, playwright, and enthusiastic theatergoer himself, used many theatrical characters in his novels, especially characters from the commedia dell'Arte tradition. The most notable of these is Ebenezer Scrooge, who is played in this adaptation by commedia's cranky bu...

54 pages

11 m, 11 w, 2 flexible, 8 boys, 6 girls.

This faithful yet unique adaptation of the Charles Dickens' holiday story begins in "another world" where Tiny Tim appears. More than just an employee's crippled son, he is a symbol of Scrooge's own infirmity. Scrooge's deceased business partner, Marley, is granted permission to return to Earth with a small but powerful army of holiday spirits on his adventure to convert the covetous old sinner into a Yuletide saint. The most popular scenes of the novel are dramatized, but especially powerful is the future scene of Bob Cratchit's gut-wrenching loss of his bel...

55 pages

4 m, 5 w, 2 girls

J. D. Morse has been looking high and low for a special Christmas gift for his grandson. Finally, as a last resort, he wanders into Nick's Emporium, an old-fashioned store chock full of all sorts of gifts and knickknacks. He has a hard time explaining to Nick what he's looking for, but finds himself falling under the old storekeeper's spell. Just when Morse is about to buy something, he runs to the street to chase kids away from his car. When he returns, he finds the store suddenly dark and quiet. A policeman then shows up to run him off because, "This place ...

60 pages

24 - 30+ flexible, doubling possible

A guy with an invisible drum, a medieval restaurant host who won’t break character, a milkmaid who just wants to get rid of some cheese, and a dancing snowflake in the world’s ugliest costume. These are just some of the characters you’ll find in “And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.”  This 60-minute holiday play weaves together 12 five-minute scenes based on the well-known verses of the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” With a basic set and hugely flexible cast from adults to children, this play uses humor an...