School

62 pages

5 m, 7 w

High school outsiders Agatha, Sebastian, Claire, and Ryder have bonded as the After-School Detectives devoted to solving crimes and misdemeanors at Yankum High School. Trouble is, they don’t get the slightest bit of recognition even though they’ve found lost lab animals, returned extorted lunch money, and stopped a blackmail plot. Head detective Agatha (named after her mom’s favorite author) figures if they could just get one Big Case, they’d make a name for themselves. It doesn’t take long! When someone breaks into janitor Willy’s office and steals petty cas...

70 pages

11 m, 17 w, extras as desired

While World War II rages, the Bugle sisters turn their Grandpa Buddy's Seaside Hotel into the Star-Spangled Canteen where sailors and soldiers can relax. Not only do the girls want to help the war effort, but they want to save the Seaside from the hands of a ruthless businessman, Skylar Schutt, who intends to buy it for back taxes. But when Schutt accuses Grandpa Buddy of being a German spy, the girls - with a little help from the Ladies' League for Coastal Defense - declare all-out war! And it isn't long before a platoon of spies surfaces! It seems everybody...

20 pages

4 m, 2 w

Here is a perfect play to introduce children to the Underground Railroad. Designed as a Reader’s Theatre, "The Silent War" is a story of three slaves – and eight little mice – who escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Uncle Amos, Belle, and Buck Henry, all slaves on a Kentucky plantation, didn’t plan to escape until they met Zakary, a Bible salesman and abolitionist. He shows them the way to cross the river into Ohio and from there travel north to other stations. Along the way, the three slaves are helped by other dedicated abolitionists including...

67 pages

10 m, 10 w, 3 flexible parts

Fiddledeedee! Just as beautiful young Charlotte O'Mara is starting to have a good time at Magnolia Plantation's annual barbecue, that blasted Civil War breaks out! All the eligible young men rush off to join the fight - all except Magnolia's faithful servant, Bret Butler, who suffers from fallen arches. Four years later, as the war draws to a close, the O'Maras owe back taxes on Magnolia and unless they can come up with the money, their former overseer, Carlton Creepstone, now a villainous carpet-bagger, will take it over and turn it into the Sassafras Saloon...

76 pages

16 characters (approx. 8 m, 8 w)

You should never make a pact with the, well, you know, because the consequences can be disastrous. Jimmy Faust, Jr., great-great (etc.) grandson of the legendary Faust, makes that mistake. In exchange for his soul he first demands to be made valedictorian of his class, even though Essie outscores him on every test. Big mistake. Then he tells the, you know, that he wants a date with Deshara, the sexiest girl on campus. Bigger mistake. Greedily, he further requests great wealth. Biggest mistake. His friends and Essie disown him, and he becomes an outcast. But e...

36 pages

2 m, 2 w

Four commedia dell’arte actors perform all roles in this fast-paced, hilarious play. The rats of Hamlin (dressed with black ball caps) are hungry and demand the Mayor “set things rat, rat now!” And so you can see how poor pronunciation of a simple word created a terrible disagreement between the rats and the citizens of the clean little hamlet. The Mayor, portrayed by Punchin, the dell’ arte character with the big, proud nose, asks the Queen of the Cats, the Duke of the Dogs, the Earl of the Eagles, the High Prince of the Possums, and even the Countess of Cat...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w

Adapted from the story by Edgar Allan Poe. A husband and wife are known for violent quarrelling, especially over their cat. Obsessed, the man tries to kill the animal but accidentally kills his wife. He covers up the murder until the cat's howls are heard from within the cellar wall.

28 pages

4 m, 4 w, 3 flexible

In this rowdy farce, the ambitious, but foolish, Monsieur Jourdain wants to socialize with the nobility, even though he knows nothing of proper language or social graces. From his highbrow music, dancing, and philosophy teachers to his obsequious tailor, Jourdain makes a fool of himself with his ludicrous attempts to be important. His behavior even allows him to be exploited by an unscrupulous friend who continues to borrow money. Happily, Jourdain’s weakness is played to full advantage when, after an elaborate masquerade, he finally gives his daughter’s hand...

71 pages

13 m, 12 w, 8 flexible

In this adaptation of Frank L. Baum's book, "Tik Tok of Oz," the Queen begs her old friend Dorothy to take the mechanical man, Tik Tok, and rescue the Wizard of Oz who has been kidnapped! The journey will be long and perilous, but Dorothy will do anything to save her old friend. Along the way, Dorothy and Tik Tok meet other colorful characters, all of whom decide to find the Wizard in the hope that he might be able to solve each of their problems. But even after the kidnapper, Ruggedo, is defeated, the fearful group must enter the Metal Forest to find the Wiz...

21 pages

1 m, 5 w

Are you overdosed on teen problems, dramas about eating disorders, drunk-driving, suicide, etc.? Then this darkly humorous one-act is the antidote. Violet is in the nurse's office after having fainted that morning. One by one her friends visit her and one by one she takes advantage of them by confessing to all the ills teens are supposed to have. With a story of illiteracy, she gets the bright but mousy Moxie to do her homework. A tale of bulimia gets tomboyish Caryn to give up her car keys. A fable of drunk driving gets the uptight Kelly to bring Violet her ...

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 ...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w, 3 flexible

What fun jogging can be! Think of all the people you can meet! Here's a spoof on America's biggest health habit. Jill and Nathan have stopped jogging for a moment for him to gasp for breath. Soon Jill is off again with a spring in her step while Nathan tries to recoup on the park bench. Before long Ralph appears, who, in between his panting and wheezing from running, is vicariously plotting the demise of his physician who ordered him to start exercising. Edna, sobbing and exhausted from her half block run, makes her appearance, and soon other runners, happy a...

14 pages

2 m, 1 w

A messenger of the Devil is sent to destroy the world but when he reaches Earth, he encounters a girl with ideas and problems of her own. Then we find out that the girl has been sent by ... you know who! One easy set.