Adaptation
Stage Adaptations of Novels, Classic Plays & Stories
Here you will find stage adaptations of novels, fables and legends from around the world. Adaptations of Shakespeares’ Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merchant of Venice. Fairytale stage adaptations include. The Snow Queen, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. James Joyce’s Dubliners. Charles Dickens – The Chimes & Oliver Twist.
New Dramatic and Comic Adaptations for the stage with timeless messages honor the original text. Bring dramatic adaptations of classic legends, fairy tales, and stories by classic authors to your stage or classroom.
Showing 1–16 of 43 results
- $9.95 – $125.00
Tom and Huck–Breakin’ The Law
- 110 Minutes
- M 5-6/ F 2-3/Max 9/Min 7
Colleges, Comedy, Competitions, Doubling Possible, Edgy Play, Friendship, High School, Teens
An award-winning romantic comedy that imagines Tom and Huck as gay sixteen-year-olds, trapped in the 1850’s in St. Petersburg, Missouri. The adventures will be familiar, yet comically twisted, full of teenage angst, and discovery of one’s sexuality and uniqueness.
Read More - $11.79 – $85.00
Broken Dolls
- 60 - 90 minutes
- 5 F
Edgy Play, Minimal Set, Simple Set
Broken Dolls tells the fictional stories of women- both international and domestic- who have been trafficked for sex work, domestic labor, hotel work, and agricultural work. Taking place in a waiting room at a social service facility, the play revolves around five female survivors of human trafficking who cross paths. Entrapped and isolated, five women come together to weave their narratives in a mix of monologue and dialogue, merging reality and memories of coping and longing.
Read More - $9.97 – $239.70
Charles Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol
- 90 Minutes
- 21M; 25F Max 60+/ Min 20
Young Audience, Aging, Children's Theatre, Colleges, Comedy, Community, Theatrical Staging Possible
This large-cast play with a variable cast, preserves the original story of A Christmas Carol while revealing the story of its author Charles Dickens. Two families, one fictional, one historical, find their way to a brighter New Year for themselves and others around them. God Bless Us Everyone. Great for school, community, LORT, and professional theatres for a new twist on an old tale.
Read More - $12.97 – $129.97
Alice! In Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
- 100 minutes
- 3M/3F/28 M or F; Min 12 - Max 27+ doubling possible
Young Audience, Bare Stage, Community, Large Cast
This madcap full-length comedy chases Alice both down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass. Two 45-minute acts of mayhem and upside –down logic provides roles for all students. Mirror the logic and language of today’s global circus. Great opportunity for doubling.
Read More - $7.95 – $40.00
Plays, Poems and Pratfalls: Will Shakespeare, An Introduction
- 45 Minutes
- 1 or 2 Males, 1 or 2 Females
Audience Participation, Comedy, Drama, High School, Middle School
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
Read More - $13.95
Shorts for All Seasons: America Revisited
- 10 - 60 minutes
- 1 Male 1 Female Max 6 Min 2
Flexible Casting, Simple Set
A collection of six 10-minute satires – plays written by the renowned Virginia Playwrights Forum, lampoons the American political and social landscape. From taxes and lotteries, to classroom education and TV talk show hosts, the foibles of present-day America are revealed.
Read More - $13.95 – $60.00
Shakespeare-On-The-Go: 4 Touring Plays For Young Audiences
Collection, Touring
4 skilfully adapted plays for young audiences: Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, A Midnight Summer’s Dream, and Macbeth. Plays are each around 45 to 50 minutes, are fast-paced, engaging, and make the language more accessible to young audiences, while including both Shakespeare’s original language and theatrical devices. As exciting participatory theater they appeal to elementary school students. With the participatory elements removed, each play’s frame story is producible as a play for teens or for teen drama groups to perform for a younger audience.
Read More - $9.95 – $50.00
Monologues for Men: Voices from the New Testament
- 5 - 60 minutes
- 1 - 12 Males
Simple Props, Simple Set
In these voices from the New Testament, prolific Christian writer Gillette Elvgren portrays not only the Biblical characters one might expect but also contemporary voices struggling with religious issues. A collection of monologues based around characters from the Bible – New Testament. Perfect not only for inclusion in religious services and programs, but also as audition pieces.
