One-Act Plays
Stage Partners is home to some of the best one-act play scripts for high schools, middle schools, and theatres. From large cast comedies to intimate dramas for competition, Stage Partners' exciting collection of short plays features some of the most popular playwrights in the world.
Browse our selection below and READ EVERY PLAY SCRIPT FOR FREE!
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Queens (one-act)
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 9-35 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 2M, 7 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory, bound to his throne by a sinister Fool and the ghostly Women in White. Here in his gilded cage, he is forced to relive the sins he committed against his queens, mistresses and people of the court, over and over again, for an eternity. (A full-length version of this play is also available.) -
The Wizard of Oz
Length: 30-40 minutesCast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 14F, 10M)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
In this faithful and playfully short adaptation of the original novel, Dorothy lands in Oz and must find her way home to Kansas. But first she must find the yellow brick road, make it through the poppy field, avoid the flying monkeys, and defeat the Wicked Witch. No big deal. Luckily she has the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Glinda the Good Witch on her side. -
Moriarty's Daughters (one-act version)
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
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
Length: 65-70 minutesCast Size: 11-30+ actors (suggested casting: 11F, 5+ any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
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... -
The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 7 actorsGenre: DramaSynopsis:
Thomas is a very precise pianist who's being pushed by his mom to win competitions for scholarships, he's losing his love of music in the process and it shows in his playing. He meets a new friend at school who reminds him how to have fun with the piano, but when it turns out she's terminally ill he freaks out - this is a relationship he can't "win" - but ultimately decides to prioritize love of... -
Yellow Wallpaper
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 6-30+ actors (suggested casting: 2M, 10F)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
When Eleanor stumbles upon a hidden diary, she unlocks a family secret - and finds that danger lives closer to home than she possibly could have imagined. An ensemble of trapped spirits crack open the door between generations in a theatrical adaptation that wraps the classic psychological horror story The Yellow Wallpaper in a Hitchcockian thriller. -
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act)
Length: 40-50 minutes (the playwrights also allow additional cuts for time, competitions)Cast Size: 8-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
This play is coming soon. Contact Stage Partners to request a prepublication perusal script. 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... -
Pushed
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 10 actors (2M, 8 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
This play is coming soon. Contact Stage Partners to request a prepublication perusal script. Rumor is that Mason Humphrey, a shy and quiet young man, pushed Travis O’Neill so hard into the lockers that he sprained his elbow. Nobody knows why. It shouldn’t be a big deal, right? But suddenly, it kind of is. -
The Secret Garden
Length: 45-55 minutesCast Size: 12-48 actors (4F, 5M, 3 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
Orphaned young Mary Lennox finds herself in the charge of a mysterious uncle, in a mysterious house, on the desolate moor in England. Bored and lonely, she starts exploring the gardens and uncovers a secret that has been kept for ten years. But why is everyone here keeping secrets? And who is crying in the house late at night? As spring arrives, the power of nature begins to unlock a beautiful new... -
Wild Waves Whist
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10 actors (8F, 2M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
A young teacher hoping to be hired as a coach at a private boys' school is instead assigned as literature and theatre teacher at its sister school - a private school for girls. There he is charged with the task of directing Shakespeare's The Tempest with his motley crew of adolescent female scholars, a play that effectuates an inner storm for all involved with the production. Wild Waves Whist is a...