School

76 pages

10 m, 16 w, many extras. (With doubling 8 m, 11 w.)

Jane Austen's timeless tale of romantic love touched by pride and prejudice is brought to the stage in this adaptation conceived especially for schools and small theatres. All the components of the novel remain: romance, love, rivalry, friendship and the many foibles and delights of family. While the clash between the lively Elizabeth and the arrogant Darcy remains at the heart of the play, love in all its many facets dominate all of the characters’ lives. The play remains faithful to the marital rites and manners of Regency England as courtships are explored...

48 pages

5 m, 9 w, extras

Pedro, Ben and Claude discover that while they've been away at the Civil War, Betty and the other womenfolk have been doing all of the roping and ranching. This Western romp is inspired from Shakespeare's hilarious battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy, "Much Ado About Nothing." Despite how much the cowpokes and the ladies of the ranch taunt each other, love seems to be in the air. Claude falls head over heels in love with Winny, a lovely Southern belle, but Calamity Jane, a rambunctious tomboy, secretly longs for Claude's affections and is bent on stirring up ...

64 pages

5 m, 7 w

Heather Pallfeather is a modern-day damsel in distress whose stepfather just kicked the bucket. Or did somebody kick it for him? With this crazy family it's hard to tell! To get some straight answers she hires Jack Sparks, a private eye, to act as her fiance and accompany her to the estate for the reading of the will. Sparks thinks himself a pretty shrewd cookie...until the lights go out and he starts to crumble. Throw in the mother who gets lost in her own house, a cousin who's married to a known convict, interchangeable twins, a stepsister who's looking for...

72 pages

10 m, 15 w, extras

It's the late 1800s and various travelers are boarding a train for their trip West, including young lovers who are being kept apart by her parents; a secret agent in-training; an elderly woman; a group of showgirls; and a couple who have just pulled off their first jewel heist. Many of the travelers have identical suitcases which are accidentally switched. As the passengers mingle, some cases are intentionally switched, and then switched again. While the thieves frantically try to keep track of their jewels, the novice agent ends up dressed as a showgirl, thi...

24 pages

2 m, 3 w, and unlimited ensemble

Pandora, the first woman created by Greek gods, has opened a box releasing all the evils of humanity. She can't undo the deed so she decides her penance must be to observe the evil play out in the world. She serves as the audience's narrator in this tragic fairy tale told out of time and place. Pandora tells of Freya, a young princess who has been captured in a battle that killed her family. A classically evil queen, Skadaas, is plotting a way to stay in power. Her first-born son, Brono, does not speak and, therefore, cannot be king. Her second-born son, Vol,...

60 pages

Minimum 4 m, 2 w, 2 flexible, 2 offscreen voices. Maximum 15 m, 13 w, 2 flexible, 3 offscreen voices.

Join this hilarious family as they struggle to endure being stuck at home – together! Why is the WiFi out, and will their old-school solutions work when all the needed cords are missing from the junk drawer? Will the family secure two-ply rolls of toilet paper in trade negotiations with Grandma? Wait… what has each of them been using? How many family game nights can teens endure? How are the pets holding up? What foods (or beverages!) are critical enough to make a special run to the grocery store? How do first dates and book clubs work while social distancing...

57 pages

3 m, 6 w

You think it's easy to write a murder? Just ask the Marquis Crossing Ladies Society for the Arts. They decide to do just that, especially when they find out they have to pay royalties to do someone else's play. "Anybody can write a murder," Emma tells the others, and Opaline immediately begins to try to strangle the other members "just to figure out how to do it." The ladies soon find themselves writing an "operatic murder mystery dinner theater with possible audience participation," providing no one sells fruit to the audience. Then two actual convicts on th...

23 pages

1 m, 5 w

When two big-time bunglers like John and Darlene attempt to burglarize an apartment, they get a coat hanger stuck in the door lock and then manage to accidentally ring the doorbell. When they do finally break in, Darlene's nervous bladder forces her to make an emergency bathroom visit. All this ruckus wakes up the bunny-slipper wearing homeowner, Erica, who discovers she is being burgled by her own husband. And if this wasn't weird enough, Darlene claims she is really a "cat burner" instead of a "cat burglar." All this, and the show has just begun! Is John re...

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...

72 pages

6 m, 9 w, and 6 flexible

James Holden, TV star, is a busy man. He has just returned from his honeymoon with his 4th wife, or so he thinks. Turns out his first wife, Velvet, didn’t die in that avalanche five years ago after all. And his second wife, Phoebe, didn’t file the divorce papers correctly. And his third wife, Rita, didn’t sign the annulment. Rita’s current fiancé, Max, happens to be a mob boss and has decided to take the annulment into his own hands. Everyone has their own agenda as they make their way to James’s apartment. Max and his goons arrive and begin to take hostages ...

