One-Act Plays

28 pages

Widely flexible cast of 12

Two writers poke fun of the pitfalls and perils of producing problem plays while The Problem with Problem Plays Players act out the comical conundrums. They explore the challenges of censorship, the madness of metaphors, and the awkwardness of adults who tackle teen dialogue. All is well and witty until unexpected guests and unearthed secrets send things amusingly awry. Realizing they have become trapped in a problem play of their own, the cast and crew must scramble to escape. Will they perish in the predicament or persevere and produce a positive payoff? Th...

33 pages

8 w, 6 flex, extras, doubling possible

This is the story of a killer, her relationship to the family of the victim and her relationship to her own conscience. The play opens in a courtroom with the murder victim’s blind sister, Whitney, giving a family impact statement. Her personal sentence seals the fate of Cheek, the defendant, far worse than any court punishment of “life in prison” could ever do. “I sentence you...to see the image of my sister's face in your hands. I want your hands to be the constant reminder of the horror you saw in her face as you squeezed the life out of her...I want this ...

32 pages

2 m, 2 w, 2 flexible

You might think it's fun to be a princess like Alwida, and to live in a castle. But her castle is so lame! It doesn't even have a moat. Tired of parents who never listen and are always telling her what to do, Alwida runs away from home in search of adventure. Instead she finds Alf, the prince from a nearby country. The two hit it off at first, until Alwida's parents ground her in her tower. She escapes, but is captured by bloodthirsty pirates. Finally! An adventure! The pirates think they've taken a frail, simple girl as their prisoner, but they are about to ...

34 pages

3 m, 2 w, 1 puppet.

Y’all know of Pecos Bill, the first Texas cowboy! He was raised by coyotes, made the first lasso out of a rattlesnake, broke a cyclone down to a gentle breeze, tamed the longhorn cattle and almost married Slewfoot Sue, who caught his attention by riding a giant catfish. Unfortunately, this Pecos Bill is a little confused. Ya see, the setting is in the present at a performance of “Pecos Bill's Wild West Show,” patterned after the Wild West shows of the late 19th century. But Bill and the other performers still live in the past. They believe everyone comes to t...

35 pages

7 m, 9 w

Members of the Dream Big Society are meeting in Hawaii's Paradise Hotel for the fourth annual convention, where they can find motivation to achieve their personal dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem. And wild dreams they are: Yvonne wants to be the Queen of England, CJ wants to be a samurai, Dora wants to train dolphins even though she can't swim, and Cory wants to be a rock star, though he can't sing a note or even play the air guitar. Clare, whose only dream is to have a happy family, discovers and is befriended by the society after being jilted ...

21 pages

1 m, 5 w

Are you overdosed on teen problems, dramas about eating disorders, drunk-driving, suicide, etc.? Then this darkly humorous one-act is the antidote. Violet is in the nurse's office after having fainted that morning. One by one her friends visit her and one by one she takes advantage of them by confessing to all the ills teens are supposed to have. With a story of illiteracy, she gets the bright but mousy Moxie to do her homework. A tale of bulimia gets tomboyish Caryn to give up her car keys. A fable of drunk driving gets the uptight Kelly to bring Violet her ...

27 pages

2 m, 2 w

The road to freedom for people of diversity has not been easy in American History. Students will learn of the struggles for acceptance of a wide range of minority groups through poetry, drama, and song. Hear the stories that made America and that continue to shape our nation today. From immigration to oppression to acceptance listen to the stories of bravery and determination from the likes of heroines like Rosa Parks and brave individuals who represent Asian, Italian, Latino, Jewish and Native Americans. It has been no easy road, but students can see that hi...

19 pages

1 m, 2 w

The government has banned it, so people are buying it on dark and hazardous city streets, using it in the secrecy of their own cellars, in airplane bathrooms, in dark closets, and rebelling by the threes and fours. What is this dangerous and outlawed substance? It's chewing gum! And secret agents are everywhere. In a back alley, John, Jane, and Janice arrive to pursue their passion of gum chewing. But what secret does each hold, and why are they really meeting like this? This screaming, madcap comedy adventure is an excellent choice for competitions. About 20...

36 pages

6 m, 9 w

An ensemble group of outlandish zany actors seek to answer this question: "Why do we have a social order in which we rank ourselves from the most dominant to the least?" They attempt to do this by acting out both hilarious and serious life situations. They do this in order to answer questions presented by the all powerful Voice. Using the Socratic Method the Voice teaches by asking questions, never answering them. In trying to answer the first question they are actually delving into the most awesome question of all, "What is the meaning of life?" The answer: ...

35 pages

Flexible cast of about 15. Doubling possible, extras if desired.

Mark Polluter is an environmental disaster, and Mother Nature's overseer, a former school teacher, plans a little revenge. With a smile on her face, she turns him into a tree, then a fish, and finally a bird. In each transformation, Mark is visited by a few of the species, like Sally Starfish, an actress, and St. Louee Cardinal, a baseball-playing bird. As one of them, Mark learns firsthand the nasty effects of his human carelessness. Easy, fun costuming and lots of comedy makes this topical play perfect for touring.

16 pages

4 m, 1 w, 2 flexible

This play is written in the tradition of the great Marx Brothers movies and plays of the ‘30s and ‘40s. The not-so-famous lawyer Julius P.Milksop (Groucho) is defending Luigi and Adolph (Chico and Harpo) in court. They turn the courtroom into a circus of hilarious gags. The two are on trial for stealing jewelry from the famous Buckwalter estate. (Mrs. Buckwalter is a Margaret Dumont-type.) The stage directions for this play could never be complete, so it is up to each production to come up with business, bits, gags, etc., to fill in the gaps, thereby making e...

36 pages

7 m, 4 w, plus ensemble

Here is a retelling of Shakespeare's tale of the decline of an honorable man into darkness, a study of how far an individual is willing to go in the pursuit of power. This adaptation includes new scenes between Lord and Lady Macbeth and uses an interactive ensemble to play a variety of roles. Only the director’s imagination will be the limit for this piece. It can be staged as elaborately or as simply as desired. The truth is in the words. It was written to be performed at any venue, any time period, and with a multi-cultural cast. Movement, music, and passio...

28 pages

6 w, 11 flex

Bethany, a stressed out student, is trying to complete a school project with two less-than-helpful classmates. The three students are taken by surprise when Bethany’s phone and all of its widgets come to life. The trio soon finds themselves trapped inside of a bizarre video game filled with talking widgets, not-so-magical creatures, and a friendly chicken. Can they beat the game, return to reality, and learn how to work together more effectively along the way?

22 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible

Four speech and drama students and their coach are preparing for a tournament. Charles is the team's supremely confident extemporaneous speaker. Patty is the group's entry into the category of original oratory. Cathy is both a debater and, at least in her own mind, a talented actress. And then there's Chris Higgins, a former football player whose mother is forcing him to participate in public speaking as a way of overcoming his stuttering problem. Unable to join in the athletics that used to bring him glory, he's reluctantly joined this group, a group which h...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w

Two girls pursue art careers in New York, sharing a dingy, one-room flat. One grows sick when her paintings fail to sell. Only a vigorous desire to live can enable her to survive. She counts dead ivy leaves on a vine outside the window, convinced when the last leaf falls she will die. The morning after a fierce wind storm, when surely all the leaves will be gone, she sees a single leaf remaining. (Enjoy more O. Henry in "The New York Stories.")