62 pages
4 m, 5 to 6 w, 2 extras
London. On a rainy evening in 1913, linguist Henry Higgins has a fateful encounter with an impertinent Cockney flower seller. When the girl shows up at his laboratory the following day, the haughty and impulsive Higgins makes a bold wager with a colleague: employing his mastery of language he will transform Eliza Doolittle from a rough street urchin into an aristocratic lady in just six months’ time. And so begins Eliza's halting metamorphosis … but what will become of the poor girl once this “experiment” is over?
George Bernard Shaw's classic h...
51 pages
8 m, 5 w, 9 flexible, extras
This adaptation, appropriate for middle school and high school students alike, contains much of Shakespeare's original poetry and language but with an additional female role, that of Nerissa, a gentlewoman of the court. The play, a satiric comedy about "romantic" love, features two contrasting couples. There is Benedick, a cad, who has sworn to forever remain a bachelor. But as it turns out, he meets his match when he encounters Beatrice, a strong, intelligent, witty woman. Beatrice doesn't need a man, and she doesn't want one either. Then there is Claudio, t...
68 pages
14 m, 3 w, and courtiers, attendants and servants.
One of Shakespeare's greatest "Breeches Parts" plays. Viola finds herself shipwrecked on a strange coast where she must disguise herself as a young man to get along in society. An intricate plot that retains its intricacy but not its confusion. This tale of love and courtship, mistaken identity, pride, and practical jokes is edited to 90 minutes. The actions flows quickly and the archaic terms are eliminated. This is a fine version for actors from junior high school through college to perform.
15 pages
2 m, 2 w, 2 flexible, 3 narrators
In ancient Thebes, Antigone determines to give a sacred burial to her brother, Polynices, who had died on the battlefield. But her uncle Creon, the tyrant king, forbids her to do so under pain of death, because, he says, Polynices is a traitor. Antigone gives up her family, her fiancé and even her own life to do what she believes is right.
37 pages
Flexible cast of 10
From the story "Kaa's Hunting" by Rudyard Kipling. Deep in a jungle in India in the middle of the 19th century a tribe of monkeys come chasing in with the boy Mowgli in their midst. In the middle of their play, Kaa, the great python, terrifies them as well as Baloo, a great bear, and Bagheera, a panther, who are Mowgli's friends and protectors. Once out of harm's way, the two scold the boy and teach him how to make himself safe in the jungle. They fall asleep. The monkeys, eager to get Mowgli to make them huts like his, wake him and drag him off. Baloo and B...
31 pages
3 m, 3 w, extras
This timeless fairy tale has a unique twist: Beauty is a male and the Beast is a female. The Ranier family has a host of problems, but an act of love begins to transform their adversity. John saves his father from certain death by taking his place in a Beast's castle, a castle with an aura of magic and mystery as shrouded figures move about attending lost and lonely travelers. John, or Beauty as the Beast names him, is conflicted between fulfilling his father's promise to the Beast and his own longing to be with his family. Although John honors the promise an...