School

62 pages

Flexible casting

Here are two richly imaginative one-act plays which need the barest minimum of rehearsals. All the action is mimed by actors wearing masks as readers speak the dialogue. In "The Vinegar Man" (4 m, 5 w, extras), a successful wine merchant is devastated when his young wife dies. Ignoring his infant son and the loyal nanny, he turns sour, like the wine he allows to turn into vinegar. But like Scrooge, the Vinegar Man is saved from his own bitterness. In "Finding Happiness" (12 characters, extras), simple Fantodd is sent into the forest by his unhappy father to f...

21 pages

3 m, 3 w, 4 extras

Adapted from the tale by Guy de MaupassantAn arrogant hunter shocks his dinner guests by showing them his prized trophy, a human hand chained to a board and mounted on the wall of his library. The next morning the hunter's mother demands he make amends to the guests and remove the hand. But the police have now heard about it and plan to check it out. The hunter wants to hide the hand but admits to his maid he feels safer keeping it in sight. The hand is the only thing he fears because the person it used to belong wants it back. That night the hunter finds the...

51 pages

8 m, 6 w, 2 flexible, extras

The year is 1960 and the fear of nuclear war is foremost in the minds of Americans. This is the year that the O'Brien family leaves New York City for a better life in the suburbs. Children Angie and Ted are worried about fitting in at their new school. Amy, the youngest child, worries about the world situation. Unfortunately, the O'Briens move across the street from the Meyersons, who prove to be the worst neighbors in the world. Amy imagines that Khrushchev, who seems to be the cause of so much tension and fear, would probably be a nicer person if she could ...

72 pages

Flexible cast, approx. 9 m, 13 w

At Hollister Hummelforth High, better known as Ho Hum High, the geeky trigonometry teacher carries around a rubber chicken, the science teacher talks to her pet shrimp, and the principal is straight from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. No wonder the kids only show signs of life when they're placing bets on who will fall asleep first. So when Hal, the slowest, most naive student in school, assumes Pete's flat 7-UP is really "smart juice," Pete plays along. When the principal sees the "effects" of the juice on Hal and other students, he thinks the spark of learning h...

57 pages

4-26 m, 14-24 w, doubling is appropriate.

Ivan’s greatest ambition has always been to learn the Language of the Birds. When he shows off his pet nightingale for show and tell at school, he is teased until he runs away. Seeking shelter in the forest, Ivan protects baby birds from a storm. In gratitude, the mama bird grants Ivan’s wish and teaches him to speak Bird. When his parents Mama Lou and Papa Joe find out that Ivan not only can speak Bird, but is now speaking in a heavy Russian accent, Ivan promptly finds himself sold off as a cabin boy on a ship. A band of tough girl pirates soon takes over, a...

35 pages

Flexible cast of about 15. Doubling possible, extras if desired.

Mark Polluter is an environmental disaster, and Mother Nature's overseer, a former school teacher, plans a little revenge. With a smile on her face, she turns him into a tree, then a fish, and finally a bird. In each transformation, Mark is visited by a few of the species, like Sally Starfish, an actress, and St. Louee Cardinal, a baseball-playing bird. As one of them, Mark learns firsthand the nasty effects of his human carelessness. Easy, fun costuming and lots of comedy makes this topical play perfect for touring.

66 pages

6 m, 5 w, extras

The stage is the actual setting of this play which evolves around a young and attractive play director and handsome basketball coach in sometimes heated, sometimes humorous conflict over the use of stage/gym facilities. The real audience actually becomes part of the play in the 3rd act by being the assembled audience for a variety show that the school is presenting. There are opportunities for several real variety numbers to be includeded. Actors planted in the audience add humor. Production can be as simple or elaborate as desired, depending on facilities, t...

26 pages

2 m, 2 w, 1 flexible, doubling possible

In spite of Dr. Winona Smedlap's repeated warnings to her team of lab assistants not to go near the Time Mobile until it was "totally, thoroughly, and undeniably ready," she forgot to mention that it also applied to responding to strange noises coming from inside of it. That's exactly what Bill was investigating when he mysteriously disappeared, his friend Pemberton nervously explains. As if Bill's unexpected trip into time weren't alarming enough, it seems he has managed to trade places with none other than England's most famous playwright, William Shakespea...

