School

40 pages

5 m, 6 w, 8 flexible, 6 children

It is business as usual at the Mega-Bite Candy Company. Pop Tart is stirring the chocolate, Stretch is headed for the Taffy Room, Cookie the Clown is preparing to host a tour of young school children, Jan and Dean are experimenting with new flavors of candy, and--most significantly--Graham Cracker is looking for Kandy Kane. As Graham searches for Miss Kane and attempts to propose, Grimsley Krumkake, a dastardly villain posing as a vat inspector, enters with his dopey sidekick, Bink. Thus is set in motion a fiendish plan to take over the world, beginning with ...

26 pages

4 m, 6 w, 1 flexible, 1 child

The Hillsdale Community Theater wants to produce "A Christmas Carol," but they don't have enough actors to play the extraordinarily large number of parts. So their undaunted director, being resourceful (if not totally realistic), has triple and quadruple-cast the roles. And since everyone in sight has been recruited, the cast also fills in as costumers, stagehands and technicians. The impossibility of this situation brings tensions to a comical head as the final rehearsal invites one calamity after another. "Scrooged Up!" provides a Dickens of a time for ever...

68 pages

7 m, 6 w, extras. Doubling possible.

The classic story of two emotionally-stunted children who discover, through their love for a garden, and the teachings of a boy of the English moors, that the key to happiness lies in caring for others. The story opens as two British officers in India discover 10-year-old Mary Lennox alone, her parents having just died in the cholera epidemic. She is sent back to England to live with an uncle, Archibald Craven, whom she doesn’t know, in the foreboding Misselthwaite Manor. His son Colin is sickly and bedridden and his cries can be heard echoing down the dark h...

74 pages

7 m, 10 w, 1 flexible, extras

Mrs. Brown has moved to Hoke's Bluff to study rural school life. She's used to schools equipped with state-of-the-art computer labs and up-to-date technology. At Hoke's Bluff, however, high tech is an intercom system consisting of an aluminum can with a piece of string attached. On the first day of school, the sheriff shows up looking for leads to cow-tipping pranks. Her study of "these people" may be more than she bargained for. But as relationships are built, Mrs. Brown not only teaches her students a few lessons, but she learns a few of her own. And when C...

31 pages

6 m, 5 w, extra flexible roles

World War II lingers on. The unspeakable operations in the death camps are slated for closure, but there is still time for one last train to deliver prisoners before the Americans arrive. Two young German soldiers, Hans and Eric, are sick at heart and know their country is in ruin. They are assigned to assist the loading of the last car. Eric is shocked when he hears Anna, a childhood friend, call out to him for help. But Anna doesn’t have her papers, and no matter what Eric says to his superiors, he cannot convince them it is wrong for her to be there. Hans ...

63 pages

7 m, 11 w

Not many people like Sam Slaughter, the world's most successful but most reclusive mystery writer. He's just fired the aging star of his radio mystery show, "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night," and he's two-timing another star with a brainless showgirl. He's also yelled at his butler, his agent, and the show's producer. To make matters worse, a woman from his past shows up with some incriminating evidence. But before Sam can pay off the blackmail she demands, he is kidnapped and shots are fired in the night. It all happens at his isolated mansion where the radio...

41 pages

13 m, 11 w, 4 flexible, extras, much doubling possible

Every month many look to their calendars and start counting down the days until the next holiday. But what about those who are working behind the scenes to make these holidays great? What about the everyday problems of Cupid, leprechauns, and the New Year's Baby? Do we ever stop to think about their needs? Their wants? No! And that's why they're on strike. Journey through the bizarre, strange, and riotously funny underbelly of the holiday world as the icons we all know and love go on strike in this comedy. See what happens when hunters try to shoot down Rudol...

