One-Act Plays

30 pages

18 Characters

The internet makes everything easier, whether it’s staying connected with old friends, shopping, or breaking up with your significant other. But just because online breakups are easier doesn’t mean they’re a good idea. As seen in these eleven vignettes, the results can be awkward, unpredictable, and hilarious.

24 pages

18 roles any gender. Doubling possible.

It appeared without warning on a Monday, its origins shrouded in mystery. A week later, it had vanished without a trace. But across the days between, it changed cafeteria life in ways that no one could have imagined. It was a microwave oven, so ancient and decrepit that some believed it to have come from an Egyptian pyramid. Now, in a series of hilarious monologues suitable for stage or online presentation by a gender-flexible cast of 1 to 18 performers …its story will finally be told.

36 pages

3 m, 6 w, 7-8 flexible, extras

For as long as they can remember, Alex and his friends Matt, Chad, and Chelsea have spent Friday nights fighting the undead, casting spells, and rescuing fair maidens with the roll of the dice, a little luck, and a lot of imagination.  This week they have invited a new player, Eddie, to join them. Because it’s his first time playing, he has a lot of questions through which audience members with no gaming experience can understand the action and enjoy the imagined scene that is actually a part of a fantasy role-playing game.  The teens’ goal is to return the “...

28 pages

2 m, 13 w

It’s Princess Daylight’s christening, and the blessings of the good fairies are interrupted by a wicked Swamp Fairy.  The Swamp Fairy vexes the princess with two evil curses: she will never see daylight, and her vitality will wax and wane with the phases of the moon. The good fairies mitigate the curses as much as they can. Thanks to their help, the princess will be awake at night, and the curse will be broken when she is kissed unknowingly by a prince. As the years go on, Princess Daylight’s curse seems to worsen. Her only joy is dancing in the moonlight.  F...

24 pages

1 m, 1 w

A male nurse is facing a stalemate after years of sessions with his therapist…until today. Finally, the hole in his mind is filled by the actual memory of moments of terror. His realization? That in keeping a few co-workers and himself alive behind a blocked door, others were killed on the other side of the door while begging to be let in. It is, sadly, a story of a shooting that is all too timely. Here is a play that will open some conversations that we don’t really want to have about an issue we wish would go away. When the evening news no longer leads with...

21 pages

2 m, 11 w, extras

Mr. Litel Quirt has difficulties from the start trying to maintain the gavel as the appointed foreman of the jury, composed of 11 others, all women. Each word spoken reminds the ladies of some personal incident that must be told. Tempers rapidly develop into a good old knock-down fight with Mr. Quirt at the bottom of the heap. When the door is opened by the court attendant and twelve dinners are brought in, his fears reach a climax. They are going to be kept there all night!

38 pages

2 m, 2 w

Based on the short story "Twin Spirits" by W. W. Jacobs. This delicious comedy tells of Gilbert and Addie Cox, whose marriage is based on her money and headed for the rocks. When Gilbert begins to pawn household items to pay for his gambling, Addie confides in her nosy neighbor, Doris. The two women concoct a plan involving Doris' lazy Uncle Joseph. He is to pretend to be an agent from the bank repossessing the house and property. But the two men conspire to turn the tables on the women and get more money out of Addie. Addie and Doris, however, are smarter th...

24 pages

3 m, 3 w, 6 flexible, extras

Terry Barker, an ambitious newspaper reporter, agrees to spend the night alone in a wax museum to write a Halloween feature. The small, family-owned museum is facing tough competition for tourists dollars from other local attractions, so this publicity is critical. But before the sun rises on the following day, there is a dead body and an unusual list of suspects. Could the murderer be the owner himself or his brother, who never speaks because he has a "condition"? Perhaps the two over-zealous young employees are guilty. Everyone, it seems, has a secret...per...

29 pages

7 m, 12 w

Stanley, an aspiring American writer vacationing in Paris, creates a wonderful assortment of characters to escape the recent downturn in his relationship with April. On the sidewalk of a busy café Stanley encounters several intriguing women, foreign spies, and an angry gendarme, but none can help him forget April. Even his buddy Art is of no use, running off with the April character Stanley has created. Can the real April bring Stanley back to reality? Your audiences will delight in the explosion of colorful characters and the imaginary efforts of Stanley to ...

29 pages

4 m, 3 w and 1 m, 2 w

Here are two short, comic plays that have won high school state festivals and competitions: THIEF BETWEEN THE FLOORS (4 m, 3 w) What would you do after the elevator stopped, the door locked, and someone said "Hands up!"? A thief robs everyone in the elevator, but they talk him out of keeping their money and valuables. They then use the same possessions to bribe the thief into saying they were the heroes. About 15 minutes. THREE IN AN ELEVATOR (1 m, 2 w) A man and his wife are stuck in an elevator with the man's first wife. The problem is that he never told hi...

20 pages

6 m, 6 w, 1 flexible

As auditions for the school play begin, members of the drama club hear a voice from the back of the auditorium claiming to be the director, Mr. John Shakespeare - a character they made up to get permission to put on the play! The plot is complicated by the unrequited love of several of the students, a club member who lapses into characters from plays mentioned and the possibility the Mr. Shakespeare might be the ghost of Alice's father! Since some of the exits, entrances and character positions are in the rear of the auditorium, the audience is drawn quickly ...

31 pages

15 flexible characters, approx. 6 m, 9 w, doubling possible.

The Countess Dracula needs money badly, so she's allowing a movie to be filmed at her castle. Everybody's excited by the prospect, especially the kids, Doug and Donna Dracula; the castle muscle men, Wiener and Schnitzel; and the attorneys who arranged the deal. But when the loud movie director, the catty actresses, and the bubbly dancers enter on the scene, there's plenty of chaos and the Countess is stricken. There's a quick trial and justice is handed down Transylvania style, with gravely funny complications. 40 minutes.