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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!

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  • The Wizard of Oz - Stage Partners

    The Wizard of Oz

    Adapted by Jon Jory from the book by L. Frank Baum
    Length: 30-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 14F, 10M)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    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) - 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...
  • Yellow Wallpaper adapted by Kathryn Funkhouser from the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    Yellow Wallpaper

    adapted by Kathryn Funkhouser from the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 6-30+ actors (suggested casting: 2M, 10F)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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 Hitchockian thriller.   
  • The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act) adapted by Hans Bloedel and Peter Bloedel

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one-act)

    Adapted by Hans Bloedel & Peter Bloedel from the tale by Washington Irving
    Length: 40-50 minutes (the playwrights also allow additional cuts for time, competitions)
    Cast Size: 8-30 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 8M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • 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 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.
  • Spoon River, a one-act play adapted by Jason Pizzarello from the poems by Edgar Lee Masters

    Spoon River (one-act version)

    Adapted by Jason Pizzarello from The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 8-26 actors (suggested casting: 13F, 13M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Former citizens of a mythical Midwestern town speak from the grave of the day-to-day hopes and dreams of their lives. Touching, anguished, and contemptuous, their voices and stories weave together in this fresh new take on a modern American classic. You won't forget what you've heard from these distinctively small-town folk as they evoke universal themes of hope, despair, and love. (A full-length...
10 Items