29 pages

3 m, 5 w, 1 young female, 2 flexible, ensemble

Alina, a teen girl, is struggling with the anxiety of an ongoing custody battle between her parents. Meanwhile, she is taking on the responsibilities of her schoolwork, her friends, and taking care of her younger sister who has debilitating asthma. As she is set to testify in an upcoming hearing, Alina escapes through her favorite story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This show intertwines Alina's modern story with the classic story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, using the words of Washington Irving himself. Can Alina find the courage to s...

39 pages

13 Actors

Little is a local weatherman, who is about to give his first ever TV weather report. While he is on the air, the intern, McGee, trips. Trying to help him, Little yells, “This guy is falling!” While trying to save his friend, the station’s camera breaks, causing a broadcast blackout. Audiences at home believe Little, as a weatherman, has claimed that the “SKY” is falling. Suddenly, Little becomes an internet sensation! And the news station viewership booms at the cost of thinking Little is a crazy reporter. Chaos ensues as Little tries to tell people the truth...

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...

28 pages

4 m, 4 w

Adapted from the short story by Susan Glaspell. A farmer has been found dead and his wife, Minnie, is the prime suspect. The sheriff, a deputy and other men meet at the lonely farmhouse to go over the evidence while two wives gather some clothes and necessities for Minnie, who is in jail. Two neighbor ladies, the Gains sisters, arrive to see what they can learn about the disturbing events of the previous day. As the men go about the business of investigation, the women make a remarkable discovery: the motive for the crime. Set in 1917, three years before wome...

24 pages

1 m, 4 w

Molly, a college student studying for exams, becomes so frustrated she hits herself in the head with her art history textbook. Suddenly, she thinks she’s the Mona Lisa. Her roommate, Abby, becomes frantic. A suitemate, Zoë, arrives who thinks the logical thing to do is to hit Abby on the head with another book. Soon, Brittany, an airhead, and Jeremy, Molly’s boyfriend, are on the scene. Throughout, every time someone gets hit in the head with a book, they instantly acquire command of the subject matter: from art history to the laws of physics, from phone book...

68 pages

Flexible cast, 10 to 50

Picture yourself in your own family album with this incredibly funny, sometimes touching, always entertaining play. Pick and choose from some 20 different scenes about family life to design a play that makes your drama family unique. The scenes are in four groups, "Getting Along," "Bustin' Loose," "Problems and Opportunities," and "Life and Death." Some of the scenes are just plain fun, like "TV Wars" and "Name That Stress." Other scenes capture the heart, as "The Funeral" and "Senior Split." Rap numbers bridge your acts while an opening and closing family "p...

68 pages

4 m, 5 w

Charles Lansing, a staid and humorless millionaire, has been found murdered at his country estate and Lt. Paris is in charge of the investigation. Alibis are re-enacted by the suspects, including the third wife married to Lansing for less than a year; the brooding stepchildren; the deceased's attorney, a woman opposed to his latest marriage and the changes in his will; Madame Arcadia, who predicted his death; and the handyman and his wife, who wish to leave their jobs. Everyone had motive and opportunity. At the end of Act I, Lt. Paris leads the audience in a...

36 pages

3 m, 7 w

The fairy tales of Cinderella and Snow White are lassoed together in this high-kicking western melodrama! Goldie Miner had to give up her infant daughter, Ashabelle, 18 years ago to eke out a living panning for gold, but she thought she left her with a good family. Now she's returned with plenty of gold for her daughter but finds Ashabelle wears patched clothes and does all the stepfamily's chores. When Ashabelle isn't allowed to go to the ball, her mother fixes her right up, including a pair of new boots. The next morning Earnest Lee Feelgoode finds the bell...

64 pages

11 m, 15 w, 2 flexible

It's the 1940s and Maggie Maxwell is frustrated her father won't let her join his successful detective agency. To prove herself, Maggie sneaks an invitation addressed to him to attend a publicity party at a remote mansion for a new detective novel, "Die, Swine! Die!" A group of PI's, her ex-boyfriend who's a newspaper reporter, and members of the dangerous Viola crime family also attend. Just as a group of actors are ready to play out a scene from the novel, they are interrupted. Gun-fire, a mysterious caretaker, the high-strung novelist, and a key witness cr...

