Holiday Plays

50 pages

5 m, 9 w, 2 boys, 1 girl, extras

It's frantic in the Albert home. Mom is trying to direct a Christmas pageant that no one wants to be in. Dad, an obstetrician, is hoping he doesn't have to deliver any babies the night of the pageant so that he can attend. David, 12, is trying to avoid Victoria Monroe, the meanest girl in town, who insists she play Mary to his Joseph so that they can hold hands. Molly, 15, is worried and guilty when her dreaded math teacher, Miss Morris, informs her mom just how far Molly and her friends have begun harassing the new girl, Darlene. But some special Christmas m...

58 pages

7-8 m, 11 w.

In a small police station Julius Buttrum is having his usual difficult time meeting the demands of both his superior, Lt. Frank Rhule, and his girlfriend, Emily. The capture of the notorious Big Al Gang in this sleepy coastal community has touched off a panic at the station. As it is Christmas, Julius is the one who has to watch the gang throughout the holiday. However, the mild-mannered police officer is under the impression that the Big Al Gang is actually Santa Claus, his helpers and reindeer. Can Santa save Julius from his much put-upon life and bring him...

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...

40 pages

Very fluid cast. Minimum: 7 m, 5 w.

“The Gift of the Magi” is probably one of the most beloved stories for Christmas. It, along with two other tender stories by O. Henry, “The Last Leaf” and the lesser known “Christmas by Injunction,” are dramatized here, set in the framework of O. Henry’s life which in itself is a story. In the early 1900s he was one of the most widely read authors in America. O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter, was known, however, to have spent some time in jail for allegedly embezzling from an employer, and it is believed that he started writing there in ord...

76 pages

5 m, 5 w, 1 girl

“Who IS that guy?” That’s what they’re asking each other at the local police station when Santa Claus shows up handing out gifts. This Santa seems to know them all so well…but they haven’t a clue who he is. It’s not like they haven’t seen people dressed for the holidays, especially since Earlene visits costumed first as an elf and then as a big bunny. Even Chief Culpepper has been known to don the Santa suit. As if this weren’t enough to keep them guessing, state investigator Russell Brooks arrives to check on some irregularities. It doesn’t take long for Bro...

64 pages

Lead roles for 7 m, 7 w, 1 boy and 2 girls.

It's December, 1944. K-M-A-S Radio station manager Arthur Kensington hopes a special show will raise the ratings and advertising dollars, but his staff is in disarray. There's a dyslexic sound man, a poetry/drama queen, and pompous crew of actors, including one who has written a new radio play retelling the Nativity as a hard-boiled detective story. On top of that, everyone's hopes are dashed when an anticipated visit from the famous singing Andrews Sisters turns out to be the not-so-famous Epstein Cousins. Oh, and did we mention the orphans, the rival radio ...

56 pages

4 m, 3 w 3 girls, doubling possible.

Three related one-acts are woven together with scenes in a radio booth. George and Mary Williams are $14-million lottery winners. They host "Radio Riches," a local broadcast, where they receive calls and letters from people seeking money, and share stories about the people they help. The first one-act, "How Can They Call It a Fixed Income When We're Always Broke?" is about a retired man who hesitates taking a check from the Williamses, much to the wife's chagrin. In "Bus Stop Baptism," the homeless Preachin' Pearl discovers George's motives to help the poor a...

71 pages

17 m, 11 w, 7 b, 1 g, 2 teen boys, 2 teen girls, flexible carolers, party guests and townspeople

This unique and faithful adaptation of the holiday classic takes a closer look at the character of Jacob Marley and the circumstances which lead him to his decision to save his unrepentant friend, Ebenezer Scrooge. The play begins in "another world" where Marley is granted permission to return to Earth. A "small but powerful army" of holiday spirits is to accompany him on his adventure of converting the covetous old sinner into a Yuletide saint. The most popular scenes of the novel are dramatized with added bits that are not often included. The play is fast m...

56 pages

5 m, 5 w, extra children

Ray awakens from a coma to learn that the country is celebrating Christmas every month, (Hanukkah every quarter), in order to stimulate the economy. “A Christmas Carol” is constantly playing at the local community theatre, Christmas lights blaze all night, and there’s enough fruitcake to choke a camel. Ray himself is different and his bitter attitude is affecting his fiancée, Mary. When she expresses her frustration with not being able to stop the multiple Christmases, and more importantly, with Ray’s behavior, he pulls a stunt that lands him in jail. There h...

66 pages

Widely flexible cast

A father tells his young daughter a story of Ebenezer Scrooge on his terrifying and exhilarating journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas. But we do not realize until the end that the characters in this adaptation are more real than ever before. The covetous old miser who finds his heart turns out to be the little girl’s Great-Uncle Scrooge, and her father is Tiny Tim, an even kinder, more insightful soul as an adult than he was as a child. This unique adaptation, infused with popular Christmas carols, is sure to make your audience feel alive with ho...

58 pages

3 m, 6 w

Geraldine Pointer is a selfish woman whose materialism alienated both her husband and daughter. But years have passed, and something strange is happening to Geraldine. Although she never gives anything to anybody, her neighbors and friends are turning up with gifts and cards attributed to Geraldine, and in her own handwriting no less! First the cleaning lady receives a hundred dollar tip, then an old boyfriend gets a pure Italian silk tie, and finally the neighbor with the sick little boy gets money to help his recovery. Geraldine doesn't know what's going on...

60 pages

4 m, 4 w, 4 children

One Christmas Eve, as carolers gather about a fire, a young boy who cannot sleep discovers a book on his desk. As he opens it, the portraits of his ancestors come alive to take him through the journey of its story. The book, of course, is "A Christmas Carol" and in his travels, the boy meets a man on another journey, Ebenezer Scrooge in the company of the Spirits. This is a startlingly different adaptation of Charles Dickens' Christmas classic. The use of the three Ancestors to do the narration provides an active way to tell the story. These master raconteurs...