School

53 pages

5 m, 5 w minimum (up to 30 maximum)

When their teacher doesn't show up, a group of students in a theatre arts class decide to practice their final scenes and monologues. The result is a montage of teenage fears, fantasies, dreams and yearnings. From cheerleader to class nerd, from star athlete to former runaway, each performs a piece for the others. We witness the pain of breaking up, the ups and downs of life with parents (and without), escapist fantasies into the simpler life of a '50s sitcom, role reversals, and more. Presented with humor, honesty and powerful emotions, the scenes reveal the...

70 pages

17 m, 22 w, 8 either, doubling possible

Geoffrey Chaucer introduces us to a group of 14th century pilgrims preparing for their journey to Canterbury the next day. He proposes that each tell a story going to and from the shrine, but the group is so anxious they begin immediately. The Physician begins with the tale of a wicked judge who desires his scribe's sweetheart for himself. Can the young scribe save her from the unwanted marriage? The Pardoner tells the next tale of three thieves who plan to find Death and kill him, but their greed leads them directly to him. The Nun tells the story of Chantic...

58 pages

4 m, 9 w, 1 flexible

Katherine and Jonathan Prescott are hysterical when their cousin Lino, a famous Italian botanist, cancels his visit at the last minute. Katherine had planned for him to be the guest speaker at an important flower society fund-raising dinner. Her brother, Jonathan, had wanted Lino to impress his upper-crust girlfriend. So when Jonathan's long-lost but quick-witted friend Robert shows up, Jonathan convinces him to play Lino. Trouble is, Robert's Italian (limited to pizza menus) and knowledge of plants (they're green) could torpedo this sophomoric plan. Of cours...

62 pages

3 m, 11 w, doubling possible

Ivy McEwin, a college history major, is so intrigued by a photograph of a young woman who lived during the Civil War that she travels to the woman's home, Ravensgate, an old Southern plantation. Ivy hopes to unlock the secrets of the woman's life, but instead meets the woman in death. The current owners, who are trying to restore the house into a bed and breakfast, have already noticed a number of strange things going on: the mournful sounds of a woman weeping at night; the frequent, unrelenting beating of a heart, and the rocking of an empty chair. As ghosts...

56 pages

2 m, 7 w

Act I is a play rehearsal at the home of one of the characters, while Act II represents the high school stage with all scenery reversed so that the audience sees only what normally would be back stage. All sound effects are visible; prop table, prompters, stage braces, etc. About every problem a director has ever had is encountered. Comedy abounds as each character has his own particular problem with his part. Grammie in particular never speaks a line, but her presence is felt in more ways than one! A plot around and about high school students.

59 pages

10 m, 15 w

There are a few little obstacles with the prom this year. First, it's taking place at an abandoned inn, which not only needs to be fixed up (with a bulldozer!) but is inhabited by the ghosts of a gangster and his moll who are not happy about being disturbed. Next, the kids on the prom committee have dates with all the wrong people and can't stop playing dating roulette. And finally, the love-starved janitor who has been dreaming for 20 years to marry Miss Gray, their teacher, is holding everyone hostage. And you thought not knowing how to dance was a problem!...

81 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 9 m, 9 w, extras

Jane, a nerdy-looking new student, is all but ignored by the in-crowd. They're too involved with trying to get parts as extras for the movie that's going to be filmed at their school. Little do they know Jane is really the pampered, glamorous teen soap opera star, Tiffany! She's undercover to prove she can act and earn the lead in the movie. In drama class, Jane is teamed up with Tim, the class bookworm. They look like losers ... until they play the parts of Romeo and Juliet! That threatens posse leaders Clarissa, Shelley, and Mary, and everything explodes! O...

62 pages

4 m, 6 w, 4 flex

“How’d you like to be on television?” This question, posed by future daughter-in-law Anne, takes Loff DuVall by surprise. After all, he and May June had been running the Hampton Court trailer park for more years than either would care to admit. The last thing he’d want now is to be in some reality TV show. In fact, he was hoping he and May June could get away for a while, take a long vacation from the place. He wouldn’t have to listen to Goose Halford’s long stories, such as how his grandpa has a metal plate in his head. “The kids used to catch him asleep and...

74 pages

8 m, 7 w, 1 flexible, plus 3 optional roles

When resident stage manager Kate Ellinger discovers that one-time soap actor Brayden Cole has agreed to play the lead in their production of “Romeo and Juliet,” she finds she has her hands full, not only dealing with a TV star’s ego, but also with the easy-to-panic director and zany locals who make up the rest of the cast. Brayden misses the first rehearsal, and later admits he’s in way over his head. He went from waiting tables to soap opera uber-star with no formal stage training. But the other actors are more than willing to help him. Duncan, an older man ...

62 pages

Widely flexible cast, approx. 12 m, 9 w, 13 flexible.

"Attention all units. Be on the look out for a man with pink wings and a bag full of human teeth. He's considered unarmed and hilarious." What if the holiday celebrities that we all know and love lived among us? Would they still be welcomed with open arms or would their actions be considered criminal? In "Holiday Celebrities: Criminal Justice" we enter the dark underbelly of the holiday celebrity world -- a world where Santa's been dodging his taxes, the Easter Bunny gets caught breaking and entering, and the Thanksgiving Turkey is wanted for grand theft auto...

76 pages

6 m, 8 w, 1 flexible

Trudy, new to the theatre scene, has just been hired as stage manager for an upcoming play at a small community theatre. The problem is Trudy is inept, clumsy, and more than that, she's a jinx. The cast agrees that Trudy is a modern-day gremlin who is cursing the show and that she must go once and for all. So, why doesn't the director fire her? Because Trudy is the theatre owner's only niece. Realizing that throwing her out isn't an option, they resolve to de-hex her instead in order to make the theatre a safe haven once again. An old book of theatre supersti...

70 pages

4 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, optional 1 boy

Armed with a sharply judgmental attitude and a pair of binoculars, homeowner Leona Crump is consumed with anxiety over her new neighbors. Will they be California beatniks? Or paroled drug pushers? Or more frightening yet, perhaps someone with children?! Her worst fears are realized when an odd-ball "hill-folk" family move in across the street. She quickly realizes that neither God, nor her favorite telephone psychic, has prepared her for the series of showdowns set to take place in her living room. Gafina Hambefferschmidt, an obnoxious, gum-chewing woman, tog...