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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 13
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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...
  • Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version) - Stage Partners

    Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version)

    Written By: Claire Wittman
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio...
  • Moriarty's Daughters - Stage Partners

    Moriarty's Daughters

    Written By: Claire Wittman
    Length: 65-70 minutes
    Cast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    In 1897 New York City, Lucy and Louise Bullard are trying their best to live a quiet life, untouched by the legacy of their father Adam Worth, an internationally infamous conman and art thief whose exploits inspired the character of Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes stories. However, upon discovering that their father has a third daughter, kept in the care of their aunt, and that the aunt in questio...
  • You Cannot Undo This Action - Conor Eifler - Stage Partners

    You Cannot Undo This Action

    Written By: Conor Eifler
    Length: 100-120 minutes
    Cast Size: 16-30+ actors (suggested casting: 7F, 5M, 10 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    The populations of two high schools are thrown into disarray after a careless social media post leads to real life tragedy. Some of the students are jolted into fear as they reckon with how deep and wide their vulnerabilities have become in our hyper-connected world, while others wrestle with their culpability in the incident. Meanwhile those most affected seek a path toward justice, but how far w...
  • Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? - a historical mystery play script by Katherine Vondy - Stage Partners

    Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?

    Written By: Katherine Vondy
    Length: 80-90 minutes
    Cast Size: 9-25 actors (suggested casting: 8F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • The Visitors - Stage Partners

    The Visitors

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-14 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 4M, 3 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    KB is in a coma. How she got there, no one knows. As she lies unconscious on a hospital bed, family, friends, and other well-wishers reflect on KB and how she has affected their lives. But as KB's physical condition worsens and her visitors struggle with their grief, KB embarks on a mysterious journey that will change her forever. (If you like The Lottery consider The Visitors.)
  • Ten(ish): Horror - A Place to Rest Your Head by Ruben Carbajal. 10-minute horror play.

    A Place to Rest Your Head

    Written By: Ruben Carbajal
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 4 actors (3M, 1F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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.
  • Ten(ish): Horrors - Viewings by Del Martin, 10-minute horror play

    Viewings

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 10 - 15 minutes
    Cast Size: 5-6 actors (suggested casting: 6F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    You never quite know what you're getting when you buy an old house. The past may still echo within its walls. For Deirdre, who is on the run from her own past, a new home means an escape, but it also comes with some unexpected inhabitants.   This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.
  • Ten(ish): Horror - Mirror by Elissa Huang, 10-minute horror play

    Mirror

    Written By: Elissa C. Huang
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 3 actors (3F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    When Juniper purchases an old mirror at a garage sale, she gets more than she bargained for. What awakens when she gazes within? A haunting and evocative play about the demons we try to forget. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.
Items 1 - 10 of 13