School

32 pages

5 m, 7 w

Dr. Jennings has always dreamed of life as a country doctor, but life in a town without an espresso machine horrifies his family. These tensions peak when the family attends the local 4th of July parade, a staple of small town life. Viewing the "parade" from curbside as it passes, the family lists the many sins and failings of the unsophisticated townsfolk, some of which seem deserved. But the natives aren't too pleased with the way the big city folk are treating them, either. In the end, the Jennings find comfort in the hospitality a small town offers and th...

59 pages

6 m, 7 w

The drama is based on an actual trial that occurred in Franklin County, Virginia in 1851. Indiana Choice, a black woman, claims that she and her three children are free. She sues Gresham Choice, her alleged owner, for not only her freedom but that of her three children. Gresham, a prominent citizen with political aspirations, denies Indiana is a free black. The events of the trial are recalled by Margaret Oxley who attended this trial as a child. Oxley is especially fond of Jubal Early, the lawyer for Indiana. As the trial progresses, a variety of witnesses a...

48 pages

3 m, 7 w, 2 flex

Poor King Augustus and Queen Regina! Their kingdom is half frozen because of a curse placed on their daughter, Princess Mirabelle, and nobody seems to know how to break the spell. When the Princess’s latest suitor, Prince Tomaso from a neighboring kingdom, is frozen by her touch, matters are no long inconvenient—they’re downright dangerous. Tomaso’s father threatens war if his son is not returned safely. As a last resort, the Queen texts a writer who gives advice in her “Leave It to Lilith” daily column. Lilith says the easiest way to break the curse is to go...

60 pages

4 m, 6 w, 3 flexible

Two inept detectives, Cagney and Lacey, have been put in charge of protecting an unusual family at a safe house until the mother, Elvira Bytes, can testify against a ruthless crime mob. The police are unaware, however, that Elvira, her husband Barnabas, and their three kids are vampires! The parents are trying to change the family ways but it isn’t easy with sarcastic teenage daughter, Scarlett, who uses a voodoo doll, and teenage son, Jason, who thinks he is also a werewolf. Only the youngest daughter, Raven, wants to be normal. When she brings home a new fr...

72 pages

Flexible cast of 12

Here is a hysterical, non-partisan look at our fearless (and not so fearless) U.S. Presidents, their achievements, their failures, and their idiosyncrasies. This play offers a flexible, kazoo-playing cast the opportunity to portray history as never before! From newscasts, game shows, reality TV, talk shows, beach movies, the Grand Ol' Opry, and Shakespeare soliloquies, a cast of 12 actors presents all of the United States Presidents in twenty brief scenes. Former Presidents interview for jobs, advertise used cars, head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, and...

41 pages

5 m, 3 w, 2 flexible

Mayhem and comedy are guaranteed when a small troupe of animal actors perform "The Taming of the Shrew" for King Louie, a lion, and Queen Marie, a lioness. Bartholomew, a fox, and Cassandra, a cat, are the leaders of an acting troupe consisting of a sarcastic crow, a bumbling bear, a young rabbit, and a sleepy dog. Include a diva cat opera singer, Miss Bianca, and the fur is guaranteed to fly! As the stage story of "The Taming of the Shrew" unfolds, we see that the actors are like the characters they portray. We also see how much can go wrong when performing ...

34 pages

4 m, 3 w, 4 flexible, extras

Santa’s elves, Flip and Twip, are sent to help Mrs. Santa with her last-minute preparations for Christmas Eve. The two elves spin mischief, but real trouble arrives in the form of King Sarak and his spoiled son, Prince Horace. By royal decree, Horace’s Christmas stocking must include all the toys in the land! When Santa refuses, offering instead to visit Prince Horace in the usual manner, the King has the toys seized, thus jeopardizing the merriment of Christmas. With Mrs. Santa’s guidance, plus cooperation between Flip and Twip, as well as lots of audience i...

