Skip to content

One-Act Dramas

From intimate dramas for competition to large cast historical plays, Stage Partners has an award-winning collection of exciting dramatic play scripts for high schools, middle schools, and theatres from some of the most popular playwrights working today.

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

Filter  
  1. Production/Casting Filters Flexible/Expandable Cast X
  2. Production/Casting Filters Minimal Set X
Clear All
Collections  
Performance Group  
Length Type  
Genre  
Sub-genre  
Production/Casting Filters  
Theme  
Cast Size  
Approx. Run Time (min)  
Items 11 - 20 of 21
Go to filters
  • Barn Wood and Blue Roses - Stage Partners

    Barn Wood and Blue Roses

    Written By: Jacquelyn Priskorn
    Length: 30-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-20 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 7 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    When Devon learns that best friend Chelsea has cystic fibrosis, Devon creates a fantasy world for the two of them to live in. They live in their new imaginative world as L'Sea, a woman who becomes a dragon twice a day, and D'Nova, renowned artisan of comical barn wood signs and a magician's apprentice. But Devon has kept a secret, too. And it is about to bring their whole fantasy world crashing do...
  • The Secret Garden - Stage Partners

    The Secret Garden

    Adapted by Erin Detrick from the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
    Length: 45-55 minutes
    Cast Size: 12-48 actors (4F, 5M, 3 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • The Stowaway - Stage Partners

    The Stowaway

    Written By: Del Martin and Jason Pizzarello
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-12 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 3M, 3 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Far in the future, humanity has found peace but has been divided between Earth, the colonies on the Moon, and the Mars Federation. Person to person contact between the worlds is a thing of the distant past, with life existing in islands of division and distrust. But all of that changes when a mysterious girl arrives on Mars with a message of hope and a stark warning. Can humanity come together to...
  • 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 - Peace and Quiet by Katie Peña-Van Zile. 10-minute horror play

    Peace and Quiet

    Written By: Katie Peña-Van Zile
    Length: 10 minutes
    Cast Size: 4 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
     A support group for individuals suffering from tinnitus takes an eerie turn when they discover the cause of the ringing in their ears might be more sinister than actual science.    This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Horror.
  • The Search for Delicious (one-act version) - Stage Partners

    The Search for Delicious (one-act version)

    Adapted by Mark Frattaroli from the novel by Natalie Babbitt
    Length: 45-55 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-22 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 5M, 8 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    In this magical adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s classic tale, a troupe of actors recreate a mythical medieval kingdom in the midst of a fierce disagreement over the most “delicious” food. To avoid a civil war, the kingdom sends 12-year-old Gaylen (and his loyal horse, Marrow) on a journey to settle the definition once and for all. On their quest, Gaylen and Marrow must face the evil Hemlock...
  • The Scarlet Letter (one-act version) - Stage Partners

    The Scarlet Letter (one-act version)

    Adapted by Carrie McCrossen from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 6M, 1 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    In this new and theatrical retelling of the classic tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet letter on her chest as punishment for committing adultery in Puritan New England. Throughout time, The Scarlet Letter has endured as a way to examine societal expressions of shame, guilt, and ultimately, redemption.   (A full-length version of this play is als...
  • The Jungle Book - Stage Partners

    The Jungle Book

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the stories by Rudyard Kipling
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 15-30 actors (suggested casting: 20 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    This thrilling and fun-filled adventure is brought to the stage by the theatrical master Jon Jory who has crafted an accessible, flexible, and easily-staged version for all ages! When a human child named Mowgli is taken and raised by a family of wolves, he must learn the ways of the jungle. Fortunately he has the wise panther Bagheera and friendly Baloo the bear by his side. But soon Mowgli finds...
  • The Trojan Women - Stage Partners

    The Trojan Women

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the play by Euripides
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 13-21 actors (suggested casting: 10F, 3M, 3 non-speaking men)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Euripides' classic tragedy follows the fate of the women of Troy after their devastating loss in the Trojan War.  Brought to the stage by theatrical master Jon Jory, this taut, accessible adaptation with a flexible, large female cast is the perfect one-act drama for competition.
  • The Silent Sentinels - Stage Partners

    The Silent Sentinels

    Written By: William Prenetta
    Length: 40-50 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 19F, 7M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    It is 1976 and the leaders of the ERA movement are just three states short of their dream of legal equality for women. Kate O’Halloran, barely in her 20s and not interested in feminism, has snagged an interview with suffragette legend and ERA proponent Alice Paul, aged 93. Arriving at her small cottage in Connecticut, Kate, unbeknownst to Paul, has no desire to discuss the ERA but to uncover the...
Items 11 - 20 of 21