44 pages

5 w

You've been sent to jail, so prepare to be "booked" by a singing Marcia Clark wannabe. In your holding cell, you will meet four zany women who are awaiting trial for murder. As the plot unfolds, so do the motives. Who killed Roger Mills? Could it be his pretentious sister, a co-worker who thinks she is Elvis, that sweet little girl next door, or his massage therapist who happens to deal drugs on the side? Your audience will be actively involved in this campy comedy by sifting through the physical evidence in the case and finally choosing the ending they want ...

55 pages

4 m, 6 w

Ivory Keyes, the sharp-tongued, shoot-from-the-hip piano player from the "Calamity Gulch" trilogy, is back in her own brand-new adventure. When Ivory learns that her uncle, Lord Ebony Keyes, has died, she and Sheriff Prettyfoot travel to England to claim the inheritance. The family solicitor, Basil Q. Wainscoting, Esquire, plots to keep the estate to himself by proving Ivory to be "unvirtuous." His plans are foiled when his handsome nephew, Heathcliff, a poet, falls instead for pretty secretary, Paisley Fairfax. Before too long, a storm is raging outside and ...

33 pages

3 m, 3 w

Inspired by the short story by Richard Connell. In this updated version of a classic thriller, corporate headhunters give new meaning to the term "hunting." Throughout the Zaroff Corporation's long history, success is based on finding the right employees. Four professionals are invited for an interview at Zaroff's headquarters. After a gourmet meal and cordial introductions, the potential employees realize that this would be the perfect job with the perfect salary. The human resource manager of Zaroff then tells the potential employees that they are all compe...

80 pages

6 m, 10 w, 2 flexible

Flashback to 1955, the stormy evening before the 33rd annual Knotting Bake-Off, brought to you by J & J Toothpaste. The contestants have gathered at the Knotting Inn down at the Jersey Shore, each hoping that their perfectly crafted baked good will win the coveted blue ribbon. It seems someone’s dessert is more deadly than tasty, though, when they discover an entire gaggle of bratty students have been poisoned during a press conference. It is clear that someone at the inn has a sweet tooth for murder. But who could the culprit be? The egotistical bake-off...

19 pages

5 w

In a sunny suburban living room, circa 1960, five women gather for tea. Hostess Bettie has sent friends Bonnie, Bunnie, and Bootie out to see her garden – a ploy which allows Bettie to share a juicy tidbit of gossip with the fifth woman, Darla. It seems that the “man-crazy” Bonnie once again disgraced herself at the bridal shower which all five recently attended. Darla listens obediently but is plainly reluctant to be made the keeper of secrets. The others return, and now Bonnie button-holes Darla and relates a similar tidbit concerning the “sweet but dumb” B...

32 pages

5 m, 4 w

Have you ever asked yourself, “What was I thinking?” Well, Spencer and Olivia are doing just that – while on their first date!  Their conscious minds (played by two separate actors) are present on stage, sharing their thoughts (often contradictory thoughts!) on the conversation. Things get off to a rocky start, the usual awkward silences ensue, but the complications really begin when both their exes show up. Furthermore, Olivia produces her checklist of grueling questions for Spencer to test whether he is “boyfriend material.” The date concludes with Olivia m...

43 pages

3 m, 6 w, 4 flexible, plus extras

The posh and well-to-do Robinson family is on a ship excursion (without their nanny) when they shipwreck on a deserted island. The mother is at her wit’s end about having to do actual parenting (without their nanny) and feels sorry for herself when she realizes her acting career might take a nosedive in her absence. The father of the clan is also at a loss (without their nanny) and spends all his time speaking with a British accent and playing golf down on the beach. So, the kids find themselves on their own (without their nanny) and begin to devise a surviva...

