One-Act Plays

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  Paper Cuts New Release

Comedy by Ken Preuss

26 pages

3 m, 5 w, with some flexibility


Three comedic short plays featuring mixed-up love letters, messed-up decorations, and misplaced notebooks, lead to big laughs and moving reminders that relationships unfold in unexpected ways.

 

"After Math Aftermath" (1m, 2w) When Alice’s plans to deliver her secret admirer poem to Dylan go awry, her best friend, Gabby, jumps in to save the day.

"Pinning Punning Pining" (1m, 1w) While preparing decorations for a dan...

  The Recruiter New Release

Fantasy by Brent Holland

22 pages

10 gender flexible roles


Hannah has less than an hour to convince a group of young adults that the world is about to end and their only hope for survival is to travel to the future. Her answers are brief, and they only lead to more questions. The others try to process what she is saying. Ultimately, they must decide what’s important and what matters the most to themselves and to the survival of humanity.

 

  So Rude! A Riff on "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" New Release

Comedy by James Venhaus

31 pages

2 m, 4 w


“So Rude!” is a modern adaptation of the Rude Mechanicals scenes from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Erin is the leader of her high school drama club, and her senior project is to mount a production of “Pyramus and Thysby.” Everything that can go wrong does, from missing actors, flubbed lines, and malfunctioning costumes and props. By the time the curtain goes up, it could be a triumph or a tragedy. Or both!

  Super Spies & Pizza Pies New Release

Comedy one-act by John Shanahan

42 pages

10 or more actors and extras


Things are about to get weird at Picka Packa Pizza. Word is out in the spy community that super-spy Jamie Gold is coming to this hole-in-the-wall pizzeria to pick up top secret documents. The problem is, Gold is a master of disguise and could be anyone, from average customers to the picky eater who can’t decide what to order to the new delivery person who’s got the worst luck in the world. But that won’t stop two teams of rival snoops from trying to make a name for themselves by getting the best of Jamie Gold! Their only clue is that instead of a password, Go...

  Tips More Than Appreciated New Release

Comedy by Elizabeth Jiede

26 pages

6 m, 4 w


Quirky family-owned restaurant Jimmy’s runs a little…oddly, especially to Zoe who has never worked in customer service. She walks in hoping to be hired, but her first day is nothing like what she expects (or what long-time employee Cameron describes). Between the guy at one table flirting with her, a group of crazy frat boys acting wild in public, an old man who won’t stop telling “back in my day” stories, and the awkward fighting between a married couple in the corner, Zoe has no idea what to do. Should she stand her ground to wait for her well-deserved tip ...

  110th Street Station

Drama by Burton Bumgarner

28 pages

3 m, 6 w


During the wait for the next subway train, the assembled characters think only of their own plights. There's Estelle, an eccentric woman who sits in the station doing cross-stitch and talking with Grover, a street person; Julia, a wealthy woman whose expensive car has just broken down and who is in a hurry to meet her husband; Calvin, a spoiled brat who is supposed to be meeting business associates of his father's at the airport; Marta, a recent immigrant on her way to a new job in a sweatshop; a novice nun with doubts about her vocation; Jan and Jill, musici...

  65 Mustang

Comedy With Heart by Burton Bumgarner

41 pages

With doubling: 4 m, 4 w


Set in and around a 1965 Ford Mustang, the play is made up of five scenes, each a decade apart. Each scene depicts events in the lives of people who own, drive, or come in contact with the classic car. Actors portray parents, young children, punks, spoiled brats, criminals, policemen, and winners and losers of all varieties. Throughout its existence the Mustang encounters newlyweds, birth, death, a devastating flood, destruction and restoration. From the first scene when Nicholas, a teen much too poor to ever own such a car, to the last where his grandchildre...

  The Actor Games

Comedy by Wade Bradford

32 pages

13, plus extras


In this dystopian/Hunger Games parody everyone is starving...for attention! Society's obsession with all things drama has become so distracting, the Capitol has outlawed all auditions and has divided the population into ten districts: Greek Tragedy, Shakespeare Drama, Commedia Dell'Arte, and others. During the annual Actor Games, a tribute from each district competes to become a star. The losers must suffer the fate of the Fallback Wheel. This year, Meryl hopes to become the first ever winner from High School Drama. Unfortunately, the odds are never in her fa...

  The Actor's Nightmare

Comedy by Alan Heckner

31 pages

Flexible from 5 m, 6 w, to as many as 8 m and 14 w, not including extras.


The title says it all, and every actor and actress who has ever graced the stage knows it all too well. Bobby, Danni, and Christina are three high school students who share the same bad dreams of forgetting their lines, blanking on their monologues for a big audition, looking foolish in a death scene, or being in a really bad play where you don't even know what it is or any of the cast members in it! They stumble through the ridiculous scenarios by any means necessary, improvising and freaking out at the same time. Chaos and calamity reign supreme as they dea...