One-Acts

26 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible, doubling possible

In spite of Dr. Winona Smedlap's repeated warnings to her team of lab assistants not to go near the Time Mobile until it was "totally, thoroughly, and undeniably ready," she forgot to mention that it also applied to responding to strange noises coming from inside of it. That's exactly what Bill was investigating when he mysteriously disappeared, his friend Pemberton nervously explains. As if Bill's unexpected trip into time weren't alarming enough, it seems he has managed to trade places with none other than England's most famous playwright, William Shakespea...

37 pages

3 m, 5 w

Frisbee Thorne, a young teenager, has a crush on his neighbor, Jill, and hates to see where party-girl Courtney is leading her. As Jill is drawn into Courtney's web of deceit, she starts lying to her parents and friends, turning into the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Along the way she loses her best friend, hurts another and ends up being caught by her parents. She is grounded and faces the results of her parents' lost trust. In the end Frisbee has good advice for all. About an hour.

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...

60 pages

Monologue Collection

Here is another monologue collection written by the ever-popular Dan Kehde who, because of his full-time work with teens in theatre, can give an honest voice to their thoughts and emotions. These serious, and at times, humorous monologues tell the stories of more than 20 teens and their struggles to cope with a variety issues. In "Will's Excuse," a student pens his own unique version of the "dog-ate-my-homework" excuse - a classic of which even Shakespeare would be proud! In "Notes From a Best Friend," a student faces feelings of grief and guilt after her bes...

50 pages

Resource Book

The thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams - the important things in the lives of teens - are explored honestly in this collection of 18 monologues. For humor, two of our favorites are "Studs," about trying to don a tux for the first time while running late for the prom, and "Bubbacar," about a teen's first car which is so ugly it should only be driven at night. We can all identify longing for Saturdays after tough school days in "Making It to the Weekend," or laugh at the frustration in "The Proper Way to Wear a School Uniform." In addition to those typical "teen pr...

67 pages

Monologue Collection

Monologues are traditionally used for auditions and classroom work, but they are an overlooked form of performance art, epsecially for teenagers. This collection brings this usually standard genre into the performance spotlight. Like other collections by Dan Kehde, this one was developed and performed in what has now become an annual, and ever more popular, event at the playwright's theatre. Funny, hard-hitting, and poignant, these are honest portraits of young Americans searching for freedom, love and self-worth in the labyrinth of adolescence. Titles includ...

20 pages

4 m, 2 w

Here is a perfect play to introduce children to the Underground Railroad. Designed as a Reader’s Theatre, "The Silent War" is a story of three slaves – and eight little mice – who escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Uncle Amos, Belle, and Buck Henry, all slaves on a Kentucky plantation, didn’t plan to escape until they met Zakary, a Bible salesman and abolitionist. He shows them the way to cross the river into Ohio and from there travel north to other stations. Along the way, the three slaves are helped by other dedicated abolitionists including...