School

76 pages

5 m, 8 w, unlimited extras

A group of high school film students have a chance of a lifetime if one of their films wins a competition. The winner will get a college scholarship and a guaranteed job at the sponsoring studio. Each student pictures himself in a winning "film" which is acted out - everything from a "talkie" melodrama to parodies of lots of popular films including "Frankenstein," "The Terminator," "Pink Panther," "Psycho" and others. Use our specially designed 34-image PowerPoint package to introduce and close each daydream. (Optional.)

40 pages

4-23 performers possible

A cat plays the fiddle, the cow jumps over the moon while the little dog laughs, and the dish runs away with the spoon…but then what? A group of storytellers are challenged to continue the story of the dish and the spoon from Hey Diddle Diddle. The tales that they spin find the dish and spoon fleeing from the Abominable Snowman, encountering the witch from Hansel and Gretel, becoming spies, and even fighting bad sushi! With a gender-flexible cast of 4-23, this smart, funny and easy-to-stage show will appeal to kids, teens, and adults. About 40 minutes.

14 pages

2 m, 1 w

A messenger of the Devil is sent to destroy the world but when he reaches Earth, he encounters a girl with ideas and problems of her own. Then we find out that the girl has been sent by ... you know who! One easy set.

74 pages

16 m, 4 w + extras

Here is Shakespeare's classic story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, with all of the psychology, guilt and tragedy that one is accustomed to in the original story. Nothing vital has been cut, but the play has been shortened, maintaining an incredible through-line of action. This version sails along. Perfect for high school and college theatre departments. A special CD of music and sound effects is available to enhance your production. (Music sample at right is "Ophelia's Theme.") About 2 hours.

49 pages

12 - 18

The world-renowned fairy tale diagnostician Dr. Grimm is having a very bad day. He’s got twins with type 2 diabetes, a boy the size of a thumb who needs massive doses of growth hormone, a gnome with an identity crisis, a princess with insomnia, and a wolf who needs a grannyectomy. And that’s just in the clinic. Grimm’s main case is a very pale girl who fell into a coma after eating a toxic candied apple. What could it be? Flexible casting, fast-moving, and lots of fun. About 75 minutes.

26 pages

6 m, 7 w, additional cast possible

The dashing, fleet-footed Gingerbread Man has gotten loose at Baker Street School, proud home of the Spatula Flippers. Now it’s up to a comical assortment of nerds and cheerleaders to put the bite on him. Principal Linzer Macaroon, cafeteria lady Muffin Topp and janitor Roland Butter enlist science teacher Newton Figg’s Mad Science Club and Lorna Doone’s pom squad to use their skills, talents and knowledge to capture the slick-sneakered cookie. This fast-paced show is filled with jokes, gags, slapstick humor, chases, and a riotous climax that will have audien...

63 pages

9 m, 9 w, extras, doubling possible

Here are three updated tales of horror. "The Monkey's Paw," by W. W. Jacobs, tells the story of a family destroyed by a grisly talisman that promises to grant three wishes. When a college-aged daughter is crushed while chiseling a huge marble tombstone, her parents wish her alive - at first. "The Tell-Tale Heart," by Edgar Allan Poe, is set in a contemporary prison where clinical experts delve deep into a killer's scarred psyche, only to discover that the motiveless murder is anything but. "Midnight Wax," by L. Don Swartz, is the story of an ambitious reporte...

65 pages

5 m, 5 w

Helga Frankenstein figures the best way to get rid of all those nasty stories about the family castle and her relatives is to turn the place into a tourist resort. And her very first guests are vacationing Americans Chandler and Lindsey Page. Lindsey just loves the place but Chandler keeps seeing all sorts of odd things, such as some of Junior Frankenstein's "experiments." And the old ranch has just everything: werewolves, mad scientists, sooth-saying gypsies and the usual angry mob of villagers who storm the castle from time to time, just to break up the mon...

42 pages

7 m, 6 w, and 3 men from audience

The Fool family has found gold on their homestead and now the whole county has been drawing gold diggers - including two outlaws, the evil Wiley Slithers and Dr. What, a hopeless kleptomaniac. Slithers devises a plan to get rid of Ma and Pa Fool and son Ura so he can marry the lovely daughter, Ima. However, she is stronger than a horse and refuses to marry any man until he can beat her in arm wrestling. Not only that, but Slithers and Dr. What must also outsmart the guy Ima has her heart set on, the handsome milkman, Sam Lactose. Local loonies complicate the ...

42 pages

4 m, 4 w

This delicious comedy is made up of three scenes set in a restaurant during the time customers arrive, place their orders, and await their meals. The scenes include "The Irritated Man," "Anxiety Dreams," and "Stephen King Goes to Lunch." The eight actors change roles with each scene, playing a spoiled toddler, a flustered waitress, pretentious customers, a celebrity-seeking opportunist, and a man who just might be a famous writer. Waiters, managers and customers all combine to make for a truly tasty drama experience.

60 pages

6 m, 5 w

Raven and Lulu are two young women seeking refuge who become unexpected guests at Dracula’s annual Halloween party. Igor the hunchback and their host, Dracula, seem friendly but chills and laughter escalate as monstrous guests arrive. It becomes clear that Zack the Zombie, Frankenstein, and the mummified Egyptian Queen Nefertiti are not in costume but are real…and possibly dangerous. An out-of-season Ghost of Christmas Past even makes an appearance and takes Dracula on a journey of discovery. Will Dracula’s affection for one of the girls keep her safe, or is ...

74 pages

Flexible cast of 20

A kazillion dollars is a one followed by so many zeros they fall off the edge of the page. That's the ransom Lala Man and Lulu have demanded for the bratty child they have kidnapped and hidden in the grimy Pig Sty Family Restaurant. But they did not count on Doofus and Goofus, two determined but hysterically dense teenage girls who hope to raise a mere million dollars by 5 o'clock by working as waitresses. It's an explosive comedy of a million laughs and almost as many misadventures as the girls earn - and lose - a million dollars three different times!

77 pages

12 m, 15 w

In 1865 Seattle, there are ten men to every woman. Surely Shamus Donovan can find his eldest daughter, Kate, a husband ("I'll Never Meet a Man"). An old Irish tradition ("Donovan's Curse") demands that the eldest marry first, but unfortunately, Kate has the disposition of a wildcat ("What I Hate Most"). While his other four lovely daughters are forced to wait ("Waiting Out the Rain"), their amorous suitors are reduced to tutoring them ("Lessons in Survival"). Borrowing from Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," the men give Federal Marshal Danny O'Brien tips o...

72 pages

12 m, 15 w

Seattle, Washington, 1895. There are 10 men for every woman in the territory -- excellent odds for Shamus Donovan, an Irish fisherman with five daughters to marry off. Several town council members immediately fall for the younger daughters, but unfortunately, a family tradition says the oldest must marry first. But the oldest daughter is Katherine, a wild cat! In a woman-starved town like Seattle there has to be someone desperate enough to take on Katherine, they reason. Using William Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" as a guide, the men give Danny O'Brien,...

16 pages

2 m, 2 w, 6 flexible

If humor is the best medicine, get ready to feel great! Slade, new to the hospital housekeeping staff, has just been given his cleaning duties in a patient's room when a lovely nurse mistakes him for a new doctor. She thinks his bumbling is just a little professional humor and even calls in student nurses to watch him administer a suppository. After blowing up a rubber glove like a balloon and conning all the nurses into exercising the patient's limbs while singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," the poor patient finally crawls from bed just to escape. Lots of vis...