School

42 pages

4 m, 3 w, 7 flexible parts, some doubling possible

Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy follows the adventures of best friends Valentine and Proteus and the intrigues that ensue when Proteus, engaged to Julia, falls in love with Valentine's beloved, Julia. Reduced from the original 2 ½ hours to 45 minutes, this competition-length adaptation is for teachers who would like to present Shakespeare but feel intimidated to find ways to make it accessible to their students. This adaptation is fast, funny, easy to stage and easy to understand, even for middle school students.

58 pages

3 m, 6 w, 3 flexible parts

The Culpeppers open the doors to the Last Chance Inn once again in this hilarious sequel to "Last Chance Inn, Calamity Gulch." Ma's just as harried, Pa's just as cantankerous, and Horace Prickley is just as villainous! This time he plots to woo and wed the woeful Widder Black and take control of her fortune. It seems, however, that Horace may have to share the money with the Widder's noble nephew, Peter Loveless...if the young man finds a bride before the week is out. Enter two likely prospects - Pansy Perriwinkle (the most annoyingly sweet heroine ever to gr...

74 pages

5 m, 6 w

"I wasn't expecting anything to happen," intones detective Ace Baxter, "and that's just when anything CAN happen!" And happen it does, as Ace finds himself in a locked room standing in front of the only exit with a murder victim who was shot in the back ... and with Ace's own pistol. Shadows loom large when you're on the lam, as Ace finds out, whether he's disguising himself as a cleaning woman to inspect the scene of the crime, or ducking Sergeant Flint, who's chomping at the bit to clamp the cuffs on Baxter. The Professor helps out when he can, vowing to al...

27 pages

3 m, 8 w, 5 flexible, doubling possible

Adapted from the English fairy tale. Baroness Agatha, a rich and powerful noblewoman, learns from a hermit that her newborn son, Alex, will marry Marie, a mere peasant's daughter. The Baroness will have none of this! She intends to kill her, but the baby somehow survives being thrown into a river and ends up being raised by a fisherman and his wife. Fifteen years later, Alex accidentally sees Marie and instantly falls in love with her. The Baroness again arranges to have Marie murdered, but a helpful innkeeper intercepts the fateful letter and changes it to r...

54 pages

6 m, 6 w

Here's a fast-moving, fun-filled play that mixes melodramatics with show business. Sonny Nuggett, a young, handsome theatre student (the hero, of course!) tries to assemble a dance act to save his parents' failing restaurant in the Gold Country of Old Californy. Col. Questus Quantrell, a shady showman with hypnotic powers, appears with three clumsy dancing girls. He schemes to take over the café by plotting murder and cheating two old prospectors, Pa and his old partner, Fred, out of their newly re-found "lost" goldmine. Fred is the father of Cora, a beautifu...

24 pages

5 m, 3 w, and ensemble

Hassan works as a scholar in the House of Wisdom specializing in translating legends. She spends her days alongside her father and twin. Together they are all living a dangerous secret. It is 13th century Bagdad at the height of Islamic civilization and women are forbidden in the House of Wisdom, so Hassan and her sister are posing as men. The daughters are living a protected and peaceful life, yet Hassan dreams of travelling the world. The arrival of a new scholar expands Hassan’s horizons, but will he jeopardize her secret identity as well as her future? Wh...

61 pages

Flexible cast of 28 (Minimum: 4m, 4 w)

Their adoring public never suspects these four great men in rock are bored senseless and challenge each other with daily mind games. And with these famous guys, anything goes, from historical trivia to famous quotes. This ten-minute play is just one of 10 in this collection which is sure to entertain with its quick dialogue and quirky situations. In other plays a man tries to prepare for the worst with a visit to his friendly, neighborhood survivalist warehouse; several soon-to-be driving teens meet their match with their instructor; a teen job seeker shows s...

