One-Act Plays

32 pages

12 Actors

The best and brightest young adults and college students are invited to apply for their dream job. Applicants for this government job are tasked with seemingly simple games in order to advance to the next round. But they soon find out failure has severe consequences. Dr. Kellas explains what is being asked of them and the large reward that awaits the lucky one. What will each applicant do in order to secure their promising future? This show requires very little set, few costumes, and is entirely gender flexible. It is perfect for one-act competitions. About 3...

25 pages

1 m, 1 w

Trying to start over after a recent tragic loss, Nicholas has just moved to a new school. He is socially awkward and just needs a friend, so he reaches out to the girl in the corner, who silently writes in her journal. Slowly, they begin to build a friendship. Though it takes time to open up about it, a school shooting has taken the lives of each of their siblings. But when the girl, Ali, reveals her last name, Nicholas realizes her brother was the shooter. This play does not have easy answers but explores the anger and loss in the aftermath of a shooting and...

36 pages

2-3 M; 8 F; 2 flexible; plus ensemble

In this brilliantly updated tragedy "Blood Wedding" by Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca, we follow the passion and obsession Leonardo and the Bride have for each other. It also explores how the different relationships between mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and lovers interweave into one explosive confrontation where the only clear victor is Death. In this version Death shadows the story every step for the inevitable conclusion that unchecked passion ignites. This dual-language version allows directors to incorporate both E...

34 pages

3 m, 3 w, ensemble

It’s the summer of 1974 and local teen Larissa has discovered that rock musician Paul McCartney has secretly rented a farm just outside Nashville for a few weeks. Larissa camps out on the farm, watching through her binoculars for Paul, certain that his presence in her small town means all sorts of miraculous things are sure to happen. But Larissa has a secret of her own and her need for a miracle becomes the focal point of the summer of ‘74.

20 pages

1 m, 1 w, 1 child, 6 - 16 flexible roles

When Thomas hurriedly flushes the deceased family goldfish down the toilet to replace it with a new one while his young son, Lewis, is at school, he receives a knock on his front door. Greeting him is a golden-clad warrior claiming that he and his Viking-like associates knew and fought alongside the deceased Stanley (the goldfish). With his living room now invaded by these unusual warriors demanding to have the funeral in his house, Thomas must make them leave before Lewis and his mother come home. All just because of a dead goldfish. About 35-minute runtime....

30 pages

Flexible cast of 12 or more actors.

While on a school trip to the local museum, three high school friends find themselves in a restricted area. In this room the students discover a statue of Pandora and her famous box. The box is opened and three creatures - Famine, War, and Disease - are released into the world. With the help of a mysterious guide, the three friends must fulfill the wish of the creatures to return everything back to normal.

40 pages

Cast of 22+ (3 m, 6 w, 3 flexible, ensemble of 8-10)

Influence(rs) follows middle schooler AJ Ryan as she embarks on a surreal guided tour of her own past, led by the creators of Mythical Mayhem, her favorite podcast. With their unique blend of humor and storytelling, the podcasters help her revisit pivotal moments in her past: a new school, a bereavement, and a social media calamity. Along the way, she discovers the power of perspective, forms a bond with her alter-ego AJ2, and begins to understand how her choices influence her path. With relevant contemporary themes, just the right balance o...

30 pages

7 w, 7 flexible, ensemble of 8 or more

A group of students enrolled in a technology-free wilderness camp find themselves lost in the middle of the woods. As darkness falls, a mysterious counselor that wasn’t introduced at orientation finds the students and sets up camp with them. Around the campfire, the students and counselor share ghost stories and tales of the mysterious creatures of the forest, like sasquatch and the chupacabra. But not all creatures are big and scary. Gnomes also appear and explain that they are guardians of the woods. Will the campers ever get out of the woods? When the real...

19 pages

5 w

In a sunny suburban living room, circa 1960, five women gather for tea. Hostess Bettie has sent friends Bonnie, Bunnie, and Bootie out to see her garden – a ploy which allows Bettie to share a juicy tidbit of gossip with the fifth woman, Darla. It seems that the “man-crazy” Bonnie once again disgraced herself at the bridal shower which all five recently attended. Darla listens obediently but is plainly reluctant to be made the keeper of secrets. The others return, and now Bonnie button-holes Darla and relates a similar tidbit concerning the “sweet but dumb” B...

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...

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.

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!

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

36 pages

Cast of 12 plus ensemble. Most roles are gender flexible except for those noted. Doubling possible.

James, a young boy, suffers from Angelman Syndrome. This neurodevelopmental disorder causes problems with speech and mobility forcing him to spend his life in a wheelchair. The story shifts from James’ imagination where he dreams of being a superhero called “The Amazing Angel-Man” to the real world, where the realities of his condition have a serious impact on his family, particularly his father. As the play progresses, these two separate worlds start to overlap, leading to an uplifting resolution that upholds the values of hope and imagination. The play was ...

40 pages

5 m, 9 w, 1 flexible

Ten students from across the U.S.A. compete for the title of “America’s Next Top Model Student” in the latest TV reality show. Host Myra Thanks and the show’s judges, M’Lady Andrews, Judge Julie, and Mr. Blaine Rose, put each student to the test in a series of bizarre and hilarious challenges that hardly have anything to do with their scholastic aptitude. One by one, the students are eliminated and “expelled” from the classroom competition. No one goes down without a fight and some are even taken away literally kicking and screaming. The off-the-wall challeng...

25 pages

2 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

Remy's scene partner refuses to perform and Remy’s grade is on the line. Her backup plan is to have her sister do a scene with her but when her sister runs late the night of the performance, Remy is forced to improvise. She is able to convince one of her friends in the audience to get on stage and act with her.  The scene work goes sideways as several additional members of the audience end up on stage... all in the name of trying to get Remy a good grade!  About 25-30 minutes.