One-Acts

36 pages

10 m, 4 w, 1 flex, 1 boy, some doubling possible

Challenger: To Touch the Face of God tells the powerful story of the Challenger disaster of 1986. It dramatizes the stories of the seven individuals who tragically lost their lives in this event, while also drawing attention to the controversial circumstances which led to one of NASA’s blackest days. Although some of the scenes depicted are fictional dramatizations, many of the sentences are the actual words used by the astronauts themselves. Scenes and settings flow seamlessly together with only lighting to distinguish them. The result is a hard-hitting and ...

23 pages

Widely flexible cast of 10 or more

OK, teens, listen up. If you want to drive a car, go to college/grad night/prom, get a class ring or new clothes, you're going to have to - find a JOB! All the fun, frustrations and foibles of part-time jobs are explored in these scenes and monologues, from making a hamburger (first the lettuce then the onion!), to figuring our what garbled language is being spoken in the drive-thru, to presenting a phone sales pitch before the person hangs up with a thud! There are also some moments of comic fantasy as teens try to picture their dream job, as surfer and comi...

33 pages

3 m, 3 w

Inspired by the short story by Richard Connell. In this updated version of a classic thriller, corporate headhunters give new meaning to the term "hunting." Throughout the Zaroff Corporation's long history, success is based on finding the right employees. Four professionals are invited for an interview at Zaroff's headquarters. After a gourmet meal and cordial introductions, the potential employees realize that this would be the perfect job with the perfect salary. The human resource manager of Zaroff then tells the potential employees that they are all compe...

28 pages

4 m, 4 w

Adapted from the short story by Susan Glaspell. A farmer has been found dead and his wife, Minnie, is the prime suspect. The sheriff, a deputy and other men meet at the lonely farmhouse to go over the evidence while two wives gather some clothes and necessities for Minnie, who is in jail. Two neighbor ladies, the Gains sisters, arrive to see what they can learn about the disturbing events of the previous day. As the men go about the business of investigation, the women make a remarkable discovery: the motive for the crime. Set in 1917, three years before wome...

26 pages

10 m, 9 w, 2 flexible

In this fast-paced, technology-saturated world, can teenagers really survive without laptops, i-pads, cell phones and other mobile devices? Has high-speeding texting replaced face-to-face communication? Do apps substitute for thoughtful conversation? From breaking up on Facebook, to in-class research, to real-time dating advice, this play delves into the world of teens to see how they navigate with (or - gasp! - without) technology. "Screenagers" is a humorous look at how technology is shaping the way we socialize, communicate, and—hang on, I’ve got a call co...

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...

24 pages

1 m, 3 w

Four young people are driving to Grandma's for the holidays through a deserted stretch of highway with an "obeyer of all laws" at the wheel. They come to a stoplight in the middle of nowhere as it changes from green to red. They stop. And wait. And wait. It doesn't change back. They know it's working. Do they run the light or wait even longer? Suddenly citizenship intersects with folly! This gentle comedy is sure to make your audience laugh.

14 pages

2m, 6w

Six alert and active senior ladies meet for lunch each week. Between their arranging chairs, sharing OTC medications, discussing mammograms and men, they give a waiter and his manager a really bad day. This is a hilarious play, full of opportunities for clever business. One Interior. About 25 minutes.

Also join the ladies in these other comedies: "Ladies at Poker" (#1816) "Ladies on Vacation" (#1649)

52 pages

3 to 4 m, 3 w

This drama is based on the true story of the well-known artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, who brought hope and beauty to thousands of children at the concentration camp of Terezin. It’s World War II and the Nazi juggernaut is running full-time, forcing Jews and other “undesirables” into concentration camps. At Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, one woman prisoner tries to make life bearable for the children. Using her passion for art and teaching, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis encourages them to draw pictures, often of home and family, trying to bring comfor...

41 pages

13 m, 11 w, 4 flexible, extras, much doubling possible

Every month many look to their calendars and start counting down the days until the next holiday. But what about those who are working behind the scenes to make these holidays great? What about the everyday problems of Cupid, leprechauns, and the New Year's Baby? Do we ever stop to think about their needs? Their wants? No! And that's why they're on strike. Journey through the bizarre, strange, and riotously funny underbelly of the holiday world as the icons we all know and love go on strike in this comedy. See what happens when hunters try to shoot down Rudol...

36 pages

7 m, 7 w, 2 flexible, extras and doubling possible

Katie and Max Grimm are tired of having to listen to their mom’s bedtime stories about fluffy hamsters and magic smiles. When they tell her they've outgrown them, she asks for one more chance to tell the best bedtime story ever. Their dad, who loves to write zombie fan fiction, overhears and wants in on the challenge to tell the "King of Bedtime Stories"! Katie and Max have some tricks up their sleeves, however, since telling their own scary stories at summer camp. Zombie bunnies! Evil scientists! Gloomy gamma rays! Post-apocalyptic survivalists! One thing is...

36 pages

4 m, 9 w, 4 flexible, doubling possible

Chelsea is throwing a party while her parents are away, or so she thinks. When uninvited guests start showing up, including her grandma with gout-ridden episodes, a stern police officer with neighborhood complaints, Bonnie and Clyde-like outlaws, and even last year’s grads, Chelsea ends up with a different type of bash all together. And that’s not even including a sleepwalker and paranormal activities. This wild and crazy party is 35 minutes of escalating, nonstop hilarity!

24 pages

3 m, 3 w, 6 flexible

Tomorrow is opening night at The Grand Old Theatre and Mastermime, a notorious criminal who distracts audiences with entrancing mime routines and then disappears with their valuables, has defaced the theatre marquee and is terrorizing the stagehands. Will hard-boiled detective Stanton Ovation and his earnest sidekick Deputy Hammet Upp capture this mute but expressive villain before he steals self-absorbed celebrity actress Ima Starr’s diamonds? Or is there more to this case than it seems? Ima’s talkative assistant Roberta, who was a forensic scientist before ...

24 pages

8 flexible

Anyone who has tried to cancel their service with any tech company will sympathize immediately with Meghan. On her way to work one morning she decides to quickly drop off the cancellation form she filled out from the company’s website, but of course it turns out to be much more complicated than that. She is drawn into a process involving an increasingly bizarre set of characters who hamper, confuse, intimidate and even threaten her in their efforts to keep her as a customer. When Meghan’s best friend is brought to the office in tears with instructions to illu...

37 pages

11 characters, 4-6 ensemble

It’s 1851 and a young man walks into a Nantucket pub inquiring about how to board a vessel and go to sea on an adventure. What he finds is not the inspiring advice he bargained for. Ishmael, a hardened veteran of the sea, tells a cautionary tale of foreboding and woe about his own first-time voyage on the infamous "Pequod" under the maniacal leadership of Captain Ahab. As the story unfolds, the young man plays the role of Ishmael and is fully immersed in the retelling of Melville’s classic tale. Will the young man listen to the warning or will he choose to ve...