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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The Stowaway
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10-12 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 3M, 3 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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... -
Wild Waves Whist
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10 actors (8F, 2M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
A young teacher hoping to be hired as a coach at a private boys' school is instead assigned as literature and theatre teacher at its sister school - a private school for girls. There he is charged with the task of directing Shakespeare's The Tempest with his motley crew of adolescent female scholars, a play that effectuates an inner storm for all involved with the production. Wild Waves Whist is a... -
Some Assembly Required
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 3 actors (suggested casting: 1F, 1M, 1 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
While attempting to assemble a dresser from a certain Swedish furniture company, a long-married couple inadvertently activate a plot to end the world. Some Assembly Required is a comedy for all those who have battled unintelligible instructions. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Comedies. -
The Red House Monster
Length: 35-45 minutesCast Size: 4-5 actors (suggested casting: 4F, 1M)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
The story of Hannah Gold, a young lady living on an island off the coast of Massachusetts in the late 1800s, and the night that changed her life. Filled with small town lore, haunted houses, spirits, monsters, pistols, pie, and mysteries, it is a play that will keep you guessing just what is in the Red House, and who, in fact, you should be afraid of. Inspired by the myth of Geryon and Hercules, a... -
A Stitch Here or There: A Sock Tragedy in One Act
Length: 10 minutesCast Size: 3-6 actorsGenre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
What happens to the socks that disappear in the laundry? What about the ones left behind? When Cotton loses the other half of her pair, she looks for answers. A Stitch Here or There is a soulful comedy about loss... with sock puppets. This play is part of the short play collection Ten(ish): Comedies. -
The Scarlet Letter (one-act version)
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 10-25 actors (suggested casting: 6F, 6M, 1 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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
Length: 35-40 minutesCast Size: 15-30 actors (suggested casting: 20 any)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 13-21 actors (suggested casting: 10F, 3M, 3 non-speaking men)Genre: DramaSynopsis:
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 Semi-Amazing, Sort-of-Sensational, Almost Unbelievable Christmas Spectacular!
Length: 30-35 minutesCast Size: 15-48 actors (suggested casting: 3F, 3M, 14 any)Genre: ComedySynopsis:
What happens when a school tries to put on a Christmas Spectacular for the bargain price $11.50? You get a ton of elves, a spirit of Christmas, a visit from the little match girl, Jacob Marley and a partridge in a pear tree. It may be low on budget, but it's high on laughs as we watch the Christmas characters we know and love hilariously collide in this Christmas disaster for the ages. -
The Lost Art of Finding
Length: 25-30 minutesCast Size: 10-30 actors (suggested casting: 15 any)Genre: Dramedy, ComedySynopsis:
Say what you will about Sophie, she is focused. On Something, a crucial Something, and she won't give up until she has It. A pushy salesman, a mob of celebrity hounds, the celebrity himself, even a well-meaning, potential friend will not distract Sophie from her quest. This large cast, gender-flexible one-act will both entertain and intrigue, inviting viewers to question what their particular Some...