Skip to content

One-Act Comedies

From large cast original play scripts to adaptations of classic works, Stage Partners has an exciting collection of one-act comedies by some of the funniest playwrights working today. These plays are perfect for high schools, middle schools, and theatres. 

Browse our selection below and READ EVERY PLAY SCRIPT FOR FREE!

Filter  
  1. Theme Backstage X
Clear All
Collections  
Performance Group  
Length Type  
Genre  
Sub-genre  
Production/Casting Filters  
Theme  
Cast Size  
Approx. Run Time (min)  
10 Items
Go to filters
  • When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors - Stage Partners

    When Bad Things Happen to Good Actors

    Written by Jason Pizzarello and Ian McWethy
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 3M, 10 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    A simple one-act production of The Wizard of Oz gets derailed by missed cues, forgotten lines, and a renegade sound board op who refuses to play anything but dinosaur noises. A comedy that proves, when it comes to live theatre, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, and it will be hilarious.
  • Masterclasses

    Masterclasses

    Written By: Patrick Greene
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 8-25 actors (suggested casting: 1F, 9 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Acting. Is. Life. If you are going to be a student at The Morley Buck School of Serious Acting for Extraordinary Actors, you need to commit to your craft. But acting isn't all soliloquies and dramatic scenes; to be a true Actor (with a capital "A") you need to perfect moments such as being Startled Awake, Underwater Thinking, or being hit by a laser B.E.A.M. These are just some of the hyper-specif...
  • The Cast List - Stage Partners

    The Cast List

    Written By: Jason Pizzarello and Rocco Natale
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 12F, 3M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Ah, the cast list. Oh, the drama. The casting would be simple if it weren't for constant script cuts, actor trade agreements, backstabbing, helicopter parents, hysterical prima donnas, and the Assistant Director could figure out how to incorporate the songs of Grease into Romeo & Juliet without getting sued. This is a show for any student who has ever been cast or miscast in a school play or a...
  • Two of the Fairest Stars, Quadruple Casted - Stage Partners

    Two of the Fairest Stars, Quadruple Casted

    Written By: Maria McConville
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 11 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 5M)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    When the theatre teacher has to fend off the wrestling team from taking the auditorium right before tech week of the Spring production of Romeo and Juliet, rehearsal is left to budding student assistant director, Wade. Can Sophomore Wade rally the quadrupled cast of Romeo's and Juliet's to block the famous balcony scene? He has been staying in on Saturday nights to watch recordings from the RSC fo...
  • Places in Five - Stage Partners

    Places in Five

    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 5M, 5 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    The one where an actress stumbles into the role of a lifetime...if only she can figure out what play she's doing. Meta-theatricality knows no bounds in this wacky comedy. (​If you like The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang, consider Places in Five.)
  • Dress Rehearsal Disaster - Stage Partners

    Dress Rehearsal Disaster

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 40-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 16 actors (any gender)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    It’s the final dress rehearsal for The Olive Tree, an inaccessible 1800s Russian play. When overachieving student Derek learns that their director Mr. Norbert is sick (with fake-it-itis), he decides to lead the final rehearsal himself. But as Derek’s attempts to wrangle his fellow cast of misfits only leads to unmitigated chaos, he begins to wonder if the show really must go on.
  • A Talkback by Patrick Greene, a ten-minute play, part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Comedies - Stage Partners

    A Talkback

    Written By: Patrick Greene
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 6 actors (6 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Once in a while, after the actors have taken their final bows, the audience of a play is given the opportunity to interact with an actual, living playwright. But talkbacks don't always go as planned, and sometimes a writer can face difficult questions, and hungry theatregoers that demand more than the playwright is willing to give. A Talkback is a comedy about the absurdity of facing your aud...
  • All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Being in a Bad Christmas Play - Stage Partners

    All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Being in a Bad Christmas Play

    Written By: Werner Trieschmann
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 1M, 12 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    A lovable yet inept drama crew -- with a director wired on Frankenstein energy drinks -- attempts to tackle a traditional Christmas show but with more energy. A mash-up of A Christmas Carol and Death of a Salesman with cheerleaders might just work. The put-upon stage manager is trying to get into the spirit of the season by not yelling at the lazy actors, the Narrator is forced to dress as Santa C...
  • It's Vaudeville! - Stage Partners

    It's Vaudeville!

    Written By: Mike Swift
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 6-17 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 13 any)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    In this revue-style show in the spirit of American Vaudeville, the laughs keep rolling. Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight when the host Kurt loses his scene partner Rose mid-show. Kurt talks to comics, clowns, doctors, coppers, gangsters, and jokesters of all kinds while looking for Rose. A bawdy, fun play for groups big and small, It’s Vaudeville! brings back the silly wordplay and charm of...
  • Captain Theatre Nerd and the Magnificent Techies

    Captain Theatre Nerd and The Magnificent Techies

    Written By: Jon Jory
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 15-40 actors (suggested casting: 10F, 10M)
    Genre: Comedy
    Synopsis:
    Let Captain Theatre Nerd take you on a whirlwind tour of the history of theater from ridiculous melodramas to sweeping musicals. Everything on stage happens just as it's supposed to, except when it goes horribly and hilariously wrong. Actors on strike, indecisive directors, wrong cues and costumes... But the show must go on! Right? Leave it to the techies to save the day. 
10 Items