School

80 pages

17 roles (approx. 8 m, 9 w)

A "melodrama plus," this play cleverly intertwines a classic "losing the homestead" plot with a realistic subplot in which high school drama students are putting on (what else?!) a melodrama. The Colonel and his daughter Belle are trying to keep the family restaurant (and Belle's heart) from the clutches of the villain I.C. Blizzard, a fast food franchiser. The hero, Beau, suffers from a perpetual crisis of confidence that he deals with by cooking and obsessive psychoanalysis. The student characters trade insults that imperfectly hide a budding romance. Holdi...

63 pages

8 - 9 m, 12 w, extras

The townspeople having been living in their quiet Spanish village for centuries under the hechizo, avoiding aging, disease, and death. But when Tomaso decides to leave after Rosita denies him, the spell is broken. The Eights come again, offering protection in exchange for the death of one of the villagers -- one that is selected by the townspeople themselves. Two Americans have unexpectedly arrived and are invited to stay at the inn, drink the wine, take part in the fiesta, and cast their votes. While Papa tries to unite the village, jealous Obella has her ow...

62 pages

8 m, 8 w

Freshman Bobby Hill drinks a potion that turns him from a know-it-all teen into a 25-year old man everyone thinks is the school's new assistant baseball coach. Bobby suddenly finds himself running the team, using an expense account and avoiding the coach's man-hungry daughter. "All I wanted was to play baseball," he whines to Wally, another teen who spends more time on the psychiatrist's couch than behind the plate. During the big tournament, Bobby wants to help the losing Zephyrs win, but it's every man (and boy!) for himself as he ducks newspaper reporters,...

62 pages

2 m, 6 w, 6 flex, plus ensemble, doubling possible

When a devastating earthquake strikes Haiti, age-old fears and superstitions rise to the surface in civilized Port-au-Prince. For Alanis Ducette, the daughter of an aid worker, it brings nightmares of her dead sister and a conviction that zombies are intruding on everyday life. To exorcize her nightmares, she enters the threatening world of Haitian vodou and black magic—and uncovers a mystery no one in her family had dared reveal. About an hour.

77 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 4 m,12 w, extras

When a cyclone hits Emerald City High School, things really get crazy! Dorothy, who refers to the other students as Munchkins, demands that a girl named Toto, whom she insists is her own dog, lead her to the Wizard of Oz who will help her return to Kansas. Following the yellow broken tile floor, Dorothy, Toto and other weird students experience several exciting adventures. But to resolve the drama, Toto provides Dorothy with a bus ticket home and helps solve the other school problems. These students not only read "The Wizard of Oz" for class, they lived it!

51 pages

8 m, 7 w, 9 flexible and extras, doubling possible.

The headstrong leader of a feisty gang of child thieves has a secret: the young man everyone knows as Rosario is really a teenage girl, climbing the ranks of a clandestine criminal guild. To join the illustrious Council of Convicts, she needs all the help she can get  from her followers to steal the Madonna statue off the newest church in the city. But not everyone is thrilled about her risky plan, and Rosario suffers a double betrayal. Tackling themes of sexism, loyalty, and deceit, will her dangerous ambition tear the gang apart? Approximately 70 ...

64 pages

7 m, 15 w, optional extras

Coco is a lovable French poodle who dies of a broken heart after being DOGNAPPED! Every pooch in doggie heaven gets one wish, and Coco’s wish is to return to school on the day of the mid-term dance. Her former owner, a teacher named Steve Ritter, taught Coco to “sing” and he planned to have her entertain. Coco was anxious to make him proud. Keeper, the basset hound in charge of such things, grants the wish but sends two other dogs to keep an eye on Coco as French poodles are inclined to be somewhat frivolous. The two other dogs are Alice, a blood-hound, and R...

76 pages

6 m, 7 w, 5 flexible

Daisy, a somewhat clumsy college student, has been hired by Rose Thornbush to sweep and clean her flower shop, Rose’s Roses. Daisy, however, only took the menial job to get closer to her real goal of floral designer. It’s frustrating because the designs Mrs. Thornbush creates are terrible, as proven by the lack of business in the shop. Daisy, along with three young customers, can design much prettier arrangements. Mr. Hoodwink and Miss Deed appear and devise a competition between Rose’s Roses and the rival Monsieur Prince’s Shop of Floral Designs. The winner ...

88 pages

2 m, 2 w, 12 flexible; extras as desired; doubling possible

Lucille, a classic geek, and her grumpy friend Elly are visiting New York City with their college classmates. Through a series of Polaroid photos, Lucille deduces that the Empire State Building is slowly tilting over. The mysterious "Contact" kidnaps Elly when she mentions the presence of "foreign agents" in the city. In no time, Contact's accomplice Professor Hippersnipper demonstrates how he zapped the famous building and now the city's in a panic! Not only is the skyscraper bending into a "U," but Lucille's college classmates are dangling from the top! How...

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...