70 pages

28 - 34 (Flexible; some doubling possible; optional extras) Minimum cast: 17 m, 9 w, 1 flexible

Life in medieval times is hard, especially with greedy King John sitting on England’s throne. Nottingham’s townspeople are constantly terrorized and taxed by the Sheriff and his cronies. Families who can’t afford to pay are separated from their loved ones, forced to work off debts, and even driven from their homes. Robert of Locksley finds himself in this very predicament. After losing his home, a bounty is placed on his head, forcing him to flee and leave his beloved Maid Marion behind. Robert joins a band of merry men (and women!) taking refuge in Sherwood ...

73 pages

12 m, 13 w, optional extras

The wealthy Grayson clan has gathered for daughter Juliet’s wedding shower. Her brother, Jefferson, has brought along his new girlfriend, but Jefferson’s former girlfriend and Juliet’s former boyfriend both show up as well. Awkward! Things really heat up, however, when older brother, Jesse, falls for his brother’s new girlfriend. When Juliet’s fiancé has his secrets revealed, the wedding falls apart, and tears and accusations ensue… but in the end, the women come to realize that happiness is not that far away. They were simply with the wrong guy.

24 pages

10 m, 10 w, 1 flexible

Things have been going so well in Rob and Jen’s relationship that after a few months of dating, Rob is ready to propose. His plan seemed simple enough. He’d take Jen to dinner, propose marriage, she’d say yes, and they’d live happily ever after. What he didn’t count on was everyone in the restaurant chiming in! Between the old ladies at the table next to him and the divorced man on the other side both offering varying opinions on married life, Jen can hardly answer. Throw in a sassy waitress, more eavesdropping diners, Rob’s ex-girlfriend, a lawyer, a wedding...

51 pages

3 m, 3 w, 1 flexible

The biographer of the story of Berendina (Diet) Eman is interrupted by Diet herself as he begins a lecture about the Second World War and Nazi resistance in occupied Europe. Diet explains that her efforts to hide Jewish people were not unique, but were undertaken by many ordinary people. To explain, she begins to tell the exciting stories of her Resistance work. As she does, her younger self appears and narrates stories in ways which occasionally vary from the descriptions offered by her older self. In addition, her fiancé, Hein Sietsma, appears, and all thre...

52 pages

Approx. 5 m, 4 w, 14 flexible, extras.

A village on a tiny Hawaiian island is preparing for its annual luau which draws much needed tourist dollars. The mayor and the local historian find out that the Mini Loa volcano (not to be confused with Mauna Loa volcano), needs a human sacrifice every five years and, much to their disgust, it's their job to find a suitable candidate. Tourists from across the lower 48 states flock to Mini Loa for a vacation of a lifetime, thanks to some advertisements in some unlikely magazines. Joining them are two reporters from a vacation TV network, one of whom is still ...

19 pages

2 m, 3 w

Josh has a box in his basement containing a number of objects that have meaning for him. As he takes them from the box characters appear who seem to know him, and yet not know him; characters from the past who are still, for Josh at least, very much in the present. Jane, Chloe and Rob don’t know each other, but they all know Josh, and as the story progresses we learn the awful fate they all share, as he moves through the ritual which seems so familiar to him. The appearance of Leah, Josh’s sister, seems at first to comfort him, but then agitate him. Despite L...

72 pages

9 m, 16 w, 7 flexible, 6-12 optional

When millionaire Peter Graham dies, he leaves most of his estate to his daughter, Popper; something for his two sisters and brother, and a whopping $5 million endowment to the football program run by his old friend, Coach Cougher. There's a catch, though: Coach must successfully steward Peter's beloved Blue Skies Community Theatre for one year in order to earn the money! Coach's first job is to direct the first play, "Frankenstein." And what would you do when the locals don't turn out for tryouts, er, auditions? That's right, Coach brings in football players ...