One-Act Plays

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...

36 pages

Widely flexible cast from 9 to 40

A poor student is struggling to read Shakespeare's great tragedy, "Macbeth," while in a coffee shop next door to a theater. The student gets a study boost from waitress, who was an English major, and four customers, who are actors, as they act out the Scottish tragedy in fast-paced farce. Soon, a pompous actor who has just finished a Shakespeare matinee next door, enters and tells of the "Scottish curse," and all of the unfortunate events that surround the play's past productions. Actors portray characters throughout history including Shakespeare, King James,...

42 pages

5 m, 4 w, 4 flexible, extras

Dreamy young lovers Lelio and Silvia must keep their love a secret from their fathers, who are fierce rivals. Will a scheme featuring the loveable Arlecchino (whose main occupation is taking money from others) and a quartet of bumbling bandits save the day? Middle and high school actors will revel in this fast-paced, uproarious one act complete with screwball antics and a cast of madcap characters including two saucy servants, a lovable miser, and a host of zanies. It is this type of slapstick humor that makes the performance style of commedia dell'arte a per...

34 pages

Flexible cast from 18 (with doubling)

The stage comes alive with passengers and crew of the Titanic, speaking to us directly about the disaster. We see the magnificent vessel through the eyes of both the first class passengers and the third class. When Frederick Fleet spots the iceberg, all the officers are called upon to carry out the most dreaded command Capt. Smith ever had to issue: "Get the lifeboats ready!" The ending is an emotional powerhouse as the cast recites name after name of those who survived à and those who did not. Representational sets. (Excerpted from the full-length play, "Tit...

29 pages

3 m, 5 w, 1 young female, 2 flexible, ensemble

Alina, a teen girl, is struggling with the anxiety of an ongoing custody battle between her parents. Meanwhile, she is taking on the responsibilities of her schoolwork, her friends, and taking care of her younger sister who has debilitating asthma. As she is set to testify in an upcoming hearing, Alina escapes through her favorite story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This show intertwines Alina's modern story with the classic story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, using the words of Washington Irving himself. Can Alina find the courage to s...

31 pages

2 m, 2 w, 5 flexible

Leaping llamas! "The Fourth Wall," a play within a play, begins as a murder mystery, but the murder victim won't keel over. The playwright forgot to give the characters names, and a rude audience member keeps interrupting the show. Even the ending of the play stinks! Everyone is supposed to die and then the character Death is supposed to do an interpretive dance. Thankfully, the audience's agony is cut short halfway through when the actors break character because Death accidentally kills the Host and then leaves the set to move his car. Without Death, how can...

40 pages

6 m, 9 w, and ensemble of 10, doubling possible

Eight diverse candidates who are running for student body president have two minutes to present their platform and to convince fellow Roosevelt High students to vote for them. From the narcissistic varsity cheerleader, to the disdainful brainiac, and from the star quarterback to the tongue-tied farm boy, every candidate is unique. Their speeches veer from the serious to the hilarious and, with several mimed action scenes, even reach the absurd! During the question-and-answer segment of the forum, however, one student asks the candidates to do something about ...

27 pages

9 women and large ensemble of 15+

Set in the Sierra Madre Mountains, this historic drama follows the lives of an intrepid band of female guerilla fighters who choose to pick up rifles to defend the poor and disenfranchised from the clutches of the corrupt Mexican government and their soldiers. The play explores what it means to be a woman, known as a “soldadera” (female soldier), in the face of great adversity, for they battle not only the enemy but also their own memories of loss, love, family, and betrayal. Each character allows a different facet of womanhood to shine -- innocence, first lo...

28 pages

5 m, 8 w

Although Elizabeth Bennet wishes to marry for love, her parents and suitors see the matter entirely in terms of wealth and status. Then there's Mr. Darcy, whom Elizabeth keeps at more than arm's length for his rudeness and arrogance. Will there ever be a match? Will anyone ever show compassion for Mrs. Bennet's poor nerves? Will Elizabeth be forced to remain in the poverty-stricken filth in which she has been brought up? A perfect choice to perform in conjunction with English literature studies, or any time for that matter. Simple staging. All in under an hou...

19 pages

2 m, 3 w

Josh has a box in his basement containing a number of objects that have meaning for him. As he takes them from the box characters appear who seem to know him, and yet not know him; characters from the past who are still, for Josh at least, very much in the present. Jane, Chloe and Rob don’t know each other, but they all know Josh, and as the story progresses we learn the awful fate they all share, as he moves through the ritual which seems so familiar to him. The appearance of Leah, Josh’s sister, seems at first to comfort him, but then agitate him. Despite L...

25 pages

4 m, 6 w

Just as the stage manager is getting ready to call "Places" for the start of the school's play, everything comes to a screeching halt. Brandy has discovered that her cell phone is missing and refuses to go on until she finds it. The other actors try to help her re-create her every move to find the exact moment the phone was misplaced, and what follows is not only the quest for a cell phone but a trip through a tangle of who said what to whom. From secret boyfriends, pet nicknames, and the confusion between Tony the boy to Toni the girl, we get a very funny lo...

29 pages

1 m, 1 w, 1-14 flexible

Lacey, a teenage girl, has finished work at the mall and is waiting – and waiting – for her boyfriend to pick her up. Left stranded yet again, she reevaluates her love life while shuffling through the songs on her iPod. Actors portraying each of the songs appear with comedic monologues that stir her emotions, offer advice, and affect her decisions. Ethan, a good-humored co-worker, offers her a ride home and the possibility of future romance. The play may be performed with anywhere from 3 to 16 actors. Actors playing Songs portray the spirit and style of the g...