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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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9 Items
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  • This Murder Was Staged, a murder mystery comedy play script by Patrick Greene and Jason Pizzarello

    This Murder Was Staged

    Length: 100-120 minutes
    Cast Size: 8-25 actors
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • Silenced on Barbour Street - Stage Partners

    Silenced on Barbour Street

    Written By: William Prenetta
    Length: 40-50 minutes
    Cast Size: 21-35 actors (suggested casting: 15F, 7M, 5 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    On July 6, 1944, a fire roared across the top of the 48-foot high tent during the matinee performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, claiming the lives of 144 spectators. In this ensemble driven drama, 15 victims of this tragedy must face their guilt and deepest fears in order to escape from a sadistic ringmaster who has trapped them in a mysterious circus purgatory. Part h...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • Sherlock's Best - Stage Partners

    Sherlock's Best

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Length: 70-85 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 3M)
    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...
  • Edgar: A Ghost Story - Stage Partners

    Edgar: A Ghost Story

    Written By: John Haman
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 6-20 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 2M,)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    A first-year high school drama teacher arrives at school to find her auditorium haunted. Against this backdrop, a terminally ill girl falls in love for the first time with a troubled boy as she works against time to stage a tender, autobiographical play. A love-letter to high school theater, Edgar explores the realms of the living, dead, and dying with humor and grace. The play features virtually...
9 Items