School

52 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 11 m, 14 w, extras, doubling possible

This play forces us to examine the points in our lives when we make decisions - right or wrong, good or bad - that will define our own future as well as the lives of others. Built upon a series of monologues and scenes, the play depicts young adults dealing with the reality of HIV and AIDS. For some it's simply a threat -something not to be let out of its cave. For others, the monster has become an unwanted part of their daily existence. This uncompromising drama uses vivid and timely dialogue. A perfect competition piece, it features minimal staging, a choru...

82 pages

Flexible cast from 16 to 50+

This great romantic melodrama of the Yukon Territory has it all! Come visit the world of Lester Lawless, Lotta Pidee, Loooney Yoursin, and many others including miners who can't find stakes, trappers who can't find pelts, and Mounties who can't find anyone as they weave a story of Wild West intrigue. Narrators and Sign Gals help dictate active audience involvement as villains are thwarted, heroes and heroines are blissfully united, enemies become friends, widowed matrons are reunited with lost children, and orphans live happily ever after. In addition to a co...

58 pages

Flexible cast. With doubling 8 m, 4-5 w, 1 child.

In this retelling of Edmond Rostand's play, "Cyrano de Bergerac," Roxanne is smitten by the superficial charms of a handsome young soldier, Christian, who is new to Paris. When she tells her three friends of her "love" for this dashing fellow, they are eager to give advice on the budding romance. Roxanne is oblivious to the love Cyrano feels for her. While they have been close friends since childhood, she has never considered him in a romantic way. Cyrano and his rival Christian form a strange alliance in order to win Roxanne's heart. Even as their guard unit...

68 pages

6 m, 5 w

WHAM! The Masked Wonder leaps into the room and fights off four or five henchmen without even wrinkling his cape and then...? Then the Hollywood writers of the Majestic Film Studios have to figure out what he does next. Pop, Tiger Lil, Stu, Howard and Dena are stuck until they meet the latest addition to their writer's stable. "Like any of us are writers," says Howard, "or stable." As the new kid on the team, Freddie has a lot to prove, mostly to his overbearing mother. Does he give up and leave with Mom? No chance! Especially not with Dena around! These two ...

57 pages

Flexible cast of 15, extras, doubling

Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain. Sir Boss, a computer wiz, is transported back in time to the age of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After proving his "magic" is more powerful than Merlin's, Sir Boss begins to modernize Camelot. The new TV station has Morgan La Faye as chief newscaster and Merlin as the "predictor" of the weather; the Knights of the Round Table form a basketball team, the Camelot Pacers; and everyone is getting e-mail. All goes well until King Arthur and Sir Boss travel through Camelot, disguised as peasants, so the King ...

32 pages

Widely flexible cast, minimum of 13 actors

Here are three stories to make your skin crawl and your blood turn cold. “On Second Hand” features a young man who has a close call with death and suddenly his life is literally flashing before his eyes. “Who’s Calling?” shows what can happen when a seemingly harmless practical joke is taken way too far. And in “The Con” we meet a charming couple who put their full trust in one another…for better or for worse. After leaving the show you will definitely feel the need to check the back seat of your car and look under your bed before going to sleep; but beware o...

68 pages

Flexible cast (40+) to a minimum of six (4 m, 2 w)

Beguiled in early childhood by his nursemaid's grim and ghoulish stories, Charles Dickens harbored all through his life a fascination with ghosts, apparitions and chilling coincidence. This play is a collection of eerie tales from the greatest storyteller of all. The stories are a lively mixture of comedy, pathos, and the supernatural and include: "The Signal-man," "The Bagman's Uncle," "The Letter From Afar," "Trial for Murder," "The Queer Chair," "Sisters From Perth," "The Portrait Painter," and "The Lawyer and the Ghost." These stories are perfect as a new...

57 pages

10 m, 18 w, 4 flexible, doubling possible

It's 1927 and the 42nd Street Orphanage for Girls in New York is a bleak place. The McGrew Sisters, who head the orphanage, are mean and stingy to the teenage girls in their charge. Enter a new orphan, young Ginny Hobbs, with a trunk full of "magic" -- costumes and props from the vaudevillian circuit her late parents used to work. As the girls perform a few skits, two con artists form a plan. They'll get the girls to do an original show called "Broadway Lullaby," get it fully insured, and when it flops, collect all the money. But the girls have other plans! T...

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...

68 pages

Approx. 10 m, 4 w, extras. Much doubling possible.

One of the world's great comedies. The wealthy Monsieur Jourdain hires teachers to train him in the Arts, and succeeds only in making himself appear foolish to everybody but himself. Then he tries to court an elegant Countess, making himself even more foolish. The play also contains a rambunctious mixture of Molière’s dramatic modes: Roman–style farce, commedia dell’arte gags, romantic high comedy, two mini–operas, and great quantities of topical satire. In its time it was a social satire today we can appreciate the satire but enjoy the hilarity. The play end...