22 pages

Flexible cast of 14

Smedley S. Snerd, a typical nerd hero, is the star student of Miss Fossil's geology class. He's got a big crush on Marybelle Moosenheimer, the heroine, star cheerleader, and member of the Locks, a group which values their beautiful hair. Other peer groups include the Rocks, who are into "heavy metal"; the Jocks, who are athletically inclined; and the Rolls, a gang of hoodlums led by the infamous macho villain, Mr. G. But brain outwits brawn as Smedley uses his marbles to trip up Mr. G and his gang, win Marybelle's hand, and explain to Miss Fossil the real ori...

37 pages

4 m, 3 w

Monsieur Harpagon is a miser, through and through. Although he has his beloved treasure buried in the garden to protect it from thieves, he abhors waste such as warmth and food! He tells his children, Elise and Cleante, they may only marry with his consent, and he looks for spouses for both of them with the help of Madame Frosine, a matchmaker. She quickly finds a future spouse for everyone, including Monsieur Harpagon. Little does he know Cleante has fallen for Marianne, who Harpagon himself plans to marry, and Elise has fallen for the penniless Valere. The ...

60 pages

6 m, 5 w, 11 flexible, 1 child, extras

Humorous and poignant lyrics, accompanied by charming, romantic melodies, enhance Shakespeare's most popular play of two girls and two boys who find themselves, by accident and the mischief of the Faeries, very mixed up in love. First both boys love one girl, then both girls love one boy. A situational comedy of the funniest kind, the drama is intensified by a group of bumbling rogues who perform a farcical entertainment for the King's wedding. The group's most famous member is Bottom, who, in another part of the play, becomes an attractive donkey-suitor to t...

29 pages

4 m, 5 w

George and Dana each had such high hopes for their high school popularity and love life back when they were in junior high. But the reality is they now have their lunch stolen every day and are subjected to catty comments by the sports jocks and cheerleaders. Laugh and cheer as George and Dana's daydreams for wild success come alive as they imagine themselves as successful business people, Nobel Prize-winning scientists, famous actors and authors, and secret CIA operatives foiling hijacking attempts. Meanwhile, their tormentors' biggest achievement is to memo...

28 pages

1 m, 2 w

Katherine Bourgeois, a senior at college, has flunked algebra, a course she needs to graduate. She complains to Dr. Hoffmann, the chairwoman of the math department, who tells Mr. O'Leary, Katherine's instructor, to go over the final exam and give her another test. Mr. O'Leary tries to do this, but Katherine evades the work - she apparently has something else in mind. What is she really offering him for a grade? When Dr. Hoffmann returns, a sobbing Katherine accuses Mr. O'Leary of sexual harassment. Dr. Hoffmann offers Katherine an incomplete, but she’s not in...

44 pages

4 m, 4 w, extras

Sam and Billy are two wheelchair-bound kids who have been mainstreamed into a regular high school. Billy is a poet who, under under the pseudonym of "Minotaur" for half man, half beast, exchanges romantic e-mails with Miranda, one of his classmates. Sam is a rebel with devastating wit, who fights against the double standards that excludes them from some activities. When Billy reveals who he is to Miranda, she is stunned at first, but they become friends, and he asks her to the prom. Sam attends with a teacher. But when Sam goes to the chem lab to smoke a ciga...

41 pages

5 m, 6 w

What would you do if you were faced with a former teacher you loathed? Ever-optimistic Tammy Davis gives a party for Florence Furtney, the despot who taught senior English at Central High School for 40 years. Only a few former students show up for the party and then only to see if time has rendered the dreaded teacher harmless. Some want to tell her off, some want to ignore her, one wants to kill her! One by one, as the former students sit in an old desk, Miss Furtney comes to life and tells them why she acted as she did. All come away with a different view o...