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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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Items 1 - 10 of 11
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  • Rogues' Gallery - Stage Partners

    Rogues' Gallery

    Length: 120-130 minutes, flexible (each play is 10 minutes)
    Cast Size: 6-35+ actors (suggested casting: 9F, 6M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Two hapless security guards must investigate who destroyed the art gallery's prize sculpture - but every suspect caused mayhem that day, from would-be art thieves and confused tourists, to fumbling custodians and fiendish pranksters. Whodunnit? The better question is, who didn't? And can the guards come up with a really good excuse before the artist comes back? This hilarious build-...
  • The Single Man - A Murder Mystery - Stage Partners

    The Single Man - A Murder Mystery

    Written By: Don Zolidis
    Length: 80-85 minutes
    Cast Size: 15-30 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 3M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    After a death threat is found on the set of the hit television show, The Single Man, the producers strike upon a brilliant idea: Have suave mustachioed investigator Henri Poisson fill in for the terrified bachelor in order to root out the presumptive killer. But with eight single ladies vying for his attention on the show, will Poisson be able to discover the killer in time? Who will get the rose,...
  • Beware The House on Haunted Hill! - Stage Partners

    Beware the House on Haunted Hill!

    Adapted by Matthew Byrd & Kathryn Funkhouser from the 1959 film House on Haunted Hill, written by Robb White, directed by William Castle, starring Vincent Price
    Length: 85-90 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 3M, 3 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Stage Partners

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Adapted by Hans Bloedel & Peter Bloedel from the tale by Washington Irving
    Length: 90-100 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    America’s first great ghost story, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow follows the quirky and superstitious antics of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who is haunted by the dreaded Headless Horseman. This imaginative adaptation stays true to the world that Irving creates in this American gothic tale, but adds a lyrical quality that further enhances the humor, the magic, and the ter...
  • Night of the Macabre by Tracy Wells

    Night of the Macabre

    Written By: Tracy Wells
    Length: 90-100 minutes (but can be shortened - see description)
    Cast Size: 11-36 actors (suggested casting: 9M, 11F, 14 any gender)
    Genre: Comedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    A hunt for horror finds four friends at the Museum of the Macabre…a wax museum displaying scenes from short stories by  great authors of Gothic Horror like Poe, Hawthorne, and Irving. But as unnerving as the exhibits - and the stories behind them - are…the real terror for the fearless four comes when the exhibits start to come to life! This easy-to-stage play celebrates great short stori...
  • Murder by the Book - Stage Partners

    Murder by the Book

    Written By: Jon Jory and Michael Bauer
    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 3M)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    When mystery writer Mary Graves is found dead, it's up to a detective with anger issues to figure out who among Graves' guests is a murderer. Is it the oil tycoon, the scientist, the Shakespearean actor, the countess, the psychic, or the maid? ...Say, this is starting to sound like a mystery novel! A hilarious one-act whodunnit brimming with larger-than-life characters.
  • Pick Your Poison - Laura Barbieri

    Pick Your Poison

    Written By: Laura Barbieri
    Length: 100-120 minutes
    Cast Size: 9 actors (suggested casting 3F, 5M, 1 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • The Hound of the Baskervilles (one-act) - Stage Partners

    The Hound of the Baskervilles (one-act)

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the story by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-11 actors, gender flexible
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    The game is afoot in this swift one-act adaptation of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most beloved novels. When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on the moors, surrounded by the footprints of a gigantic hound, his friend Dr. Jenna Mortimer fears an old family legend has returned to terrorize the countryside. Concerned for the safety of the heir to the Baskerville estate, Mortimer...
  • Sherlock's Best: The Adventure of the Six Napoleons - Stage Partners

    Sherlock's Best: The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-13 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 5M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Join famous sleuths Holmes and Watson as they uncover the truth behind London's most recent unsolved mysteries. In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons case, they must catch a murderer who may be a lunatic, a thief, or really just hate Napoleon. In Sherlock is Dead, Holmes himself is at the center of a poisonous crime and must rely on a trusted doctor...as long as it's not Watson. Performed together...
  • Sherlock's Best: Sherlock is Dead - Stage Partners

    Sherlock's Best: Sherlock is Dead

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-10 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 2M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Join famous sleuths Holmes and Watson as they uncover the truth behind London's most recent unsolved mysteries. In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons case, they must catch a murderer who may be a lunatic, a thief, or really just hate Napoleon. In Sherlock is Dead, Holmes himself is at the center of a poisonous crime and must rely on a trusted doctor...as long as it's not Watson. Performed together...
Items 1 - 10 of 11