28 pages

4 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, possible extras

It’s five days before the premiere of the non-musical version of Les Misérables, and high school drama director, Chris, has actors who are still on script, cast members absent from rehearsal, a sick stage manager, an unbuilt set and only twelve dollars left in the budget. Oh, and the principal is bringing the superintendent on opening night to see if funding for the drama program for the district should be cut. It’s a director’s nightmare, but Chris tells the cast and crew about a pocket watch from her great-grandfather that is known to help turn everything a...

83 pages

3 m and 7 w (With optional extended ending: 7 m and 8 w)

Penny Ramsey is a young woman who, like all of us, has different sides to her personality. They are personified in the story by comically stereotypical characters, collectively known as the Egos. The five Egos make up her decision-making process, which gets a lot more complicated when Penny overhears only one side of her boyfriend Matt’s phone conversation and believes he has betrayed her. It’s a stressful time for Penny, made even more confusing by the introduction of a potential new suitor named Rick and the nosy involvement of Penny’s mother (and Matt’s bo...

37 pages

5 m, 8 w, 12 flexible

In this one-act play, tragedy meets fantasy, myth meets reality. A fairy-tale world winds itself around the real drama of one little girl’s battle with cancer and her family’s anguish. As they struggle to cope with her prognosis and desperate treatment, the fairy tale characters from the little girl’s book play out their own drama. Will an evil sorceress and her dark creatures succeed in pulling Princess Caroline away from her beloved family and prince? Will little Cora’s experimental cancer treatment save her? In our imaginations, the villain is always slain...

43 pages

6 m, 8 w, and ensemble cast of 6 w or more

It’s January 1942, in the throes of World War II.  Eddie, the owner of Eddie’s Auto Parts Factory in Cook County, Illinois, is struggling now that there is a freeze on the manufacturing of car parts. His secretary, Rosie, wonders if the factory can secure a government contract and be converted to make airplane parts instead— if only they can find the manpower. At a time when the radio and the mail were the main sources of information, and ration books were in every household, Rosie is willing to shed tradition, roll up her sleeves and do her part. She is chos...

36 pages

8 m, 6 w

A group of outcast high school students in a small Texas town have formed “The Losers’ Club.” On homecoming evening, these 12 students kidnap the star football player, Joe Taylor, and homecoming queen nominee, Tawny Harris, who have ignored, bullied, and ridiculed members of the club for years. Lead by Trenton, a 17-year-old Goth, the club members put the condescending Joe and Tawny on trial for “crimes committed against their fellow students.” Each member of the “jury” details how he or she has been harassed by Joe, Tawny, and their friends, and how their li...

31 pages

2 m, 2 w, 5 flexible

Leaping llamas! "The Fourth Wall," a play within a play, begins as a murder mystery, but the murder victim won't keel over. The playwright forgot to give the characters names, and a rude audience member keeps interrupting the show. Even the ending of the play stinks! Everyone is supposed to die and then the character Death is supposed to do an interpretive dance. Thankfully, the audience's agony is cut short halfway through when the actors break character because Death accidentally kills the Host and then leaves the set to move his car. Without Death, how can...

48 pages

6 m, 6 w, some flexibility

What could go wrong when a group of patients at the Sunnyvale Insane Asylum decide to put on an evening of Edgar Allan Poe works for the public? A lot. With tongue-in-cheek comedy, and a host of kooky characters, this wild romp provides a uniquely theatrical take on such Poe classics as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and many more. Beware, though, there are surprises within, and things may not always be what they seem. Muhahaha! Running time: 60 minutes

42 pages

Flexible cast of 45 (minimum 12)

Miss Crandall and her junior high students are returning home late one night from a field trip when their bus breaks down and they are forced to seek shelter in an old abandoned house that legend has is haunted. While Miss Crandall goes for help, the kids keep up their spirits by telling spooky stories -- stories about a teacher who is really a vampire, a rude girl who is turned into a doll, a mummy that is sent as a gift and two others. The stories raise lots of goosebumps and lots of laughs. With easy staging, simple props and performance time of only an ho...

32 pages

Flexible cast from 10 - 24 actors.

This play opens when a woman who is collecting mountain folktales asks the Gentry family to tell her one. But they do better than that! They act out for her the story of "Jack and the King's Girl." When a Princess has a "witchin'" put on her, Jack decides to save her and collect the reward. It isn't an easy task, especially when he has to sleep over in a haunted house. Along the way he makes some friends who have special skills, however, and ultimately they help him meet every challenge the old witch throws at him. Of course Jack saves the Princess! The widel...

75 pages

5 m, 7 w

Newlyweds Sam and Margaret Howard discover they are in line to inherit $3.5 million from his great-grandmother whom he has never met. But before she is willing to add them to her will she wants to meet Sam and his new wife face to face to make sure they are “worthy.” Of course, nothing goes smoothly, especially since Sam is hiding an expensive diamond necklace for his boss, two burglars mistake their home for another, and the neighbor’s vague grandmother has wandered off…and may be somewhere in their house! Their friends, Rob and Kelsey, go to extremes to hel...

30 pages

Flexible cast of 12 or more actors.

