One-Acts

39 pages

5 m, 5 w, 5 flex, plus extras

Mayhem is on the menu when celebrity Chef Guy Stagsly and his outrageous reality show Kitchen Catastrophes! visit French restaurant Chez Jacques. While Guy and his crew bring in cockroaches and rats, conduct building renovations, and stage a rigged cooking competition, the employees strive to carry on. There’s Julie, the level-headed restaurant manager; Jacques, the temperamental chef; and Mickey, the loyal and ambitious dishwasher. Not to be forgotten, there’s also Olive, a shy trainee who needs a lot of supervision. They’re not only struggling to i...

32 pages

3 m, 4 w, 8 flexible, some doubling possible

Princess Beauteous is the ultimate grand prize winner and gets to marry Prince Absurdly Handsome on his reality TV show. On the journey to the prince’s kingdom, she and her lazy servant, Falada, get hijacked by Repulsa, a hideous, desperate-to-be-famous peasant girl. Repulsa tricks the princess, switches places with her, and even has Falada’s head cut off. (But don’t worry, he’s okay. He’s just a little decapitated.) The arrival of the hideous new fiancée and her beautiful servant throws the reality show into a hilarious fiasco. But all ends well…at least for...

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...

30 pages

5 m, 7 w, or with doubling 5 m, 4 w

Adapted By Bobby Keniston from Robert Browning's poem and Thornton Wilder’s playlet, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.” Roland, a warrior and perhaps the son of a king, has reached the Dark Tower. After years of eschewing death, he seeks nothing but sweet release after lifetimes of wandering the Earth. At the Dark Tower, he is confronted by Three Sisters, each in her own window. While the Amber Sister taunts him, and the Silent Sister pities him, the Dark Sister encourages him to release his burdens by sharing his life story. As Roland travels through hi...

28 pages

1 m, 3 w, 5 flexible, extras

Wait—start worrying! No wait—don’t worry. Let Crisis, Inc. worry for you. This farce takes place in the lobby of a business which provides the service of panicking for people. When you have a panic situation and you can’t focus on what to do next, you hire Crisis Inc. to do the panicking so you can move along and get your work done. Two business people come to the company's office – and each of them responsible for the other's crisis situation. Realizing the potential for fireworks should the two meet, the receptionist tries hard to keep them apart. Classic f...

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.

20 pages

5 flexible parts

Three students have been hired to take care of Mr. Patterson's purebred dog for the weekend at his estate while he is out of town. The kids, a bumbling lot at best, stick the dog in the yard so they can watch a game on TV and have the stuffy butler serve them lots of snacks. But when they hear about a dog run over down the street and can't see Mr. Patterson's dog in the yard anywhere, they start to worry. At that moment, Mr. Patterson calls to say he's coming home early. The pandemonium that follows makes this a play of non-stop laughter.

20 pages

3 m, 4 w, 1 flexible part

"Next!" is about a series of college freshmen who are auditioning for a play ... the oddest group of wannabe actors you'll ever meet. From the girl who has the ultimate case of stage fright to the basketball star who's just doing it on a dare, this witty comedy is destined to be a success on any stage! No setting needed other than your own stage. The part of the director can be played from a first row seat.

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...

25 pages

5 m, 2 w, extras

Jack Sprat is a peeper, a gumshoe, a bloodhound for rent, a freelance flatfoot, a man on the case, a hired nose -- a detective, actually, and the only detective in Fairyland. So when femme fatale Red Riding Hood hires him to find Grandma, he knows something is up (well, actually his secretary Tinkerbell figures it out first). Red has teamed up with Prince Charming in order to trick Jack into learning the password for the fairy godmother's magic wand. In the end, Jack figures it all out with the help of his friends, Mr. X, really Rumpelstiltskin; Humpty Dumpty...

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...

49 pages

4 m, 4 w, 1 flex

Failing the literature test, students Brandon, Abbey, Tyler, Hannah, Steve, Kristen, Nick and Lily decide to impress their teacher by performing "Great Expectations." Will Mrs. Eliot go for it, especially after being told by Tyler that he’d rather be at the dentist? With only eight actors, the students dash from one role to another trying to re-enact major scenes to show off their knowledge of the great work. When the plot gets too complicated for the classroom, the students stop and just explain it in their own hilarious terms. And when the action gets to be...

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...

40 pages

6 m, 3 w, 4 flexible (or with doubling 2 m, 1 w)

Here is a faithful stage retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic Gothic novel. We meet Victor Frankenstein, who is obsessed with finding the secret to recreating life. Of course, he famously succeeds, but fearing he has overstepped the bounds of science, quickly abandons his creation and the promise to make it a mate. The creature, betrayed and forsaken, vows to ruthlessly destroy all that his creator loves and cherishes. The unrelenting pursuit goes to the very edges of the earth. Clever theatricality, such as using actors as lightning and thunder, and as profes...

35 pages

3 m, 3 w

Brandon Butterworth has apparently been playing the field. On one fateful night, his multiple girlfriends (grouchy Lucy, ditzy Rebecca, and shy Constance) accidentally discover each other. The three ladies realize their boyfriends, all named Brandon, are actually the same guy. Instead of fighting and bickering amongst themselves, they hatch a plan for revenge, teaming up to teach the three-timer a lesson. Brandon is about to have a very bad day, indeed ... unless his own plan works! A sarcastic bartender and a biker-type customer round out the cast.