School

69 pages

1 m, 6 w

"If there's any skeletons in the closet, I'll find them!" states Angie, who then opens a closet and has a skeleton literally fly in her face. This is one of the many surprises that faces the undercover police woman who just took on a job as a "domestic engineer," hired by Dr. Hugh Bernard to "find out what's going on." Five elderly spinsters live in the same house and all, apparently, hate each other. And what a group. There's Evelyn, who keeps acting out death scenes for Fiona, who's writing some sort of novel. Then there's Catherine, who keeps alluding to h...

19 pages

2 m, 3 w

Josh has a box in his basement containing a number of objects that have meaning for him. As he takes them from the box characters appear who seem to know him, and yet not know him; characters from the past who are still, for Josh at least, very much in the present. Jane, Chloe and Rob don’t know each other, but they all know Josh, and as the story progresses we learn the awful fate they all share, as he moves through the ritual which seems so familiar to him. The appearance of Leah, Josh’s sister, seems at first to comfort him, but then agitate him. Despite L...

64 pages

7 m, 12 w, extras

We're in Television City where we are watching the live taping of "Days of Our Nights." The set of "Days" is a New Year's Eve party on the Buckcannon yacht and the drama begins when Asa Buckcannon is poisoned from drinking his champagne toast. Who is the murderer? Could it be the sickly sweet Marlena, the conniving Erica, or even the long-lost Greta who acts like a wild animal? Or could it be Beau, who's always wanted to run the Buckcannon Industries but was too inept, or Stefano, a rich, cunning businessman? And how do Dr. Von Quackenhiemer, a strange German...

58 pages

8 m, 9 w, 5 flexible, extras

It's half-time at the big basketball game but Trish, Joannie, and Crystal ignore their pep squad duties to gossip about the latest surprising developments at their school. The new female teacher seems to have a persistent five o'clock shadow and the English Department has taken over the administration. The new leader, Mr. Dickens, is a Shakespeare fanatic who is in league with the evil custodial staff, who in turn spend their time collecting gum wads and blackmail evidence on the teachers. All the classic conventions of soap operas are here: memory loss, mist...

80 pages

12 m, 14 w, 5 flexible; doubling possible; extras as aliens

Elise Sims has just finished college, and she's ready to take on the world. Now she just has to tell her family about her plans. But they live in Oyer’s Corners, a town full of odd folks who make a living by selling tours and souvenirs to UFO seekers. Elise's grandfather, Jebediah Sims, started the UFO legend nearly forty years ago when he claimed he was abducted and taken aboard a flying saucer. New technology is making it increasingly difficult to fake UFO evidence, and the townsfolk are struggling to keep the legend -- and Oyer’s Corners -- alive. One fact...

43 pages

4 w, 4 m for small cast; 8 w, 7 m, 2 flexible for large cast

Melisande dreams of catching a unicorn, Ana dreams of capturing the perfect sunrise, River dreams of finding the all-consuming love of his life, while Kristi seeks to unlock her love. These are just a few of the stories of love lost and found in “A Day of Dreaming.” We meet young people with powerful dreams which they write in a Dream Journal that is nestled in a covered bridge (which exists today in Winterset, Iowa). There is always the hope that if they write down their dreams, they will come to fruition. The stories run the gamut from forging new connectio...

67 pages

15 m, 13 w, 7 flexible, extras, doubling possible

Adapted from the novel by Charles Dickens. A coming-of-age story of a boy in 19th century. A young hero battling a difficult youth, we see David's struggles from his childhood days at the family's estate in Blunderstone, to his early life of poverty and misery, to his final, joyful success. Many of our favorite Dickens' characters are present: David's gentle mother, Clara; the loving housekeeper, Peggoty; his cruel stepfather, Murdstone; his schoolmates Steerforth and Traddles; the amusing, ever-on-the-run Micawbers; the lovely Agnes Wickfield, and the despic...

67 pages

9 m, 15 w

Count Sid Onitt is trying to mend his vampire ways so he can become a member of Parliament, but it isn't easy when his servant Igor and five vampire widows are hanging around (literally) his dreary castle, ready for some fresh necks. So you can imagine the excitement when ten - dare we say, red-blooded - American students stay overnight as part of their tour of England! To get the attention of one of the girls, two of the guys hatch a perfect little romantic plot, especially since it coincides with Vlad night when Vampire Vlad, the granddaddy of all vampires,...

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...

34 pages

2 m, 6 w, 2 flexible

Welcome to Darla's dream world. On this particular night, Darla and her best friend Maxine, set off to find prom dresses, dates and a limo. They escape Darla's mother, who has selected the world's ugliest dress for her daughter, meet a hobo and a nerdy limo salesman, who tries to become Darla's prom date, and pursue the school dreamboat, Roger Harcourt. Through all this Darla's conscience, Constance, tries to keep Darla on the straight and narrow. Later they attend a Christmas party where the pursuit of Roger continues and Darla almost realizes her dreams bef...

60 pages

12 to 30 (4 m, 8 w with doubling) (7 m, 13 w, 10+ flexible)

In 1890s London, a recent night of fatal violence has terrorized the city. Scotland Yard fears that the infamous Jack the Ripper has finally returned home. Inspector William Wright has staked his career on bringing the killer to justice and believes he finally has his man. Wright will stop at nothing to make sure that George Bessel goes to the gallows for the crime. However, Bessel’s partner and friend, Theresa Vincey, protests his innocence. The leading witness to the crime, Vincey holds the key to Bessel’s fate. As the investigation unfolds with interviews,...

30 pages

5 m, 7 w, or with doubling 5 m, 4 w

Adapted By Bobby Keniston from Robert Browning's poem and Thornton Wilder’s playlet, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.” Roland, a warrior and perhaps the son of a king, has reached the Dark Tower. After years of eschewing death, he seeks nothing but sweet release after lifetimes of wandering the Earth. At the Dark Tower, he is confronted by Three Sisters, each in her own window. While the Amber Sister taunts him, and the Silent Sister pities him, the Dark Sister encourages him to release his burdens by sharing his life story. As Roland travels through hi...

44 pages

4 m, 4 w, extras

Sam and Billy are two wheelchair-bound kids who have been mainstreamed into a regular high school. Billy is a poet who, under under the pseudonym of "Minotaur" for half man, half beast, exchanges romantic e-mails with Miranda, one of his classmates. Sam is a rebel with devastating wit, who fights against the double standards that excludes them from some activities. When Billy reveals who he is to Miranda, she is stunned at first, but they become friends, and he asks her to the prom. Sam attends with a teacher. But when Sam goes to the chem lab to smoke a ciga...

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 ...

39 pages

4 m, 5 w

Laura has carefully plotted a day off school in order to find out the meaning of life. Playing hooky, along with her ditzy best friend, she has concocted a foolproof plan to get to the bottom of things. Chaos ensues when her attempts to leave the house are foiled by a lazy cable guy, a rapper who's come to install high-speed internet, a disapproving Mary Kay consultant, a devious Girl Scout selling cookies, and an insecure FedEx driver. It seems all is lost until Laura's older brother arrives with a man claiming to be Leonardo Da Vinci. He, too, knows the sec...