School
Homefront
Drama by Dean Feldmeyer
63 pages
5 m, 7 w
It's WWII and on the Hoosier homefront, the Rev. Peter Farenkamp and his family try to do their part, especially the oldest son, David, who volunteers as a junior air raid warden. Soon the close-knit family lets Rita and Louise Baxter live with them so the two V-Girls can work at the nearby defense plant. A call from Louise's fiance, leaving for active duty in Europe, sparks in David a defiant determination to join the Army on his upcoming eighteenth birthday. But Peter, who has seen war up close, tries to stop him. Father and son clash in a powerful scene as...
Family Outing
Drama by Dolores Klinsky Walker
39 pages
3 m, 4 w
Ashley, one of the hottest girls in school, is shocked when, on their first date, Peter doesn't respond to her overtures. Peter, a pastor's son, knows the reason why: he thinks he is gay. He’s still hoping it’s not true, that no one will ever have to know he even suspected it. But what about Ashley? After storming out of his house, will she tell the whole school? Then there’s Craig, the youth leader at church, who saw Ashley rush out. He thinks Peter tried to go too far. How could he possibly understand Peter’s fears? But bit by bit Peter’s secret is revealed...
David Copperfield
Classic by Craig Sodaro
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...
Life on the Mississippi
Classic by R Rex Stephenson
64 pages
Company of between 18 - 35 actors
Here is a combination of three of Mark Twain's books blended into one story that continues Huck and Tom's great adventures. Huck and Tom are called to Arkansas because something mysterious is happening to Uncle Silas. As only Huck and Tom can, they set about solving the mystery that involves twin brothers, the maniacal Widow Dunlap and her nere-do-well son. This story is as poignant and humorous as Huck Finn, but without any of the racial overtones that in some areas has made Twain a controversial author. About 90 minutes.
He Said, She Said, or a Short History of Boy Meets Girl
Comedy by Reid Conrad
27 pages
2 m, 2 w, ensemble cast of 4-15 flex
Boy Meets Girl! Boy Loses Girl! But will Boy get Girl back again? Nothing is that easy. Through Barbara and Walter, co-narrators, a boy and girl demonstrate love – from the basic Neanderthal beginnings, to the use of Shakespeare to describe it, then to the Dark Ages, World War II, and into the future – all while an ensemble cast brings humor and action onto the stage. This fast-paced one-act play provides flexibility as any number of actors can be a part of the chorus or perform one of the many smaller roles.
Crosses to Bear
Drama by Bryan McCampbell
29 pages
5 m, 5 w, 6 flexible, extras, doubling possible
How students cope with the death of classmates due to drinking and driving is poignantly brought home in this one-act. On one side, Lisa is consumed with guilt because she didn't take away her brother's car keys, even though she knew he drank. On the other, Kurt is racked with pain because if he hadn't been drinking, he wouldn't have needed his sister to pick him up and she wouldn't have been in Lisa's brother's car. Then the football team wants to erect a roadside cross in memory of Lisa's brother right next to a cross the girls are planning in memory of Kur...
Arthur and Guinevere
Classic Drama by Steven Fogell
59 pages
Approx. 14 m, 15 w, 4 flexible
The magic of Merlin can't last forever, but with the help of the fairy Nimue, Merlin is soon transported back in time to remember the young boy Arthur, who was scared to become a knight; the young girl Guinevere, who was bored as a royal princess; and the young peasant girl Elyzabel, who dreamed of life in the King's castle. These three meet in the enchanted forest and their fates are suddenly changed by the evil magic of Mordrid and his twin sister Morgana. In this charming tale you soon find out what happens when you get the wish you wish for, and how it ma...
Cut to the Chase
Comedy by Pat Cook
68 pages
6 m, 5 w
WHAM! The Masked Wonder leaps into the room and fights off four or five henchmen without even wrinkling his cape and then...? Then the Hollywood writers of the Majestic Film Studios have to figure out what he does next. Pop, Tiger Lil, Stu, Howard and Dena are stuck until they meet the latest addition to their writer's stable. "Like any of us are writers," says Howard, "or stable." As the new kid on the team, Freddie has a lot to prove, mostly to his overbearing mother. Does he give up and leave with Mom? No chance! Especially not with Dena around! These two ...
Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Classic Comedy by R Rex Stephenson
57 pages
Flexible cast of 15, extras, doubling
Adapted from the novel by Mark Twain. Sir Boss, a computer wiz, is transported back in time to the age of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After proving his "magic" is more powerful than Merlin's, Sir Boss begins to modernize Camelot. The new TV station has Morgan La Faye as chief newscaster and Merlin as the "predictor" of the weather; the Knights of the Round Table form a basketball team, the Camelot Pacers; and everyone is getting e-mail. All goes well until King Arthur and Sir Boss travel through Camelot, disguised as peasants, so the King ...
Agatha Christie Never Took Trig
Comedy by Jeffrey Smart
54 pages
3 m, 5 w, 1 flexible
Janet has come up with the excuse of a party to relieve the tensions between their two trigonometry study groups. During the party the kids play a murder game, pretending that their trigonometry teacher is the victim. The students become edgy because of the parallels between their characters and themselves. All calm is shattered when word comes that their trigonometry teacher actually has been murdered! Everyone has a theory about who killed the teacher. Amidst the finger pointing and scrambling for alibis, "evidence" shows up in bookbags, and friends become ...
Aladdin and His Sister
Comedy by Janice Rider
38 pages
4 m, 2 w, 3 flexible. Some doubling possible.
This play presents a new, fun version of the story of Aladdin! While Aladdin is a lazy, unmotivated young man, his sister, Maliha, is resourceful, courageous, and compassionate, looking after him upon the death of their parents. One day an unscrupulous sorcerer pretends to be their long-lost uncle. He cons Aladdin into retrieving a buried lamp and traps him in the bowels of the earth. Thanks to Maliha and a friendly snake, Aladdin is rescued by rubbing the ring the stranger lent him. The Genie of the Ring becomes Aladdin’s slave but is befriended and freed by...
Twelfth Night
Comedy Musical Shakespeare by Murray and Large Thomas Large Stephen Murray
65 pages
Large, flexible cast. Approx. 10 m, 10-13 w, 1 flexible, extras
"If music be the food of love, play on!" In this modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's beloved comedy, the sounds of disco, swing, gospel, Latin and hip-hop music propel an outrageous assortment of characters into each others' arms. A terrible shipwreck strands young Viola on the beaches of Illyria. Desperate to support herself as she searches for Sebastian, her lost twin, she disguises herself as a man named "Cesario." Soon she is working for Duke Orsino, taking his love messages to the Countess Olivia. But the Countess' estate is a tropical madhouse cramme...
Martin and Malcolm: How Long Must We Wait?
Drama by Tom Quinn
30 pages
2 m 2 f (can be expanded)
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are forever linked in the history of the Civil Rights movement. This play featuring four actors playing different roles from history and present day examines the legacy of these two men and attempts to judge where we are today in terms of realizing their dreams. Utilizing the spoken words of both Dr. King and Malcolm X, "How Long Must We Wait" looks both backward and forward in coming to grips with race in America. This is the last in a series of plays that includes "Freedom Riders" and "No Easy Road to Freedom" and is intende...
Through the Looking Glass
Classic by Jim Geisel
36 pages
With doubling: 2 m, 4 w.
Before putting "Through the Looking Glass" down on paper in 1860s, Lewis Carroll told a colleague’s young daughter, Alice Liddell (the real Alice in the books), the story of talking chess pieces. The novel, of course, was a sequel to his earlier one, "Alice in Wonderland." This play is set in the early 1920s as a now elderly Alice Liddell reflects on the telling of the story. Faithful to Carroll’s expression of childhood fears of growing up, this adaptation keeps the Victorian charm and merriment by maintaining Carroll’s scenes intact. The audience is transpo...
Playbill, Play Ball
Comedy by Linda Howard Cooke
28 pages
(13 - 24 total. 2 m; 5 w; 6 - 17 flexible with doubling.)
Courtney Hanson, high school junior and avid protester, claims that her high school has turned athletics into a religion, violating the separation of church and state. After numerous meetings with the hapless school principal Courtney and her mother have decided to sue the school district. The characters interact in a series of scenes at the school, at a sports fundraiser, and at a PTO meeting. Some say Courtney has finally gone around the bend, while others say it’s high time someone stood up for academics and the arts....