60 pages

7 m, 6 w, extras

Coming to your theatre! All the fast-paced action, all the cockeyed characters, all the romance you'd ever want and still have room for popcorn. Return with us now to those thrilling days of silent movies when anything went and usually took most of the scenery with it. Can B.B. Tackett, one step ahead of the police, make his next movie? Will Freddie Thurlow find true love with the daughter of a fruit vendor and will she be the apple of his eye? And just who brought in a stuffed hamster, anyway? Wisecracking their way through one scrape after another, our litt...

46 pages

12 to 20+ flexible characters

Here's an enjoyable, approachable introduction to William Shakespeare. In Scenes 1 through 4, we discover his world and his realities, his life and his times. In Scenes 5, 6 and 7, we are treated to one abridged scene from "Romeo and Juliet" and two abridged scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream." All together, the man and his work come alive for both the actor and for the audience. Performance time about an hour. (A longer version of this play, "The Bard!", also includes abridged scenes from "The Twelfth Night," "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Macbeth." S...

48 pages

4 m, 6 w, many extras

Ashley, a freshman sprite, makes her first visit to Mt. Olympus to meet the powerful pantheon of gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. She is overwhelmed by the way the Great Olympians live and the power that they wield, and wants to grab a little of the glory for herself. She becomes friends with Persephone, the goddess of spring who is running away from her brooding husband, Hades. Together the women set off on an ambitious odyssey to steal Zeus' lightning bolts, Poseidon's trident, and Hades' helmet of invisibility and take over Mt. Olympus! They are pursu...

57 pages

5 m, 4 w, 3 flexible, 5-7 kids or adults dressed as kids

At Jim Dandy's Dandy Dude Ranch for Children, nasty city kids learn good manners and improve their self-images. The Dandy ladies, including the lovely young Melody Dandy, are running the ranch while Jim Dandy is serving an undeserved prison sentence. Trouble is, the ranch is close to the future railroad line and villain Rash von Sphincter is determined to have it. Rash tricks the gals into letting him manage the ranch, turning all the dude children into brats, ruining the ranch's reputation, and (hopefully) forcing Mrs. Dandy to sell. All is saved when our he...

18 pages

5 m, 2 w, 6 teen boys (Some male roles can be played by females)

Imagine this: A high school P.E. teacher who does not have a gym facility for his students, and a high school drama teacher who has it all and wants more! Mr. John Brief's proposal to the school administrators for the construction of a gym, and Mr. Lawrence Hacker's proposal for additional seating for his very extravagant theater takes an interesting turn!

44 pages

7 m, 11 w. Much doubling possible.

The terrible waste of war never seemed more contemporary than in these quintessential tragedies by Euripides set before and after the siege of Troy. Far from being “historical dramas,” they speak to any generation embroiled in conflict. We see up close and firsthand that war is the most pitiful—and most poetic—of human activities. In the first play, "Iphigenia at Aulis," the Grecian army waits to embark on the conquest of Troy. The army’s commander, Agamemnon, has been forced to offer his young daughter, Iphigenia, as a martyr to ensure victory. Valiant effor...

38 pages

6 m, 7 w, optional extras

They say Amanda's back. They say she's crazier than ever. And they say Debbie's her next victim. Caught in a whirlwind of gossip Debbie is swept away from her friend Amanda and from her boyfriend Nathan. Valley High School panics and Amanda blows her top. She may blow up the whole school if Debbie doesn't take a stand. Friendship, loyalty, relationships, gossip and the power of peers - these topics are all probed by this thoughtful play. An entangling tale of gossip and truth, prejudice and compassion. 45 - 50 minutes.

64 pages

8 m, 10 w, 3 flexible, doubling possible

Bridey Stands conned General Washington into making the female-run town of Bridey's Haven its own country, totally separate from the United States of America. But even Bridey realized the 18th century wasn't quite ready for a country run entirely by women. So she hid the document under a fireplace stone in her inn. Two hundred years later, the inn is in deep financial trouble. To make matters worse, a local politician and greedy land developer want to turn the entire area into a big shopping mall while the U.S. government wants to take over the little nation....