52 pages

Flexible casting: 2 - 6 m, 8 - 17 w

Alden and Sidney find themselves developing an unlikely friendship having been marked as outcasts by the “in crowd” at school. We see through their eyes what it is like to be ridiculed and picked on, what it feels like to have your “friends” turn on you because of one simple misstep. But just when life seems most bleak, enter a hero: a quirky, awkward, fun-loving, larger-than-life, sure-to-make-you-laugh superhero for the new millennium: Empathy Girl! Though unable to fly, lacking superstrength or speed, and a little hypoglycemic, Empathy Girl isn’t without a...

60 pages

Flexible cast of 10 or more

This adaptation has kept alive the monsters and dragons that inhabited the original poem. However, it is told from the point of view of a Scop (Shope), a teller of tales, who had traveled and fought with Beowulf. The Scop is now a prisoner of the Saxons and while a prisoner tells this tale of courage to a priest who eventually agrees to preserve it by writing it down. The tale the Scop tells is substantially the same as the poem we know, however, the Christian ethic is removed and the tale is presented, as the playwright believes it originally was, with the g...

62 pages

4 m, 7 w

Eddie Poe is a direct descendant of Edgar Allan Poe and hoping to follow in his illustrious ancestor’s flaky footsteps. He gets his chance when his girlfriend Lucy, a personal assistant to a very wealthy woman, tells him someone has stolen her boss’s very expensive jewelry. Fearing she’ll be the prime suspect, Lucy begs Eddie to help her by attending a conference for people with famous ancestors. The attendees turn out to be a comical cross-section of world history with the descendants of Henry VIII, Molly Brown, Joan of Ark, Michelangelo, Davy Crockett, and ...

60 pages

6 m, 6 w

It is New Year's Eve, 1999 in Montana. Because of the forecasted Y2K disasters, the Johnsons are well prepared and eager to start their new lives. They are hopefully awaiting other survivalists to join them in their bunker. However, the others, including the haughty and well-bred Langfords and the common, run-of-the-mill hillbilly Hick family, are not exactly what the Johnsons had expected. Add two uninvited and unseen conspiracy survivalists, and you have a mix of nuts who think the world has ended. Rather than disaster, this adventure turns out to be comedy...

37 pages

Flexible cast of 10

From the story "Kaa's Hunting" by Rudyard Kipling.  Deep in a jungle in India in the middle of the 19th century a tribe of monkeys come chasing in with the boy Mowgli in their midst. In the middle of their play, Kaa, the great python, terrifies them as well as Baloo, a great bear, and Bagheera, a panther, who are Mowgli's friends and protectors. Once out of harm's way, the two scold the boy and teach him how to make himself safe in the jungle. They fall asleep. The monkeys, eager to get Mowgli to make them huts like his, wake him and drag him off. Baloo and B...

51 pages

6 m, 5 w, 2 flexible

Life is not so cool lately for Debbie Dawn, the teen starlet whose fantastic movie career suddenly seems empty and shallow. Even her screen boyfriend, Troy, wonders why he must be a teenager in love, especially now that he's 26. The real problems, and the fun, begin when Debbie's no-good manager plots her murder to cover the fact he's lost all her money on shady business deals. An inept hit man gets himself pummeled, knifed, and shot just trying to get near Debbie. Her beach house is more like a madhouse because "TV Sock Hop" host Del Murdock arrives to broad...

85 pages

Flexible cast

Author H.H. Munro, also known as Saki, wrote about upperclass English society before the first World War and satirized its foibles with dark humor and acid wit. Playwright Burton Bumgarner has updated and Americanized three of Saki's stories, dramatizing their impish ironies, exquisite mischief, and O'Henry-like twist endings. All three stories, which are played before one basic living room set, may be presented for a full evening's entertainment, or each can be presented separately. (See individual listings in the One-Act Section.)

  Murder for Dummies

Comedy by Pat Cook

79 pages

6 m, 10 w, much doubling possible

“So you want to commit a murder.” This is the first line in a book purchased by Myron Bernhart. And here’s a guy who knows his books since he’s collected some rare ones and proud of it. That is until his nagging wife, Marge, decides to sell them. He tries to reason with her but is argued down, not only by her but the Civic Arts League, her cronies who, of course, meet constantly at their house. When all else fails, Myron realizes it’s time to take drastic action and plans it all out. Of course, his imagination tends to wander a bit--from German psychiatrists ...