Mystery/Suspense/Horror
From murder mysteries to gothic horror, Stage Partners has an exciting collection of suspenseful plays by some of the most exciting playwrights working today. From high schools and middle schools to community and professional theatres, Stage Partners has chilling new plays for every stage.
Browse our selection below and READ EVERY PLAY SCRIPT FOR FREE!
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This Murder Was Staged
Length: 100-120 minutesCast Size: 8-25 actorsGenre: ComedySynopsis:
It's opening night of a brand-new mystery play, but just as the killer is about to be revealed, the body of the play's director falls onstage instead. In that moment, the theater becomes an active crime scene, and everyone from cast to crew to even the audience becomes a suspect. But how is the intrepid detective supposed to find the killer when everyone and their mother (literally) has a motive t... -
Beware the House on Haunted Hill!
Length: 85-90 minutesCast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 3M, 3 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
Come to the party…stay if you dare. An eccentric millionaire promises six guests a mysterious prize if they can survive the night at the only truly haunted house in the world. Everyone invited has a few skeletons in their closets though, and screwball scares lurk around every corner. The classic 50s horror movie House on Haunted Hill becomes a campy whodunnit in this low-tech stage adaptation. J... -
Ten(ish): Horror
Length: Ten 10-Minute PlaysCast Size: Varies by TitleGenre: DramaSynopsis:
It's time for tales of terror to see their day onstage. From horrifying creatures, to long-buried secrets, to the dark visions in your own mirror, nightmares await in Ten(ish): Horror, an anthology of short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights working today. Ten(ish): Horror is edited by Brendan Conheady and features the following short plays: Trust... -
Pick Your Poison
Length: 100-120 minutesCast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting 3F, 5M, 1 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
Pick Your Poison is a murder mystery farce in the style of the “country house murder.” Sir Nicholas Blackburn invites his old friends, acquaintances, and one stranger to visit him at his country estate, but some of them may not live through the weekend. In this audience-interactive play, the audience votes at intermission on which of the eight main characters is the murder, and the winning vot... -
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
Length: 80-90 minutesCast Size: 9-25 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 8M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
While wandering Worcester, England in 1943, a teenage boy happened upon the skeleton of an unidentified woman inside the trunk of a large tree. An investigation commenced to determine who the woman was and how she died, but it raised more questions than it answered. Was she a spy? Was she a prostitute? Had she been part of an occult ritual? Theories abounded, but no definitive answers emerged. The... -
SINK! A Titanic Murder Mystery
Length: 90-120 minutesCast Size: 12-16 actorsGenre: ComedySynopsis:
We begin on the Titanic. An ideal setting for a murder mystery, don't you think? First class. The game afoot: a mystery that must be solved before the ship goes down... And then, something starts to shift... We are actually backstage at a Broadway show based on a Titanic. And one of the actors ends up dead. It's a noir. And then the perception of reality starts to shift again...A traditional locke... -
The Dead Queen Requests the Honor of Your Presence at Dinner
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 3 actors (3F)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
In a clearing deep in a forest, the Dead Queen sits at a magnificent dining table. As her servant puts the final shine on the glassware, they await the evening’s guest. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror. -
Transfer
Length: 10 - 20 minutesCast Size: 5 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 1M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Bow returns to her senior year of high school after a personal tragedy that no one wants to discuss head-on. But coming back isn't easy – especially not with the presence of a transfer student who is all smiles, light, and brilliance – and taking over every relationship Bow holds dear. A little Black Swan, a little more Hitchcock, Transfer is a sparse, noir-inspired drama t... -
A Place to Rest Your Head
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 4 actors (3M, 1F)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
The residents of a run-down flophouse are transients, haunted in more ways than one. But a deeper mystery unfolds: who are the ghosts, and who are the haunted? This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror. -
Peace and Quiet
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 4 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
A support group for individuals suffering from tinnitus takes an eerie turn when they discover the cause of the ringing in their ears might be more sinister than actual science. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.