School

55 pages

2 m, 9 w, 10 flex. Possible extras and doubling.

It’s the year 1890 in Saddlesore City. The Carson Hotel is a fun place to hang your hat and jist have a good ole time with friends and neighbors - playin' cards, dancin', laughin',singin', gossipin' and…drinkin' sassafras root beer by the gallons! Well, that's the way it used to be when Charles was alive but now it's just a sorry-eyed, sad-faced, ghost of a place where even the spiders are bored out of their minds! Widow Henrietta has become overwhelmed with both the duties of hotelin' and tryin' to raise Liza and Skeeter. Her once happy attitude has now turn...

36 pages

Cast of 12 plus ensemble. Most roles are gender flexible except for those noted. Doubling possible.

James, a young boy, suffers from Angelman Syndrome. This neurodevelopmental disorder causes problems with speech and mobility forcing him to spend his life in a wheelchair. The story shifts from James’ imagination where he dreams of being a superhero called “The Amazing Angel-Man” to the real world, where the realities of his condition have a serious impact on his family, particularly his father. As the play progresses, these two separate worlds start to overlap, leading to an uplifting resolution that upholds the values of hope and imagination. The play was ...

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...

65 pages

8 m, 9 w, doubling possible

"All we want is a simple wedding," agree Mark and Colleen as they get engaged. And their simple wedding stays simple, for about two minutes. Then the families get involved. There's the McMasters, who think the Frobishers are a bunch of snooty dudes, and the Frobishers, who picture the McMasters as a crowd of hillbillies. The bride's father keeps offering the soon-to-be-wed couple thousands of dollars to elope, "No questions asked!" The bride's mother decides to call in her sister, who is a sweet, lovely woman, until she becomes "The Coordinator, " a drill ser...

51 pages

2 m, 6 w, 5 flexible, extras, doubling possible

Hazel is a teenage witch who’s somewhat different from every other witch in Frogshire Forest. She can brew a mean cup of coffee but can't brew a potion to save her life! And she’s an accident waiting to happen when she tries to fly on her broom.  While Hazel dreams of becoming a barista, her mother, the head witch of the forest, wants only for Hazel to focus on her witch studies and preparations for the upcoming annual festival, the most important event in the forest. She would forbid Hazel from trying to fly into a coffee shop in the city—if she knew about i...

25 pages

5 m, 2 w, extras

Jack Sprat is a peeper, a gumshoe, a bloodhound for rent, a freelance flatfoot, a man on the case, a hired nose -- a detective, actually, and the only detective in Fairyland. So when femme fatale Red Riding Hood hires him to find Grandma, he knows something is up (well, actually his secretary Tinkerbell figures it out first). Red has teamed up with Prince Charming in order to trick Jack into learning the password for the fairy godmother's magic wand. In the end, Jack figures it all out with the help of his friends, Mr. X, really Rumpelstiltskin; Humpty Dumpty...

42 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible

Ronald Schmidt has just left his bride at the altar to attend an urgent meeting at Dr. Shaw's office. Diana Henderson has left her bridegroom at the altar to attend the same meeting. Both hope it's about inheriting the late doctor's fortune, but all that the two strangers find are Shaw's ashes in an urn and Shaw's assistant. To qualify for their legacy, he says, they must be handcuffed for twenty-four hours. Once alone, they argue, then kiss and eventually break the handcuffs. The assistant returns with the jilted bride and bridegroom, the ones left at the re...

42 pages

6 m, 5 w, extras, doubling possible

Papa Praiseworthy has mortgaged the family farm to have money to pay for the long-needed operation to cure Mama and create a trousseau for sweet Polly’s marriage to our hero, Jedediah Justice, of Justice Junction. Little does the family know when they stop to help an ill traveler on the road, the man is the evil brother of the villain, Delvin Dastardly. The Dastardly brothers frame Papa and get him thrown onto a chain gang. Now Polly will have to bring in the harvest with only the aid of her brother Penrose and sister Penny. Too proud to do less, Polly woeful...