For performance of individual monologues, please Contact Us for information
Read More - $9.00 – $75.00
The Snow Queen
- 50 Minutes
- 6F: 6M or F Min 9 Max 15 (doubling possible)
Audience Participation, Fairy Tale, Young Audience, Community, Large Cast
This 60-minute Christmas play for the whole family is adapted by Gillette Elvgren from “The Snow Queen” story by Hans Christian Anderson. Follow the adventures of the young girl Gerda as she strives to free her best friend Kay from the icy grip of the Snow Queen. A modern version with optional audience participation, for Children’s Theatre or students to perform for family audiences.
Read More - $9.00 – $75.00
Cinderella
- 90 Minutes
- 10 Males 8 females Max 18 Min 15 (Doubling Possible)
Fairy Tale, Comedy, Doubling Possible
Cinderella Comedy Play Script – Meet the feisty take-charge Cinderella!
This full-length comedy version of Cinderella features delightfully nasty stepsisters and a fierce Cinderella, in addition to several original characters. This is a play for children of all ages. Easily performed by a children’s theater, or by teen or college drama groups, it has possible casting for young actors as well.
Read More - $9.95 – $90.00
An Evening With Joyce’s Women
- 100 minutes
- 3 Males 4 Females Max 12 Min 4
Community, Flexible Casting, Fundraiser, High School, Middle School
A trilogy of one-act plays, The Boarding House, Eveline, and The Dead
Based on Dubliners by James Joyce; adapted for the stage to allow us to enter the lives of three Dublin women. Dublin society of the first decade of the 20th Century comes to life through the frustrations, fantasies, and follies of Irish women who are also victims and victimizers of their mates.
Read More - $11.00 – $95.00
Frankenstein… or The Modern Prometheus
- 120 Minutes
- 7 Males 3 Females Max 13 Min 10 (Doubling Possible)
Drama, Simple Props, Simple Set
A full-length adaptation of Frankenstein. True to the Mary Shelley original, except for a comic servant role, the play depicts the monster Creature with as much horror and sympathy as the original. Excellent for Halloween! Earlier versions of this play by Kathleen McBlair have been performed in school and community theaters since 1980. Audiences love it and scream heartily every time the Creature arrives in the window.
Read More - $7.97 – $95.00
The Chimes
- 90 Minutes
- 8 Male, 3 Female, 11 Min, 19 Max
Comedy, Simple Set
Give Scrooge a break for the winter holiday production! THE CHIMES is a full-length comedy and large-cast adaptation of another Dickens’ classic Christmas/New Years tale. Toby Veck, an impoverished London porter wants to bless his daughter’s marriage by New Year’s Day. Alas, he doesn’t have even a shilling in his pocket. Surely, the wealthy families he carries packages for will find enough work for him to do before the New Year comes and he must break a promise made on his late wife’s deathbed.
This Dickens’ comedy is a great Christmas change-of-pace for schools, communities, and regional theaters.
Read More - $7.97 – $75.00
The Tempest for Youth
- 45 Minutes
- 4 Male, 2 Female, 6 Min, 12 Max
Colleges, Comedy, High School, Middle School
A 45-minute appealing comedy adaptation of The Tempest to be relished. It has all the exciting elements: of the original play: shipwrecks, a love story, an evil plot, and the fun exploits of the spirits Ariel and her adversary, the rebellious fish-man, Caliban. The flexible cast roles ensures a part for everyone. A must-see for young audiences.
Read More - $9.00 – $150.00
Snow White
- 120 Minutes
- 12 Male, 9 Female, Min/Max 21
Children's Theatre, Community, Large Cast, Middle School
Snow White, often considered a Grimm Fairytale, actually came from books by the French Huguenot Charles Perrault, the creator of Mother Goose. This re-creation of the story is very modern in its dialogue and conception of the characters. Snow White is saucy and flippant, and the play has a sense of humor, timeless charm and a touch of “camp” that adults, as well as children, enjoy.
Read More - $9.00 – $90.00
Sleeping Beauty
- 90 Minutes
- 4 Male, 5 Female, 9 Mim, 15+ Max (Doubling Possible)
Children's Theatre, Community, Large Cast
Once upon a time…in an enchanted kingdom, all gathered to celebrate the birth of the royal princess. Mickey Coburn’s adaptation brings wicked Godmothers, good Godmothers, magicians, kings, clowns – all fantastically intertwined into a delightful tale luxuriating in sorcery, processions, and whimsical escapades! Easy and economical to stage.
Read More