Stuck at Home
Join this hilarious family as they struggle to endure being stuck at home – together! Why is the WiFi out, and will their old-school solutions work when all the needed cords are missing from the junk drawer? Will the family secure two-ply rolls of toilet paper in trade negotiations with Grandma? Wait… what has each of them been using? How many family game nights can teens endure? How are the pets holding up? What foods (or beverages!) are critical enough to make a special run to the grocery store? How do first dates and book clubs work while social distancing? And really, who is strong enough to endure more than one Dad joke? This show is perfect providing both laugh-out-loud humor as well as flexibility in staging. It can be traditionally staged or performed and viewed online.
The next time your high school wants to do a play, do them all...in under 90 minutes! This play offers opportunities for audience participation, plus it includes a part for your drama teacher.
Using minimal sets and a very flexible cast, "Parents Just Don't Understand" will have your audience in stitches while also challenging your cast to not just play teenagers, but also adults.
Displaced: An Animal Adventure
The small town of Mariposa, California is under mandatory evacuation as a huge wild fire threatens the town, its homes, and the surrounding forest. Just as the family is about to leave, their unsuspecting dogs Loony and Max are tricked by Prince, the evil cat. Will these good dogs, who have never been outside without their humans, escape the fire and be reunited with their family?
Urban Legends
Here is a collection of stories to make your blood turn cold. After leaving the show you will definitely feel the need to check the back seat of your car and look under your bed.
Cast: Widely flexible from 11 to 20.
Script: 44 pages.
Everyone has some burden, but shared pain is always easier to bear. This monologue-based play is sure to strike the hearts of teens, showing them that any frustration, embarrassment, loneliness, and grief they are experiencing is not limited to them alone.
The High-Schooler's Guide to the Galaxy
Cast: 15 to 40 actors
Script: 60 pages
Four students stare out at the audience. Tomorrow they start their freshman year of high school. With minimal sets, incredibly flexible casting, and scenes we can all relate to, this galaxy is only “laugh-years” away.
Cast: 5 m, 6 w, 18 flexible or with doubling 3 m, 3 w
Script: 71 pages
Snow day! In this collection of hilarious scenes we see how an unexpected day off from school can be an answer to a prayer…or not! Using minimal sets and a very flexible cast, this sparkling comedy might just have your audience wishing for their own snow day!
Cast: Widely flexible from 5 to 29
Script: 68 pages
If you think you’ve suffered too many awkward moments or been in the dark in conversations, just think how poor, innocent aliens feel! Hungry to fit in, (a little too hungry at times!) they do and say things that we humans aren't allowed to.
Cast: Widely flexible cast of 32.
Minimum cast: 2 m, 1 w, 2 flexible.
Script: 62 pages.
Focusing on simple costumes and sets, a large flexible cast, and ten whacky scenes, your audience will get to see and hear what animals really think about us humans! Stretch your actors -- and your imagination -- as you get ready to take a walk on the wild side!
Just Another High School Musical
Book by Bryan Starchman
Music by Stephen Murray
Lyrics by Bryan Starchman and Stephen Murray
Widely flexible cast 10 – 40, plus drama teacher
Script: 72 pages
A group of high school actors, abandoned by their drama teacher for good reason, have to fend for themselves opening night in front of a live audience. The student assistant director and the stage manager find a box of scripts which they pass out to the cast, and try to throw something together. What follows is a rollicking show full of physical comedy, gags, and satirical re-writings Will it be enough to rescue this disaster before their teacher returns—if he ever does?
Parent's Just Don't Understand: The Musical!
Book by Bryan Starchman, Music by Stephen Murray,
Lyrics by Bryan Starchman and Stephen Murray
Cast: Minimum cast of 5 with doubling: 3 m, 2 f
Maximum cast of 24: 12 m, 12 f and as big a chorus as you like!
Script: 90 pages
Are we there yet? The Stathem family is on a loooong car trip, giving everyone lots of extra time to reminisce about the past 12 months. Here is a collection of hilarious (and often too close to the truth) scenes and songs that all families are going to be able to relate to. This easy-to-stage musical comedy is a lighthearted look at a "greatest hit list" of classic family moments.
Expose: Holiday Celebrities Tell All!
Cast: 13 m, 11 w, 4 flexible, extras, much doubling possible
Script: 40 pages
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? They need recognition too, and if they don't get it, we may never see another three-day weekend again!
Holiday Celebrities: Criminal Justice
Widely flexible cast, approx. 12 m, 9 w, 13 flexible. Much doubling possible.
Script: 62 pages.
What if the holiday celebrities that we all know and love lived among us? Would they still be welcomed with open arms or would their actions be considered criminal? Call your lawyer and make bail in time to see this satirical play based on all of your favorite traditions!
Cast: Widely flexible from 4-20 actors
Script: 28 pages
A young, hungry writer in Hollywood finally has his chance to pitch his original ideas for movies, television shows, and commercials to a major producer. The writer’s ideas come to life on stage as he tries to sell one -- just one -- of his many wacky ideas. With a very simple set, a flexible cast, basic costumes, and household props, this is also the perfect one act for competitions and traveling.