26 pages

8 m, 3 w, extras

A complex and moving play as a soldier serving overseas "celebrates" a birthday by militarily taking a hill while his twin sister back home celebrates their birthday with the family and her twin's fiancée. The surreal setting and movement of the action lead to a shocking conclusion. About 30 minutes.

30 pages

5 m, 3 w, 15+ ensemble

Death and Strife, along with the Chorus of Darkness, serve as narrators in this foreboding tale, the story of Romeo and his first love, Rosaline. Although their families have been at war with each other for centuries, the young couple are so enamored with each other, they are ready to defy their families and face the inherent danger. But Death and Strife will cleave their tentacles onto the dreams and aspirations of this mortal pair. Filled with moments of bittersweet tenderness and joy, the play unexpectedly turns dark when Rosaline betrays Romeo and arrange...

62 pages

8 m, 4 w, extras

It's a time of big cars, guys in fedoras and dames who are as quick with a wisecrack as they are with a gun. Into this world walks Nick Addams, Private Eye. All Nick has to do is find out who's framing him for the murder of the husband of the beautiful woman who hired him to help her in the first place. (Got that?) Throw in a bunch of killers hired to rub out a gumshoe named Nick Adams (one D, no relation), a girl Friday who keeps saving Nick's neck (against her better judgment), and an underworld kingpin who might just have something to do with all this.

70 pages

28 flexible parts

"The Bard!" offers an enjoyable, approachable introduction to William Shakespeare. In Act I, we discover his world and his realities, his life and his times. In Act II, abridged scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Romeo and Juliet," "Twelfth Night," "The Merry Wives of Windsor," and "Macbeth" make the man and his works come alive for both the actor and for the audience. 

Sound effects include dramatic opening music with Gregorian chant; trumpet fanfare; wind, thunder and lightni...

23 pages

1 m, 3 w

Danny's journey into the world of high school romance begins with Laurie, a girl who shares his enthusiasm for videos and hanging out at the neighborhood shopping center. But when a hot number named Brooke blows in from Hollywood, things start to fall apart as Danny shifts from hometown girl to movie star "gonnabe." The girls plunge into a fight over Danny that has all the intensity of a professional wrestling match. As a matter of fact, that's how it's presented in this play of love, and love and hate, and then love, and then hate again. Enemies become frien...

26 pages

5 m, 3 w

"Along with success comes a reputation of wisdom." But all the wisdom that Sally has learned from her school successes don't prepare her when her life seems to fall apart. After she gets an F on a paper, is harassed by the school's popular jock, and learns her parents are getting a divorce, she contemplates suicide. Her thoughts about dying are revealed in familiar quotations she repeats - quotations other students think she is writing for an English paper. But then the most unlikely person helps Sally find that "Everything is possible, including the impossib...

32 pages

3 m, 1 w, 1 flexible

Here is a fast and funny interactive murder mystery! It takes place at a 20-year college reunion where the guest of honor, Professor Perkins, turns up dead before he has time to accept his award. Several of the alumni decide to search for the murderer on their own. That way they’ll look like heroes and the school will be saved the embarrassment and humiliation of a long, public investigation. It’s their duty as alumni. (Well, that and to donate, of course.) Among the mourners--and suspects--are the professor’s life-long assistant Blaine, the school janitor, a...

68 pages

11 m, 13 w (with doubling 4 m, 5 w)

It is time again for the county fair in Flat Rock, Texas! In between the jelly judging, local politicin' and some extraordinary spoon playing, folks can see "Nature's Boo-Boos," an exhibit where teenager Tommy Rogers feels right at home, especially when he tries to do "Shakespeare in the Park"! Meanwhile, the Ladies' Auxiliary is hoping to collect funds for a hedge around the courthouse to keep all the dogs from frequenting it, while school supporters have set up a fortune-telling booth for money to get the school bus repainted yellow instead of camouflage `c...

70 pages

7 m, 8 w

Maura Milton applies for a bookkeeper's job at the home of one Tyrone Bartholomew. However, she soon finds out there isn't ONE Tyrone Bartholomew but many. The spry old actor flies from one character to another whenever dealing with the outside world - and that world seems to involve secret codes, hiding people, dodging gangsters with guns, and harboring a wild-eyed lady with an ax. Naturally, Maura starts to question her career choice. By the time the police turn out not to be the real police, Tyrone seems to be the only sane one around! Audiences will be ke...

54 pages

3 m, 5 w, 1 flexible

Janet has come up with the excuse of a party to relieve the tensions between their two trigonometry study groups. During the party the kids play a murder game, pretending that their trigonometry teacher is the victim. The students become edgy because of the parallels between their characters and themselves. All calm is shattered when word comes that their trigonometry teacher actually has been murdered! Everyone has a theory about who killed the teacher. Amidst the finger pointing and scrambling for alibis, "evidence" shows up in bookbags, and friends become ...

