In this 10-Minute original farce, a free-thinking retired woman, Sylvia, discovers that her deceased husband has been reincarnated as her dog. A surreal and hilarious Fantasy/Comedy by Pamela Steadman. Acting script.
A very popular one-hour play for children, consists of 3 short plays which follow two wandering friends who can’t stay out of mischief. Highly participatory for a younger audience. Written for children, to be performed by adults. The show toured for five years in professional production. Tours easily with simple sets, costumes, and props. Downloadable, printable PDF available.
In this insightful drama by Gillette Elvgren, a family struggles to cope with drug addiction. Highly theatrical, the actors wear the masks that represent the many disguises they all assume in the dance of addiction.
In these three short comedies for seniors by Marj O'Neill-Butler, characters of a certain age struggle against grown children, spouses, or former tormentors to maintain their own psychological and social independence.
This 10-minute poetic play dramatizes a mother's attempt to reach inside the autistic mind of her young son. Characters include Jonah, the boy, his mother, Jonah's mind. The play is a great change of pace in an evening of short plays and as an introduction to discussion groups and classes in social work and mental health settings.
"Legacy of a Father" is a collection of seven dramatic and comedy one-act plays inspired by real one-on-one, personal interviews conducted by the playwright, Monique Franz. The series addresses a fatherless theme and deals with absentee fathers and the absence of what a father traditionally provides.
A thrilling one-act adaptation for children of Shakespeare’s harrowing story of the ambitious Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Greed and ambition are emphasized. The role of the Porter is expanded to give more comic relief. The Porter and the Witches serve as intermediaries with the play and the audience. Makes the story fully accessible to a younger audience.
In this one-act adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, four players in a traveling clown troupe wake up one morning to discover that they have been abandoned by the other members of the company. That evening they are required to perform A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM before the local Squire and they have to madly re-invent the play so that it can be done with four clowns.
A short play collection by Jack J. Berry consists mainly of short comedies. Berry loves to stand the world on its head. A comedy about attempted assassin John J. Hinkley? Travel from Old Testament to WWII in a matter of minutes? These short plays can be produced as an evening of theater or individually as introductions to meetings and events.
What if numbers could feel? Does a number feel diminished when it is subtracted? Originally written for a math-tutoring business open house, this short script is perfect as a classroom or meeting diversion.
This one-act play for teens deals honestly and openly with depression and suicidal impulses among teens. Set backstage in a high school theater, a high school drama class is rehearsing Hamlet and personal issues--cutting, eating disorders and low self-esteem--that are seldom discussed begin to emerge after the teacher discovers a suicide note.
Ideal for middle school and high school students. Easy to tour with a simple set. PDF available.
Papito is a ten-page short play addressing parentification, specifically how a young man who grows up without a father assumes the partnership role with his mother and has difficulty establishing a healthy partnership with a significant other. The narrator, Zoe, is that significant other who is frustrated with her domineering mother-in-law and her husband who refuses to establish needed boundaries for his mom.
“Patres Familias” is the sixth installment in the Playroom series, and this one finds Rich just off of his back porch, stealing some time (and some beer) with his neighbor.
Playroom is a series of comedies created by the author as a way to explore the short play and "one act" format, one setting (and one evening) at a time. An otherwise ordinary family, the characters of Hinton’s Playroom are thrust into extraordinary, supernatural, and preternatural circumstances.
A 45-minute introduction to various works of The Bard. Written to be performed by 2 or 4 actors within a single class period. ideal for ages 8 - 12. Includes excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, As You Like It, and one of the sonnets: number 18. Printable PDF available
Fight for Life is a low-rent Jerry-Springer-style talk show whose mantra is embodied by its two major chants: Fight for Life and Stage the Rage; its ratings are sliding and fast. Along comes Grace Truman, a guest whose story seems likely to reverse their declining numbers but she is not quite the guest that host, Burt Solomon, expected.