The Survivor and Other Urban Legends
Widely flexible cast, minimum of 7 actors
Script: 34 pages
This is a whirlwind tour of many of the famous and infamous urban legends we’ve grown up hearing and fearing. After leaving the show you will definitely feel the need to check the back seat of your car and look under your bed before going to sleep; but beware of your dreams because these spooky tales will stick with you for quite some time. (This one-act play is excerpted from the full-length play, “Urban Legends.”)
The Con and Other Urban Legends
Widely flexible cast, minimum of 13 actors
Script: 32 pages
Here are three stories to make your skin crawl and your blood turn cold. “On Second Hand” features a young man who has a close call with death and suddenly his life is literally flashing before his eyes. “Who’s Calling?” shows what can happen when a seemingly harmless practical joke is taken way too far. And in “The Con” we meet a charming couple who put their full trust in one another…for better or for worse. (This play is excerpted from the full-length play, “Urban Legends.”)
Cast: 4 m, 4 w, extras
Script: 24 pages
Two unpopular high school students, Sam and Alexandra, find themselves with nothing to do on Halloween, until they're suddenly called to come to a costume party given by the most popular kids. Since they have been invited at the last minute, our unlikely heroes must improvise their costumes. They decide to disguise themselves by cross-dressing so they can find out what the popular kids really think about them. This fast-paced farce is full of one-liners that will leave your audience in stitches.
With Regard to Cooper Clawson's Conscience
Cast: 11 m, 7 w, 5 flexible, extras
Or with doubling, minimum of 6 m, 5 w, 1 flexible, extras
Script: 35 pages
We've all heard the story of the geek who turns chic, but wouldn't it be interesting if the popular kid was forced to become a geek for the good of mankind? Full of physical comedy, quick one-liners, and creative supernatural twists, "Cooper Clawson" is sure to be a hit with your theatre group.
Script: 87 full-sized, reproducible pages
This dynamic collection of 25 stand-alone scenes and monologues is a perfect resource for classroom, competition, or stage. The diverse material was carefully selected from playwright Bryan Starchman’s most popular shows. From playful monologues to scenes that include options for two to five, mostly gender-flexible actors, and use minimal sets and costumes. All of the scenes have been deftly edited so that it is not necessary to be familiar with the original play.. So dive in, get creative, and have fun!
(The scenes on reproducible pages may be produced in class royalty free, but a reasonable royalty fee is due when performed in front of an audience. Application at end of book.)
Cast: 16 M, 3 F, 4 flexible, extras (Doubling possible.)
Performance Time: Approximately 90-100 minutes, 64 pgs.
FARCE. In 1987, a murder-mystery series premiered on the BBC television network that would go down in history as the worst murder-mystery series of all time. It was entitled…“It Was…The Butler!” and as you can probably tell, the title alone didn’t leave much to the imagination. After an hour of murder, mystery, and mayhem, it turned out that, yes, the Butler had done it. By the time the network decided to pull the plug, nobody was watching. Nobody, that is, except for a young boy named Peter Piper, who vowed to grow up and be just like that detective on TV and rid the world of evil butlers! And, unfortunately, that is exactly what he did. This is his story…
Cast: 4 M, 8 F, optional extras (With doubling 3 M, 5 F)
Performance Time: Approximately 100 minutes, 96 pgs.
COMEDY. Colin McKinney, a successful romance novelist, wants to keep his profession a secret from his ultra-Catholic parents, especially his overbearing, neurotic mother. Colin writes under the pseudonym, Amber Waves, and tells his fans that he is a housewife. Colin also wants to prevent his parents from finding out that his fiancée, Jen, is really a Baptist. With his parents halfway across the country, Colin thinks his secrets are safe until his parents and sister decide to visit him to celebrate the Feast of Epiphany. To ready himself for their visit, Colin hides his romance novels and creates games like “Who Wants to be Canonized,” “The Our Father Sing-a-long,” and the “Patron Saints Board Game” to help Jen learn enough about Catholicism to pass as a Catholic. This outrageously entertaining comedy offers a blizzard of one-liners and outlandish situations.
The Resurrection of Rocky Ricochet
Cast: 11 M, 5 F, 3 flexible, optional extras (Doubling possible)
Performance Time: Approximately 90 minutes, 82 pgs.
FARCE. Our story takes place in the small town of Minnewawa, California, population 300. On this tragic night, Rocky Ricochet’s fabulous girlfriend, Athena, dumps him, and across town, an invalid dies of a heart attack at the local hospital. Has fate linked these two tragic events? Rocky seems to think so. After the town drunk (in this case, the town’s doctor) arrives to examine the dead invalid and mistakes him for Rocky, word spreads through Minnewawa that Rocky has died of a broken heart. With the help of the town coroner, Rocky devises a plan to win back Athena by masquerading as his own long-lost twin brother, Jethro. This riotous farce features a host of zany characters.