47 pages

Large, flexible cast. Approx. 20 actors.

In pageant, verse and fearsome argument the gods on Olympus set the great Perseus myth in motion. When the Oracle tells the human king, Acrisius, that his grandson will kill him, the old miser locks his daughter, Danae, up in a tower guarded by fearsome dogs. Zeus comes to her and devours the dogs and soon Perseus is born. Acrisius locks mother and baby in a chest and sets it afloat on the sea. The gods see the chest safely to the isle of Seriphos where Perseus grows into a local hero. The jealous king sends him on an impossible quest: to bring in the head of...

77 pages

4 m, 5 w, 2 flexible parts

Lt. Kenneth Paris must discover who poisoned TV actress Linda Parker during the final dress rehearsal of the play in which she was to star. But this play has as many laughs as it does suspects! When the actors and crew repeat their backstage movements at the same time as the "on-stage" actors perform the very melodramatic "Kisses to Die For," the whole play turns into a farcical three-ring circus! Almost everyone had good reason to want to kill Linda, but which one had the opportunity? With so much action on stage, it won't be easy to tell. Paris enlists the ...

75 pages

Large, flexible cast

Six separate stories of the macabre will test your goosebump factor. In "Effigy," members of a high school football team learn a gruesome lesson when school spirit is carried too far. In "Voices in the Attic," a sleepy father tries in vain to assure his kids that the sounds they keep hearing are only in their imagination. But can the boys' imaginations make an attic stair creak or turn a doorknob? In "Night-Screamers," why do the children who live in the ancient apartment complex on the edge of town have so many nightmares? One tale makes use of sign language...

28 pages

4 m, 4 w

In order to save his darling Lily Lackamoney from the clutches of the rapscallion J. Tamarack Gargle, the hero, Balderdash Trustworthy, goes to the city to find the necessary money. Gargle, determined to have the fair damsel, employs the dirty work of Maxine Mascara to throw Balderdash into the river. However, just as the preacher is pronouncing Lily and Gargle man and wife, Balderdash enters in a blaze of glory! One act.

59 pages

27 parts, approx. 10 m, 15 w, 2 flexible

The irrepressible Tom Sawyer, his best buddy Huck Finn, and many other beloved characters created by Mark Twain come to life in this all-American adventure. When the two boys are accused of stealing Becky Thatcher's gold necklace, and with even Aunt Polly and the Widder Douglas doubting them, Tom and Huck decide to take off for the swamp. The real culprit, Herman Cornwallis, is delighted to see them run away so he can have more time with Becky. In the swamp the boys meet up with Mary Meechum, thought to be a witch. The three accidentally overhear the suspicio...

55 pages

Flexible cast of 14 or more

Timeless Tales: A Hans Christian Andersen Quartet weaves together four of Hans Christian Andersen's best-known stories in an exciting and flexible format. Narrated by Andersen himself, the play introduces us to the master storyteller from Denmark, providing background information on his childhood and the circumstances leading to the publication of his plays. After the "Prologue," the actual dramatization of the tales begins. They include: "The Princess and the Pea," "The Little Mermaid," "The Emperor's New Clothes," and "The Ugly Duckling." This last...

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 ...

66 pages

7 m, 7 w

West Texas in the late 1800s was wild, lawless, and rife with robbers. And that just suited Judge Roy Bean right down to his socks. But when the Judge reads a dime novel about Buffalo Bill, he figures his story should be told as well. And fortunately for him, the "boys," Hank, Pete, and Ralph, have just found a reporter they want to hang. Freed from the gallows, Butler Boone agrees to write Bean's bio...but at what price? Civilization is about to descend on the little town of Langtry in the form of school marms, pushy mothers, conniving matchmakers and an occ...

71 pages

6 m, 13 w

When the owner of a small local television station decides to jump on the bandwagon and produce his own reality show, sparks fly about the million-dollar prize. Harold Fastbuck sees an opportunity to make millions with the TV show, which casts the haughty Tuttletons of Park Avenue, New York, with the down-home Hatter family of Hog Holler, Kentucky. The families think they only have to live together in the Hatter cabin for a month, but unbeknownst to them, they must also endure a series of challenges. Being the lying cheater that he is, Fastbuck intends to mak...

56 pages

12 m, 15 w

Sammy Sunnyside, world-renown comedian, wants to retire and give his famous joke chest to the most deserving of his relatives. The chest is almost priceless since it contains all of Sammy's comic material since his career began. Sammy and his shy but trusted attorney, Dagwood, dress themselves as kindly old ladies and show up at Sammy's birthday party attended by lots of other relatives and uninvited guests. In disguise they hope to find out who really wants to carry on his comical tradition or who just wants his gold mine to sell off. But everything gets scr...