One-Acts

36 pages

3 m, 3 w, 1 voice

Friendship, adventure, integrity, an evil mime, a mysterious butler, stolen dinosaur bones, a man with a mailbox on his head -- it’s all just a part of the fun in this one act. Follow the heroic adventures of Princess Mystic Starfish, a charming and unconventional superheroine who battles her enemies with dogged persistence by firing bubbles in an attempt to confuse them (or possibly get soap in their eyes). Despite her unorthodox methods, the Princess’ success in apprehending wrongdoers is somehow perfect. One day she is given an invitation to join the great...

29 pages

2 m, 2 w, 3 flexible

Adapted from the story "Peter Rugg, the Missing Man" by William Austin. This play tells the story of the phantom coachman Peter Rugg, a man doomed forever to race along the roads to Boston but never to arrive there. Overtaken by a fit of rage while traveling during a stormy night, Bostonite Peter Rugg made a dangerous promise: "Let the storm increase! I will see home tonight in spite of the tempest, or may I never see home again!" He never arrived in Boston. Now his ghost rides the roads leading to and from that city, and he always brings behind him the feroc...

27 pages

1 w, 4 flexible

Jocelyn has just applied to become Earth's first interplanetary foreign exchange student on the planet of Castino. Before she can actually start classes at the school for extraterrestrials, however, she must convince a panel of aliens that she is worthy of the honor. Even more of a challenge might be to convince these aliens that humans are a race they want to allow into their social circle. Jocelyn realizes right away that she might be in trouble when the aliens appear to have trouble grasping the meaning of the human word "war." Here is a comedy that examin...

23 pages

4 m, 2 w

Adapted by Burton Bumgarner from the tale by W.W. Jacobs. A wife demands that her husband leave the house unless he can get help for his gambling problem. He murders her with a paring knife and tries to hide her body from the maid. While he's still frantically searching for his wife's car keys to dump her body, a burglar breaks into the house. Thinking fast, the husband tries to cover up the murder by framing the burglar. The husband calls the police and while waiting for them, scuffles in the darkness with the burglar and plants the knife on him. But things ...

30 pages

3 m, 2 w

Jarod, a young med student, takes a journey into his own mind after an accident leaves him comatose. He meets a man who will change his life forever - his subconscious. The limited set becomes a universal playing ground where Jarod's subconscious introduces him to various places and people that encourage him to take on life's obstacles. In this 45-minute piece, the human will is not only explored but put to a test. Jarod becomes a recognizable character who discovers more about himself than he ever knew existed.

36 pages

3 m, 3 w

Six teenage friends hop into a car on a Friday night, determined to have a blast, and perhaps rekindle their fading relationships. But with high school over and the future beckoning, nothing can remain quite the same. Lynn and Bert discover their attraction for each other may not be enough to keep them together. Jay finds that the hometown he loves will never offer enough for him. Kate discovers that her friends may care more for her than she knows. Carl tries desperately to relive days that never were. And Monique, always the center of everything, discovers ...

22 pages

5 m, 3 w, extras

Marcus lives in an exciting time for theatre: the very beginning in Ancient Greece. He wants to become a great actor and impress everyone at the Festival of Dionysus, especially the lovely maiden Chara. Unfortunately, he can't act, but the gods Dionysus and Apollo see this and decide to help him out. With his new, god-given talent of acting, Marcus is able to win the tragedy competition and the heart of Chara, but not without upsetting two goddesses on Mt. Olympus. Hera and Aphrodite are outraged and have plans to stir up the situation even more. This magical...

28 pages

6 Actors

Portrayed in a fantasy world, five confused participants wake up with no memory of their past life … with only one word, a personality descriptor (such as compassionate, courageous or orderly, etc.) written in type on their shirts.  The doctor explains that each is here willingly, and that they are all being compensated for their participation in a research study. Will the assigned attribute of each participant affect their behavior when under extreme duress? Once the experiment begins and they find out that to lose is to die, all five do what they must to su...

23 pages

2 m, 4 w, plus 3 optional roles for the flashback scenes

The play opens with a typical living room scene: a good, old-fashioned dad sitting in a comfy chair reading a good, old-fashioned newspaper. However, things quickly take a turn for the absurd when Mrs. Wright, a professional and serious-looking person, enters the room and is subjected to a barrage of cheesy jokes and puns from the dad. As the rest of the family enters, it becomes clear that they've called Mrs. Wright in for a "Dad-Joke Intervention." But will she be able to help? Or is this family doomed to be forever subjected to the dad's endless supply of ...

30 pages

Flexible cast of 8

Five less-than-stellar students meet to work on their group English project. Their assigned reading: Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird." Unfortunately, not one of the five has actually read the book. In fact, nobody even brought a copy of the book along. Worst of all, they’re not exactly sure what the title of the book even is! Thus begins a hilarious series of guesses and assumptions which culminate in a massive conspiracy theory about the book and the true threat of mockingbirds!

26 pages

6 female speaking roles, unlimited female ensemble

Set in the realm of Purgatory, the all-female cast of Desdemona, Emilia, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, and Ophelia explore the roles women choose in their pursuit of love and self-identity. Taking its inspiration from Dante’s Inferno, this visceral play allows powerful actors to reach heightened levels of awareness as they grapple with the ideas of an individual’s purpose in their mortal life and the ramifications it carries over into the immortal world. About 40-50 minutes.

APPROVED UIL OAP ...

32 pages

2 m, 3 - 4 w, 1 flexible

Joel Pulley, a struggling comic book artist, has his narrow world turned upside down when an over-eager stray dog shows up at his door… repeatedly! This excitable canine is unwavering in his pursuit to be Joel’s best friend. And Joel, not exactly an animal lover, is just as unwavering in his attempts at getting rid of the dog, especially after a messy fiasco between the dog and Taylor, Joel’s shallow new girlfriend. It isn’t until the escape-artist canine is almost run over in the street by Monica, a vet, that things change… for everyone. She convinces Joel t...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w

Two girls pursue art careers in New York, sharing a dingy, one-room flat. One grows sick when her paintings fail to sell. Only a vigorous desire to live can enable her to survive. She counts dead ivy leaves on a vine outside the window, convinced when the last leaf falls she will die. The morning after a fierce wind storm, when surely all the leaves will be gone, she sees a single leaf remaining. (Enjoy more O. Henry in "The New York Stories.")

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.

51 pages

3 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

The biographer of the story of Berendina (Diet) Eman is interrupted by Diet herself as he begins a lecture about the Second World War and Nazi resistance in occupied Europe. Diet explains that her efforts to hide Jewish people were not unique, but were undertaken by many ordinary people. To explain, she begins to tell the exciting stories of her Resistance work. As she does, her younger self appears and narrates stories in ways which occasionally vary from the descriptions offered by her older self. In addition, her fiancé, Hein Sietsma, appears, and all thre...