41 pages

3 m, 3 w

Lois Lancaster is a big-city journalist writing about the current state of mental health facilities. Her research takes her to a hospital populated with a unique group of quirky inmates who imagine they are crime-fighting superheroes. Speed Freak thinks he can run at incredible speeds, while enthusiastic Dim Bulb thinks he has the ability to turn off lights with his brain. Mental thinks she can read minds, despite being prone to sudden outbursts of bizarre non-sequiturs. Kevin, much less quirky and flamboyant than the other inmates, doesn’t embarrass himself ...

32 pages

13, plus extras

In this dystopian/Hunger Games parody everyone is starving...for attention! Society's obsession with all things drama has become so distracting, the Capitol has outlawed all auditions and has divided the population into ten districts: Greek Tragedy, Shakespeare Drama, Commedia Dell'Arte, and others. During the annual Actor Games, a tribute from each district competes to become a star. The losers must suffer the fate of the Fallback Wheel. This year, Meryl hopes to become the first ever winner from High School Drama. Unfortunately, the odds are never in her fa...

27 pages

1 m, 9 w

In the late 1800s rumors were circulating about alleged horrors taking place on Blackwell’s Island, home of the Insane Asylum of New York. Women were apparently the victims of abuse and torture, and one woman, a newspaper reporter, decided to risk her own life to investigate. Nellie Bly committed herself to the asylum, documenting her findings and ultimately revealing the horrors to the entire world. This one-act play, adapted from her book, “Ten Days in a Madhouse,” tells the incredible story of how this “girl” reporter forever changed the way the world look...

42 pages

3 m, 4 w, 10 flexible

Young Mary Blanton has suffered some kind of trauma as evidenced by her monster-filled dreams and the horrific scratches on her neck and back. Who did this to an innocent 9-year-old girl, a child who finds comfort through an imaginary pet peacock? Dr. Janice Todd is called before a review board to defend her investigation of the child abuse case. She recounts her discoveries and interviews with the Blanton family, and scenes of Mary’s recent past are brought painfully to life. Three judges, staged as omniscient, skeptical shadows, and several surreal nightmar...

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 ...

32 pages

2-3 m, 6 w

Okay, these housewives may not be real, but they are desperate. Shakespeare has been manipulating and twisting their lives for six plays now, and they desperately want to escape his evil machinations. But are they desperate enough to commit murder? Shakespeare has been found dead: stabbed, poisoned, starved, choked, bitten by an asp, and even turned into a baardvark. Lady Macbeth, Juliet, Kate, Rosalind, Cleopatra, and Titania all had the means and the motive to kill Shakespeare, but who really did it? This comic tragedy (or is that tragic comedy?) has all 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

Flexible cast 5 - 18

Puns and pratfalls abound in this fun, frumpled 35-minute version of three Grimm fairy tales. And with the help of a narrator, the audience can cheer the heroes and boo the villains. In "Rumpelstiltskin," a greedy king, a miller's daughter and a comical chap named Rumpelstiltskin all mix together in the story of gold spinning and name guessing. In "Rapunzel," a witch puts lovely Rapunzel in a tower where a handsome prince rescues her. But the standard happy ending is reached in anything but a standard way. In "Red Riding Hood," Little Red finally escapes the ...

40 pages

8 m, 10 w, 4 flexible (doubling possible)

Max and Katie are lost at a spooky campsite in the middle of the woods. Fortunately, Counselor Ned, a cheerful, but rather strange, camp counselor is there to help them out until the other campers and counselors find them. To pass the time, Counselor Ned suggests they all take turns telling scary stories, a "campfire tradition as old as time." As they take turns telling their tales, the stories come to life onstage! The story of "Taily-Po," an American folklore classic, reveals an old man living in the woods with his sarcastic dog… "The Backseat Driver" gives...

28 pages

Flexible cast of 18-28

In this comical yet surprisingly educational parody of "Twelve Angry Men," a certain wolf is on trial for blowing down a pair of houses owned by the Three Little Pigs. A jury of swine must now decide if they will oink in favor of conviction, or declare the wolf not guilty. Throughout the deliberation, most of the angry pigs believe the wolf is big and bad. However, an ensemble of storybook characters helps the pigs review the testimony, and Pig #8 asks some tough questions. Questions that will make the rest of the pigs realize that the witness testimony of Li...

25 pages

Entirely gender flexible cast of 5-30+

Teenagers are faced with failure every day. Some mornings it feels like they have the letter F stamped on their foreheads in bright red ink. In a series of hilarious vignettes, students take on a multitude of challenges, each from a different perspective. From learning to driving a car, seemingly with mind of its own, to having an argument with a bag of chips in a vending machine, these teenagers discover that the only way to succeed is to stare failure in the face. And if they're going to take that risk, they might as well make it epic! Endless opportunities...

36 pages

Entirely gender flexible cast of 6 to 21

Four honor roll students have been summoned to detention. To avoid punishment, they each come up with a preposterous excuse for their tardiness, and their wacky tales are acted out by an ensemble of performers. As one wild lie piles on top of the next, the principal gets further away from the truth. Will he be able to figure out that these creative overachievers are coming together to avoid being bullied? He'll have to think fast for he’s up against a swift and desperate bunch of kids, each with a knack for making the most ridiculous stories sound entirely po...

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.

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