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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A Night Under the Stars (one-act)
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 8-17 actors (suggested casting: 17 any)Genre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
The great outdoors…for some this is a place of peace and tranquility and for others it’s…well…a little messy. A Night Under the Stars is a story about people—people looking to get away from it all, people looking to connect…with nature, with one another, and with the undeniable human spirit that overcomes obstacles, no matter what is thrown our way. And whether it’s attempting to mak... -
I, Chorus
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 18-30 actors (suggested casting 2F, 1M, 15 any)Genre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
College-drop out Elle is lost and trying to find her place in the world until she meets a Greek Chorus completely devoted to each other and speaking in unison. And doing other things in unison. Like getting a job a Walmart and going on a date. To join them, Elle has to give up everything and everyone she knows, but maybe this is exactly what she has been looking for... -
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... -
Finding Corey Taylor (one-act)
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 25 any)Genre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
Corey is lost. It’s the day of her high school graduation and her unsigned yearbook confirms what she already suspects…no one knows who Corey Taylor is. And how can she blame them when Corey hardly knows herself? When her best friend, Reese, suggests a road trip across America to meet other people named Corey Taylor, Corey reluctantly agrees, and embarks on the trip of a lifetime, hoping that... -
Every Novel You Read in High School (in 25 Minutes or Less)
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 8-40 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 4M, 6 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
The one where a theater group attempts ATTEMPTS to present all those novels you read in high school before school lets out for the summer. Pray for them. They're gonna need it and so are you. (If you like Shakespeare Abridged… consider Every Novel You Read in High School.) -
Game Night (Humans Only, Please)
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 9 actors (9 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
It's game night at the end of the world. The library is one of the only places still above the water line, and the nerds are living it up while they can. But when the soccer team shows up because their field went underwater, they begin a more dangerous game. A high-stakes dark comedy about mutant lizards, climate change, and being the generation born to watch the water level rise. -
Win or Lose
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 10-20 actors (suggested casting: 15 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
Competition is all that matters, and these kids today have got to learn that...by being pitted against each other in an absurdly grueling four-part race. Winner gets a scholarship. Come in last? You're banned from prom. The parents love it! But when different groups at the beginning, middle, and end of the pack compare notes, commiserate and meet a local cautionary tale, they decide to play a diff... -
Tara, Shaped by the Figures
Length: 40-45 minutesCast Size: 11 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 3M, 2 any)Genre: Dramedy, DramaSynopsis:
After Tara's best friend Clara dies from a heart condition, she is afraid to get close to the group trying to befriend her at her new school. The figures from history and fiction who Tara loves (including Anne Frank, Annie Oakley, Churchill, Sherlock Holmes, and Captain America) are joined by Clara in guiding Tara through her grief, until she tells her new friends about her loss. -
No Substitutes
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 8-25+ actors (suggested casting: 16 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
It's usually a pretty low-key day when you get a substitute teacher, but not so for Miss Florence's class. The "cool" assistant principal is using them as guinea pigs to try out a series of new prospective subs, from a wannabe inspirational teacher, to a conspiracy theorist, to a border collie. It's almost enough to make you want to quietly finish your work! You never know who's going to sho...