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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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Items 11 - 20 of 39
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  • The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie - Stage Partners

    The Heart and Soul of Thomas Elegie

    Length: 35-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 7 actors
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    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...
  • The Yellow Wallpaper - a one-act adaptation by Kathryn Funkhouser play script cover

    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 cracks open the door between generations in a theatrical adaptation that wraps the classic psychological horror story The Yellow Wallpaper in a Hitchcockian thriller. 
  • Pushed

    Pushed

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 10 actors (2M, 8 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Rumor has it, shy and quiet Mason Humphrey pushed Travis O’Neill into the lockers so hard that Travis sprained his elbow. Nobody knows why, but everyone has an opinion about what should happen next—whether or not they have all the facts. Should Mason be expelled? Did Travis provoke him? What does justice look like here? But there might be a way to cut through all the outrage, if Mason and Trav...
  • The Inexplicable Chaos Factor of Mia Gregory - Stage Partners

    The Inexplicable Chaos Factor of Mia Gregory

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 8-20 actors (suggested casting: 5F, 3M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Liv is one of the most brilliant teenage mathematicians in the country, but she does not understand her best (and only) friend Mia. Like, at all. And now, she's doing this stupid play to try to figure it out. An incredibly moving and empowering story about the chaos we create, and the order we can find in it.
  • The Blue Hour - Stage Partners

    The Blue Hour

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 5-8 actors (suggested casting: 2F, 2M, 1 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Theo's grandpa has died, and he would give anything to see him one more time. A remarkable miracle sends him back in time to meet his grandpa while he was serving in the Korean War. A powerful and poetic play about grief, and what we can do with it.
  • The Cages We Build - Stage Partners

    The Cages We Build

    Written By: Emily Hageman
    Length: 30-35 minutes
    Cast Size: 8 actors (4F, 4M)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Dean's dad isn't around, his mom is deeply broken, and everyone at school either hates him or fears him. That's just who he is. But then, he meets Lucy and learns that life can be whatever you make it, and no matter what cage you build, you always have the key.
  • As If, Cassandra - Stage Partners

    As If, Cassandra

    Written By: Jason Pizzarello
    Length: 40-45 minutes
    Cast Size: 9-20 actors (suggested casting: 9F, 2M, 4+ any)
    Genre: Dramedy, Drama
    Synopsis:
    Everybody's whispering: Something's wrong with Cassie. She walked out on her squad mid-routine; won't help her mom put up Christmas decorations; suddenly wants to back out of prom plans. Well, Cassie hears taunts about how fate is inescapable in every cheer, her mom doesn't seem to notice it's February, and she's haunted by premonitions of something terrible that will happen if prom night continue...
  • The Old Woman Lost at Sea

    The Old Woman Lost at Sea

    Written By: Jason Lemire
    Length: 35-40 minutes
    Cast Size: 8-11 actors possible (suggested casting: 6F, 3M, 2 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    Take care of your own little boat, and let others take care of theirs. That’s what Chelsea’s mother Martha taught her as she grew up. But she also remembers the cost, and she can’t look away when she sees someone drowning, like her mother can. When the seas turn stormy for Martha’s own boat, she refuses to come aboard a bigger ship crewed by people different from herself—and they can onl...
  • The Visitors - Stage Partners

    The Visitors

    Written By: Del Martin
    Length: 25-30 minutes
    Cast Size: 7-14 actors (suggested casting: 7F, 4M, 3 any)
    Genre: Drama
    Synopsis:
    KB is in a coma. How she got there, no one knows. As she lies unconscious on a hospital bed, family, friends, and other well-wishers reflect on KB and how she has affected their lives. But as KB's physical condition worsens and her visitors struggle with their grief, KB embarks on a mysterious journey that will change her forever. (If you like The Lottery consider The Visitors.)
  • 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...
Items 11 - 20 of 39