School

80 pages

Flexible cast of 34 (doubling possible)

Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Introductions and staging by Billy St. John. One all-purpose set serves as the back for these tales of mystery and terror. Although there are five separate stories included, you can perform only three or four and still have a 90-minute to 2-hour show. One character, Poe himself, narrates the plays and ties them together. Each section of Poe's narrative is set apart so that you can change or eliminate it depending upon which plays you choose to perform. Plays include "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Cask...

20 pages

3 m, 4 w, 1 flexible part

"Next!" is about a series of college freshmen who are auditioning for a play ... the oddest group of wannabe actors you'll ever meet. From the girl who has the ultimate case of stage fright to the basketball star who's just doing it on a dare, this witty comedy is destined to be a success on any stage! No setting needed other than your own stage. The part of the director can be played from a first row seat.

50 pages

3 m, 3 w, extras as desired

Ahoy, mystery fans! Book passage on the Titan, a cruise ship headed for the grave of the Titanic, where it hopes to bring up artifacts for auction. But when romance goes sour and the very wealthy and demanding Blake Witherspoon is murdered, a new course must be chartered. The social director tries to steer passengers back to having fun, but Tara Dawn DePue, a detective and antique dealer, decides to solve the crime. With the captain too sick to help, the audience and crew must try to find out who killed Witherspoon before the killer strikes again. Audience me...

71 pages

11 m, 10 w, 3 flexible, 1 boy, extras

Ah, what fools these mortals be! Whimsically adapted from Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy, this musical features the usual magical forest and spellbound lovers, but also an upstart Puck who decides to liven things up by modernizing the dialogue and adding song and dance numbers. It's all fun and games until William Shakespeare, fresh from spinning in his grave, leaps onto the stage, demanding to know what on earth is going on! The 13 songs capture a wide range of emotions, including the enchanting "Moonbeams," sung by Titania and her Fairies; the hilari...

41 pages

6-16 m, 5-15 w, flexible casting, some doubling possible.

This one-act version of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth maintains the Bard’s original dialogue but changes the setting to a post-apocalyptic world affected by nuclear fallout. The setting allows for many opportunities for creative staging, props, music, and lighting. Three witches arise from piles of mannequin parts, looking as if they were just pieced together. Use of a shadow scrim intensifies the violent and edgy nature of the play. About an hour.

41 pages

2 m, 4 w

Every time Polly Peabody's in charge of something, it's murder - literally! In this hour-long play, she's program chairperson for Professor Hazelton Crandall's presentation, "Journey Through the Pharaoh's Tomb." Unfortunately, the poor professor needs his own tomb before Act I ends, because he's murdered. Miss Peabody narrows the suspects to four: the professor's estranged wife, who wants to sell the artifacts; the professor's vivacious, if vacuous, girlfriend; his longtime colleague and friend; and a reporter who'd do anything to get a story and keep his job...

51 pages

Widely flexible cast (14 or more)

Kipling's dramatic and entertaining stories about how the Camel got his hump, how the Elephant got his nose, how the Whale got his spout, and other richly woven tales come to life in this engaging full-length play. Mr. and Mrs. Kipling and their two bubbly yet unpretentious daughters serve as narrators. The story weaves from several animal tales to the final human one, how Man-or in this case an enterprising young girl!--wrote the first letter. Especially engaging is the two-person whale which is a great theatrical device. Easy to produce, this whimsical play...

52 pages

4 m, 4 w

Waiting in line? Waiting your turn? You don’t have time! Here’s a comedy in six scenes for those who are time-challenged. In the first scene a desperate woman has only 20 minutes to get to the airport to catch her flight and no matter what her beleaguered taxi driver says or does, they remain stuck in a traffic jam. In a different scene, things start to get physical at a restaurant when a couple with dinner reservations (and theatre tickets!) see others entering and being seated before them. In another scene, a jumpy hypochondriac is forced to wait in a docto...

90 pages

Flexible cast of 13 to 40

When Fred is forced to go to the library to do a report, he meets the Book Master, a magical character who introduces him to some of the most popular fictional characters ever created. Before his eyes, sections from several great books are acted out. You can choose whichever 6 to 8 scenes of the 9 included to comprise a full evening's entertainment. Scenes include "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Little Women" (Americana); "Jane Eyre" (Gothic); "Dracula" and "The Monkey's Paw" (horror); "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "A Thousand and One Arabi...

57 pages

5 m, 4 w

Dr. Frank N. Stein, the crusty great-grandson of the original monster-maker, has developed a magic clone box for "a brighter tomorrow." But his pretty daughter, Julie, who possesses one hair from the head of the King, wants an Elvis clone! Unfortunately, the guy with blue suede shoes and guitar who pops out can't sing a note. And it doesn't get any better when he and the doctor go back into the clone box and their personalities are switched. Add in an ambitious young TV reporter; a psychoanalyst; a crusty housekeeper; a patient with multiple personalities, an...

74 pages

7 m, 10 w, 1 flexible, extras

Mrs. Brown has moved to Hoke's Bluff to study rural school life. She's used to schools equipped with state-of-the-art computer labs and up-to-date technology. At Hoke's Bluff, however, high tech is an intercom system consisting of an aluminum can with a piece of string attached. On the first day of school, the sheriff shows up looking for leads to cow-tipping pranks. Her study of "these people" may be more than she bargained for. But as relationships are built, Mrs. Brown not only teaches her students a few lessons, but she learns a few of her own. And when C...

58 pages

Flexible casting: Minimal 3 m, 3 w.

By beginning the play with the arrival of the merchant and his daughter at the Beast's castle, this adaptation of the familiar fairy tale focuses on the many variations on the theme of love. Once the character referred to as “Beauty”' agrees to stay at the castle, the audience becomes involved in the changing relationship of the two central characters, leading to a bond of love that goes beyond surface appearances -- and that will outlast even death. It's a tale of happiness and sadness, of growing and changing. But in this version Beauty discovers her own co...

31 pages

Flexible from 5 m, 6 w, to as many as 8 m and 14 w, not including extras.

The title says it all, and every actor and actress who has ever graced the stage knows it all too well. Bobby, Danni, and Christina are three high school students who share the same bad dreams of forgetting their lines, blanking on their monologues for a big audition, looking foolish in a death scene, or being in a really bad play where you don't even know what it is or any of the cast members in it! They stumble through the ridiculous scenarios by any means necessary, improvising and freaking out at the same time. Chaos and calamity reign supreme as they dea...

47 pages

Flexible cast of 15 (approx. 3 m, 9 w, 3 flexible), extras as desired

Confusion and fun are the business of the day at Kamp KAOS, a summer camp that boasts its own 12-watt radio station. It's opening day at the camp and director Wally Schneider is already in trouble: the mortgage is due; the world's wealthiest woman wants to buy the land the camp sits on; the county health inspector is coming; and the mysterious weather phenomenon El Gordo has brought a migration of mice! It's up to the wacky gang of counselors and campers to save the day when Wally eats cheese laced with sedative. This hour-long, one-set comedy can easily expa...

29 pages

1 m, 1 w, 1-14 flexible

Lacey, a teenage girl, has finished work at the mall and is waiting – and waiting – for her boyfriend to pick her up. Left stranded yet again, she reevaluates her love life while shuffling through the songs on her iPod. Actors portraying each of the songs appear with comedic monologues that stir her emotions, offer advice, and affect her decisions. Ethan, a good-humored co-worker, offers her a ride home and the possibility of future romance. The play may be performed with anywhere from 3 to 16 actors. Actors playing Songs portray the spirit and style of the g...