Holiday

69 pages

4 m, 2 w

It’s Christmas Eve, and the interstate in Virginia has closed due to major snowstorms.  Frank, a brash billionaire businessman, and his secretary Kristine – who’s not the “sharpest bulb on the tree” – are forced to seek shelter in a highway rest area.  They are soon joined by Tom, a hitchhiking wannabe country music singer, and Mary Beth, a young, very pregnant widow.  Of course, Charlie, the rest area janitor, is stuck there even though he just wants to get home to dinner. 

But this ...

56 pages

7 m, 7 w + ensemble. (Some doubling possible)

This much loved tale is mostly known as a ballet. However, it began as a classic story of literature by a German author, E.T.A. Hoffmann. The story involves an eccentric inventor whose nephew has been turned into a nutcracker doll by a curse. In order to break the enchantment, the Nutcracker must destroy the Mouse King and find the love of a maiden even in his wooden state. Clara, the inventor's godchild, receives the Nutcracker as a Christmas gift and falls instantly in love with the wooden doll. In a fantasy world, where all the toys come to life, Clara hel...

53 pages

Flexible cast up to 42

Here is a holiday treasure with a beautiful variety of music, from the cheery "A Fifteen Shilling Christmas," and "The Fezziwig Ball," to the dramatic "Link by Link," and "Make Each Day Count." There's also the bright song, "The Spirit of Christmas," and the unforgettable closing number, "God Bless Us, Everyone." The story stays close to Dickens' original novel in dialogue, but adds additional speaking roles for great casting flexibility. Along with the hard-hearted Scrooge, the Christmas Spirits, the Cratchit family and the beloved Tiny Tim, there are carole...

26 pages

2 m, 5 w, 3 flexible

This time it's not Ebenezer Scrooge but his grandson, Engelbert, who is "bah humbugging." The fun begins when the first ghost, a lovely young lady, pops in, intent on showing the crotchety old executive a grand tour of Christmases past. Add to this merry melange another two ghosts, a snippy secretary, and carolers, and the result is a hilarious situation that Dickens couldn't possibly have foreseen. One act.

42 pages

3 m, 3 w

Amber has invited her whole family to her new home to have the "perfect family Christmas." She has decorated her house, carefully planned the meal, and even ironed her shoelaces! Once her brother, sister, parents, and curmudgeon of a grandfather show up, though, nothing goes right. When a last-minute accident prevents Amber from making Christmas dinner, it falls upon her kitchen-challenged siblings to take up the slack, with hilarious results. Just when the dinner can't get any worse, it ends up with a twist or two that makes it, indeed, the perfect family Ch...

48 pages

Flexible from 16 to 33+ including some speaking roles for children

In this modern reimagining of Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," a struggling theatre company is rehearsing a Christmas show. Carol, the hard-driving real estate agent who owns the building, interrupts, demanding rent. Later, in the empty theatre, deceased business partner Marlene appears to Carol, foretelling that three spirits will appear. Throughout first two, a sage child who speaks in Victorian slang and a gregarious game show host who forces Carol to play along, Carol still remains unmoved. It isn’t until she is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future that ...

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...

41 pages

13 m, 11 w, 4 flexible, extras, much doubling possible

Every month many look to their calendars and start counting down the days until the next holiday. But what about those who are working behind the scenes to make these holidays great? What about the everyday problems of Cupid, leprechauns, and the New Year's Baby? Do we ever stop to think about their needs? Their wants? No! And that's why they're on strike. Journey through the bizarre, strange, and riotously funny underbelly of the holiday world as the icons we all know and love go on strike in this comedy. See what happens when hunters try to shoot down Rudol...

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...

36 pages

2 m, 7 w, 3 boys, 2 girls, optional extras.

Two ladies in a rest home are arguing. Florence, who has never had a real family Christmas, fantasizes that a family would come along and take her in for the holiday, but of course no family would put themselves out that way. Yes, they would, says her roommate Myrna who has had years of storybook Christmases with her five children. To prove their differing viewpoints, they invent the fictitious Genevieve, a little old lady in a rest home near Myrna's children in Idaho. If one of them will agree to take “her” in, Florence will really believe in Christmas. Dram...

32 pages

Approx. 15 m, 15 w, much doubling possible

Here's a delightful and easy-to-do version of Dickens' Christmas story, faithfully adapted for young people and their families. Originally written as a touring show, it is adaptable to any theatre or stage facility. All the beloved characters and scenes are included: Scrooge and Cratchit in the counting house; the Ghost of Christmas Past; Scrooge’s sweetheart Belle at the Fezziwig ball; the Ghost of Ghost of Christmas Present and the Cratchit home with Tiny Tim; and even the sensitive scenes at the pawn shop and graveyard. Of course, there’s the happy ending ...

26 pages

1 m, 3 w, 1 flexible, 1 boy, extras

Goldie, Frank, and Myrna, three counselors at an emotional helpline, have devised a way to have Christmas Eve off this year. They have engaged Thomas Wellmore, a charming but self-centered Wall Street type, to man the phones. He willingly embraces the opportunity to “balance his karma” and “do something real at Christmas for those less fortunate.” As the evening wears on and no one calls, he becomes increasingly irritated and his true character is revealed. Then, at the stroke of midnight, a cleaning woman enters with her young son, Christopher. Though the ey...

57 pages

Flexible cast and performance time

Here are four plays tailor-made for traveling with minimal props and scenery. In "The Christmas Caper" (9 parts), Santa is kidnapped by a little-known fairytale character who just wants to be popular. In "The Night of the New and Improved Christmas" (9 parts), a Madison Avenue public relations firm wants to update Santa and the whole holiday tradition. In "Christmas With the Cratchits" (8 parts), Tiny Tim's family is ecstatic when they think they've won the lottery. In "Million Dollar Christmas" (11 parts), three of the most miserly people ever known must giv...

15 pages

9 to 18 students

The Christmas Stockings, Sugarplums, Snowflakes, Rudolph, and Santa Claus have decided they are tired of hearing "I want, I want." Children just never give them a break. They are going to strike. But when a serious accident occurs, everybody does a complete about-face, and once again the real meaning of Christmas is accentuated. One act.

17 pages

6 m, 6 w, extras

Poor Santa is being tried in court for breaking and entering, unfair interstate trade practices, illegal parking, unfair wages, and flying with no flight plan. Witnesses are cross-examined by the attorneys and the jury takes very little time to reach a verdict. One act.