While on a school trip to the local museum, three high school friends find themselves in a restricted area. In this room the students discover a statue of Pandora and her famous box. The box is opened and three creatures - Famine, War, and Disease - are released into the world. With the help of a mysterious guide, the three friends must fulfill the wish of the creatures to return everything back to normal.

62 pages

4 -5 m, 4 w

“The Importance of Being Earnest” is Oscar Wilde's most perfect, and most popular, play. Since its premiere in 1895, it has given joy to generations of theatergoers. The play is often called a "comedy of manners," because in the world Wilde knew and wrote about, late 19th century British high society, manners were everything. In this play, young Jack Worthing and his good friend Algernon find themselves in a ridiculous situation after their fiancées learn they are coincidentally engaged to the same man. A glorious rendition of mistaken identity, Wilde's play ...

75 pages

12 m, 14 w, 2 flexible parts

It's the 1940s and Americans are doing all they can to help the war effort, especially keeping a sharp eye out for spies! And what better place for a spy to lurk than a radio station. Never mind that everyone at the studio works on a melodramatic soap opera and they probably know even less than their loyal listeners! But with the seed of doubt planted, it seems as if everyone at the station looks highly suspicious, including the janitor who sweeps everywhere, two young male writers who aren't in the Army for lame reasons, three man-hungry actresses, and even ...

49 pages

Flexible cast from 25 - 50

Here is the classic re-telling of the rags-to-riches fairytale of a young girl forced to live with her cruel stepmother and her equally cruel daughters. Cinderella's kind and gentle nature, despite her surroundings, makes her a favorite with the three feisty mice who have also taken up residence in the house. Their motto? "Get `em and bite `em and beat `em up!" Meanwhile, in another part of the kingdom, a somewhat childlike King and his Queen are zealous in their pursuit of grandchildren. A ball, a ball is the thing wherein they'll capture a daughter-in-law a...

28 pages

5 m, 5 w, some doubling possible

Welcome to "Avoiding the Pitfalls of High School Dating," a seminar for high school students who have trouble going on dates. Your hosts for the evening are Lucky Daye and Starry Knight, two people who have invested their entire life savings into creating this simple system of five "never-fail" rules for dating success. Lenny and Matilda, two outcasts, have been brought in to demonstrate the system by going on a series of speed-dates to bring the five simple rules to life. Through a series of humorous and humiliating scenes and hilarious one-liners, we will s...

40 pages

6 m, 9 w, and ensemble of 10, doubling possible

Eight diverse candidates who are running for student body president have two minutes to present their platform and to convince fellow Roosevelt High students to vote for them. From the narcissistic varsity cheerleader, to the disdainful brainiac, and from the star quarterback to the tongue-tied farm boy, every candidate is unique. Their speeches veer from the serious to the hilarious and, with several mimed action scenes, even reach the absurd! During the question-and-answer segment of the forum, however, one student asks the candidates to do something about ...

43 pages

6 or more flexible characters

Twelve short scenes depict events in the life of Edgar Allan Poe -- or how his life might have been in today's world! Some of the more popular tales are represented: "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a police investigation; "The Cask of Amontillado" is a Jerry Springer-type TV show; and "The Masque of the Red Death" has a group of Hollywood types hiding out in a castle. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" Poe himself pitches the story to a producer for a horror film. Other scenes depict Poe as he might have been in elementary school; seeing a psychiatrist; trying to w...

22 pages

5 m, 5 w

Norma Starr, one of the last great silent screen stars, made her share of enemies during her career and she's gathered all of them for her birthday celebration - her director, a rising starlet, her shifty agent, a handsome matinee idol, her costume designer, her maid, and her oldest friend, who carries a dangerous secret. As they all watch, Norma relishes a chocolate- covered cherry from a box given anonymously. At that moment, she dies. Det. Larry Stark, L.A.P.D., and his tactless assistant, Roscoe, invite all the suspects to a "reunion" party during which s...

26 pages

8 characters: 1 m, 5 w, 2 flexible

It’s Marcus’ first day on the job at The Twilight Cone, an unusual ice cream shop owned by his Great-Aunt Diane. Marcus has already been trained on the milkshake machine and scooping ice cream when suddenly his eccentric aunt needs to run to the store. She reluctantly decides to let him open the shop but makes him promise not to serve any flavor but vanilla. When five young women come in to the shop, Marcus’ promise is quickly forgotten. Little does he know that each unique milkshake flavor causes an unusual reaction. The Narrator, unnoticed by all, enters an...

59 pages

45 speaking parts (minimum 7 m, 14 w with doubling)

Modern language and loads of humor make this version of the Greek tale one that today's audience is sure to enjoy. Hercules' girlfriend, Megara, has been poisoned by a jealous Hera and now he must complete eight tasks for Hera or lose Megara's love forever. The problem is, Hercules is a bit of a wimp and it doesn't look as if he will be performing any great feats of strength much less act particularly clever. Yet, he humbles the cocky Stymphalian birds, gets the best of the shady Arcadian stag, resists the Erymanthian Bore, cleans up King Augeus' act and give...