One-Act Plays

28 pages

5-6 m, 4 w, optional extras

The Imarovas were once the royal family and held sway over the social and political arenas of the country. But a new regime gained power and the Imarova children became captives in their own home. They live under a repressive guard, yet each sibling remembers or knows a different kind of love: romantic love, paid love, love of a child and pet, and most of all, Anabella’s childlike, colorful love of life itself. It is only their family wealth and figurehead status that keep them from joining the work colonies. Today is Anabella’s fourteenth birthday and as the...

35 pages

7 m, 2 w

Hilton Cubitt, a squire, has come to Sherlock Holmes for help. Cubitt has found several messages of coded letters drawn in the form of dancing men, undecipherable to him but extremely disturbing to his American wife, Elsie. With his typical brilliance Sherlock Holmes quickly realizes the danger the messages convey, and he and Watson travel to the Cubitt estate. But it is too late. Cubitt is dead and it is believed that Elsie shot him, although it cannot be proved because she herself is unconscious, near death’s door. Holmes sets a trap for an American man ren...

34 pages

3 m, 2 w

Helen Stone, a frightened and distraught young woman, has come to Sherlock Holmes for help following the recent death of her twin sister Julia. The young women were living with their stepfather, the austere and heartless widower, Dr. Roylott. They had returned from India to Stoke Moran, his family’s dilapidated country mansion, where wild exotic animals and gypsies now wander the grounds. Helen tells Holmes and Dr. Watson that the night Julia died, her sister had run from her bedroom screaming “the band, the speckled band.” Julia was soon to be married and wo...

35 pages

14 parts. (with doubling 2 m, 1 w, 3 flexible)

Yazoo! Get ready for one tall tale of adventure as Sheriff Cyclone Malone must protect his town, Yazoo Junction, from evil pirates! The pirate captain, along with two bumbling crewmen, has somehow managed to build a submarine – with torpedoes! – and is sailing on the river outside of town. Cyclone’s gonna need help to deal with this problem. The sweet schoolmarm (and Cyclone’s gal) Cozy Dumond tries to get a message to the neighboring sheriff, but she is tricked by the disreputable Violent Lavender, captured and tied to the submarine’s periscope. Cyclone and ...

44 pages

6 m, 5 w, 2 flexible

Time and time again, we hear about ordinary people who become extraordinary human beings in the face of traumatic experiences, placing others before themselves in selfless and fearless acts of courage. During two simultaneous therapy sessions, one for students and one for staff, and guided by two grief counselors, we experience the events of a school shooting through those who experienced it firsthand. Blue stage lights mark flashbacks, and ensemble casting allows each character to tell their story. This one-act play allows directors to address the importance...

38 pages

4 m, 2 w, 3 flexible. Some doubling possible.

This play presents a new, fun version of the story of Aladdin! While Aladdin is a lazy, unmotivated young man, his sister, Maliha, is resourceful, courageous, and compassionate, looking after him upon the death of their parents. One day an unscrupulous sorcerer pretends to be their long-lost uncle. He cons Aladdin into retrieving a buried lamp and traps him in the bowels of the earth. Thanks to Maliha and a friendly snake, Aladdin is rescued by rubbing the ring the stranger lent him. The Genie of the Ring becomes Aladdin’s slave but is befriended and freed by...

48 pages

3 m, 3 w, 18 flexible, extras, doubling possible

The Queen of Hearts has demanded a rematch with Alice on the croquet lawn, but instead of fetching the girl back to Wonderland as instructed, the easily addled Dormouse has returned with a very confused boy named Alistair. Luckily, Alice has also arrived, having learned of the Queen’s summons from the Cheshire Cat, and it becomes her mission to get Alistair safely home while also enjoying a new adventure herself. Approximately 45 minutes.

24 pages

10 m, 10 w, 1 flexible

Things have been going so well in Rob and Jen’s relationship that after a few months of dating, Rob is ready to propose. His plan seemed simple enough. He’d take Jen to dinner, propose marriage, she’d say yes, and they’d live happily ever after. What he didn’t count on was everyone in the restaurant chiming in! Between the old ladies at the table next to him and the divorced man on the other side both offering varying opinions on married life, Jen can hardly answer. Throw in a sassy waitress, more eavesdropping diners, Rob’s ex-girlfriend, a lawyer, a wedding...

36 pages

2 m, 5 w, 3 flexible

"Four of a Kind" has been a hit show for years and the four girls on the show have grown up in front of a television audience. Unbeknownst to them until recently, they have been woefully underpaid by industry standards and are getting only a portion of what their "on-air" father makes.  When the studio refuses to re-negotiate, the girls take matters into their own hands during their live season finale! While holding all of the cards, the four girls re-negotiate their contract during commercial breaks at the threat of very serious plot repercussions! Approxima...