40 pages

4 - 5 m, 4 w

Edgar Allan Poe’s famous short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher,” gets turned upside down in this sequel ... of sorts! Far from the Gothic mood of the original story, this is a broad comedy-mystery with a little bit of the macabre thrown in for fun. Some characters from the original story, as well as a few new ones, are now trapped in a different mansion. They’ve been called together on this dark and stormy night by a mysterious host for a reading by Poe. The guests are unknown to each other, yet there must be a connection because one by one they disapp...

52 pages

Large, flexible cast

Here is a classic tale of courage, determination, and love. Journey back to a time when the gods and goddesses determined the daily fate of the world and all the humans upon it. In this tale we meet Odysseus as he returns to his beloved home of Ithaca. Soon he is sent by the goddess Athena to fight in the Trojan War and undergoes a journey that takes him much further - and much longer - than ever expected. Odysseus's path home from the battle is detained and crossed by many gods and goddesses, and the often dangerous creatures they have created such as the Cy...

68 pages

10 m, 12 w, and any number of townspeople

Three old crones start telling a magical pirate story to Sierra, a bored young woman who soon learns that an arranged marriage has been planned for her that very day! Feeling trapped, Sierra convinces the town loudmouth to meet her intended. Meanwhile, the young bridegroom, Santiago, plans the same ruse with his buddies. When he finally discovers it is Sierra he’s to marry, he tries to win her heart by posing as El Phantismo, the dashing, heroic pirate of the duenas’ story. Soon, Sierra’s girl friends fall for Santiago’s guy friends and weddings are planned. ...

43 pages

9 - 22. (7 m, 9 w, 6 flexible. Minimum of 9 actors with doubling)

Welcome to present-day Sleepy Hollow. This famed little town now has traffic lights, modern plumbing, even a Dunkin’ Donuts – but traces from its past remain. A troupe of actors takes us on a tour of Sleepy Hollow, but the participants begin to suspect that there is perhaps more truth to the legend than they realized. This inventive adaptation delivers a faithful retelling of the classic short story within a contemporary framework. The past clashes with the present, as the young square off with the dead, and the Headless Horseman is thrust into a 21st century...

34 pages

2m, 1w, 8+ flexible, or 6m, 5w with traditional casting.

The Wolfagues, a werewolf family, and the Vampulets, a vampire family, have a long-standing feud— although no one can quite remember why. The Princess of Transylvania has ordered all fighting to stop, but that doesn’t end the battle between the vampires and werewolves. Werewolf Romeo and Vampire Juliet fall in love and quickly marry with the help of a mad scientist, but even misguided love cannot bring the two families together. In the end, we realize it’s not over until the zombies dance. Great show for Halloween or any time of the year.

59 pages

3 m, 5 w

Everyone seemed to hate Derek Moore, so no one is surprised when the smooth-talking actor is found dead in the middle of a dress rehearsal. Archie Lewis, a well-intentioned but goofy detective who happens to be in the theater, offers to solve the case, but things turn out to be more complicated than he had anticipated. Why does the female stagehand, Ed, talk only in lines from classical literature and popular songs? Why does the laconic Francis keep covering for the unsmiling Jessica? Is there more to naive Terri than devotion to Derek? Do Maria's wisecracks ...

41 pages

Flexible cast up to 42

Here's an hour-long adaptation of the Charles Dickens' novel that's as practical as it is entertaining. While staying close to the original novel in dialogue, this version adds additional speaking roles. Along with the hard-hearted Scrooge, the Christmas Spirits, the Cratchit family and the beloved Tiny Tim, there are carolers, goblins, and guests as well as two storytellers, Mrs. Candlewick and Mrs. Peartree, who help keep the action flowing. Because the cast is so flexible, you can combine roles for a small cast or expand it into an all-grade performance. C...